A mobile terminal has a plurality of thresholds corresponding to usage conditions including use of a handset, hands-free microphone, and earphone microphone. An operation controller checks the usage condition in response to a detection result of a usage detector. The operation controller retrieves a threshold corresponding to a check result from the storage unit, and outputs the retrieved threshold to a VOX controller unit. The mobile terminal thus achieves a VOX capability optimally in correspondence with various use conditions.