Motorola V551 / V330 / V547 / V555 / V557
Average Ratings
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
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I switched from a Nokia 8265 using digital service through ATTWS to the Motorola V551 using GSM service through Cingular. At this time, I'm not so sure it was the right move. I don't blame this on the phone. Instead, I believe it is the GSM service. The digital service was always clear & dependable, but the GSM signal is distorted and unreliable about 50% of the time when trying to conduct business over the phone. By the way, this is my second V551 due to a malfunction in the "9" key on the previous phone. When pressed once, it would "999". This was annoying since most of the calls in this area start with a "9". Anyway, here are a few pros & cons.
PROS:
-The larger size of the keypad is a nice touch.
-4x zoom feature on camera has been useful.
-The textured shell has a good feel and helps to keep phone from sliding around in vehicle or falling out of shirt pocket.
-The clock on outer screen is easy to read.
-Great high volume levels on ring tones & speaker phone.
-Vibration setting will get your attention.
-Speaker phone feature is very handy when on hold or retreiving voice mail while taking notes.
CONS:
-Phone is thicker than I'm used to.
-Menus are not as user friendly as the Noikia.
-No quick menu access for "missed calls"
-Button on side of phone is too easy to hit while removing phone from pants pockets.
-Entering symbols in address book is tiresome since they are not all displayed at once on screen.
-Speaker crackles like a cheap transister radio if using highest volume on speaker phone setting.
V551 has the loudest earpiece
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For those you undecided about this phone, this is the best phone for loudness and clarity for Cingular service.
Tested every phone available at Cingular stores for loudness. Moto V551 was superior to other wimpy brands for sound loudness. Tested other Motos, Samsungs, Sony Ericssons, Nokis, LGs & others.
The RF signal on this Moto is very good. On par with Nokia & Sony. But much better than Samsung.
Reason I didn't give V551 a perfect score was because the menu system is difficult to understand compared to Nokias, Samsung and Sanyo.
If you use Bluetooth earpiece, it will drain the battery about 20-40%. Not worth the investment unless you have the phone charged while using Bluetooth.
The Edge internet on the phone is blazing fast compared to other phones I've used on Sprint and Verizon.
Durable form factor design. The rubber thingy is easy to grip and it will cushion an accidental drop onto your carpet.
Final Thoughts: If you want a phone with all state-of-the-art features like Bluetooth, Edge (high speed internet), still & video cameras & speakerphone, get this phone! You won't be disappointed!!!!!
Motorola Finally Gets It Right
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As an long time Motorola customer the introduction of the V400 and V600 have made me disgusted Motorola products. The V600 was a mess from beginning to end. Needless to say after dropping $300 on the V600 aka "The Door Stop", I was skeptical when looking for a new phone for my mandatory switch from AT&T to Cingular. The V551 fixed most of those issues, first and foremost is the handset volume. With the V600 you couldn't hear whom you were speaking to unless you were in a quiet room (kind've ridiculous considering it's a mobile phone). The V551's volume is more remniscent of the V60. The phone is sturdy and the buttons are large (for us large fingered individuals) and the screen is very clear. As a traditionalist for cell phones sorta speak, in my opinion, if you want a digital camera....buy one, if you wanna surf the web get a PC. A camera is novelty and this one works fine. The internet is quick and easy to use. The only con I can see is the teeny bopper, bubble-gum blue and silver shell. The rubber around the edges is a great idea but different colors or interchangeable colors would be better. This phone is awesome and I would recommend it to anyone especially for $99.00 after the mail-in $50 rebate.
V551: not a business phone
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CONS: You are a business man or person. You just missed 5 calls! Your boss is veyr mad that you are goofing off not answering your phone.
Why, because your ill-designed V551 phone has the ring tone keys on the outside of the phone.
You brushed up against a cubicle or a car door. With two presses of the exterior buttons, your ring tone is now on SILENT !!
CONS: You are in a loud area, you are on a conference call and need to MUTE your phone. There is no easy way of MUTING the phone and UNMUTING! You have to go through a complex series of menus to do this.
PROS: my company and not I am paying for this mis-designed phone for kids taking video and camera pictures.
Mike the Salesman
The v551 works great with Cingular
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I'm using the Motorola v551 on Cingular and this phone works great. The in-call reception is outstanding and calls are very clear. The EDGE high speed data is a must-have if you use MEdia service, it works three times faster than GPRS, and this phone proves it. Video recording is short, like most carriers, 15 seconds, but the quality is fairly decent for a phone.
It's no wonder that Cingular has this model as one of their exclusive handsets. It's price is good, software works smooth, EDGE high speed data, and a nice sized flip phone. The only reason this one falls very short of a 5 rating...the outer display is not color. This is only beginning in the way of phone offerings from Cingular, the best is yet to come...and what a wonderful start with the v551.
V555 phone book, review
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First - my impressions on the phone, which I just picked up from Cingular (former AT&T customer today):
PROS: feels sturdy, even though it's plastic; like the camera interface; beautiful screen; handset audio quality is EXCELLENT; has speakerphone; Bluetooth headset performance with HS810 is great; clamshell (never have to worry about forgetting to lock my candy-bar phone and callling the UK for 15 minutes again!)
CONS: Sony Ericsson has a better menu interface, IMHO; Bluetooth sync support for Mac OS X is nonexistent - cable is required; external display too small to display full names on incoming calls
UNKNOWNS: Battery life;
Next, the phone book.
hot_md_guy mentions in his review that the phone is lacking a hierarchical phone book - that's *partially* true - it's not enabled that way, and the UI/documentation don't make it obvious, but you can get behavior that more or less mimics a hierarchical phone book:
Go to the Address Book, then hit the Menu Key and select Setup. Sort by Name, and Display Primary Contacts.
When you view the address book, you'll only see the name associated with the primary number (which you can use Menu/Set Primary to select). When you select one of these contacts, you'll see details on the primary number. Arrow down through the list to see the other numbers associated with that name.
I said *partially* true, though - if you keep scrolling, you'll eventually get to the next contact - not wrap around to the first number of the current contact. Also, I'm not sure if numbers synced from a computer will be downloaded in a way that takes advantage of this.
Reliable and Easy to use
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I have had the Motorola V555 for serveral months now. I love my phone. I originally had the V400 then the V505. I found that the V555 got better signal, better battery life and sound quality was awesome. I will always perfer flip phones over bar phones because you never have to worry about locking the keys or dialing stranger numbers. The camera takes good pictures for a cell phone. The only thing I'd like to see Motorola change about this phone is the charging port. It can becaome to touchy and can be a pain to charge. I can't sit around all day holding the charger into the phone.
Fab V551!! fun feature Q's answered...
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(i have cingular, BTW)
i just got this phone and i must say i love it! this is my first flip phone (i had nokias in the past) the sound is quite good on this phone, calls are clear and sound "right" (the samsung E317 i tried was awfully "tinny" and i returned it) as for ring tones the phone dosent come with anything cool (i wouldnt expect it to) but i downloaded some song/music ring tones and they sound GREAT! also this phone has bluetooth and thats very good, and one of the moto headsets is pink, ill get that soon.
pros:
-very good sound and reception
-the little "disc" next to the camera is a mirror to guide you when taking pictures a clever feature for taking pics of yourself i must say!
-cool looking, the numbers light up almost purple (and you can get and replace the faceplate and battery cover, but you need a screwdriver not simple like a snap on/off nokia)
-bluetooth, and by using the voice dial thing you can make calls directly with the bluetooth without having to dial from the phone
-come with a couple nice wallpapers and screensavers (the theme "neon" has a VERY nice wallpaper)
-is a nice phone, its a nice size not too small or too large
cons:
-the front display is only a blue LED or something, its not overly fancy i woudl have preferred a little more personalization there, but the blue is better than a green or red color i suppose
-the camera is ok, of course its a dinky phone camera iwasnt expecting it to be like my real digital camera, still thought to mention it.
-it took me a little while to figure out how to change the ring tone, but when your in the "sounds folder" go to the song you want to select and hit the middle thing and you can set it from there.
-cant really think of much else its a great phone! and im hard to please so thats saying a lot! so i must say i highly recommend it!
if you are looking for a phone that can be quite "girly" this is it! i do like a highly customizable phone and this meets my frou-frou standards!
V551 - at least you can't accidently browse while charging.. heck.. can't use it PERIOD when it's charging
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Others covered most of my pros and cons.
Big Problem. The phone can't be used while charging. It's a big deal, because charges are frequent and looooooooonnnnnnnggggggggg. Lots of downtime with this phone.
Second Problem. Browsing and text messaging will happen frequently and accidentally unless you are very, very careful.
Third Problem. I bought this phone for my wife and she won't let me forget it. :)
p.s. If someone can figure out how to use this phone while it's charging.. I'll post a correction to this review, and, maybe my wife will start talking to me again.
Motorola V551
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In mid June'05 the wife and I purchased a pair of Motorola V551's to replace our way outdated 5 year old AT&T Nokia dinosaurs.
My first impression of the V551 is it's alot smaller,lighter than our old phones and has a nice silver with blue tones on the exterior.
The latest phone features are what I expected and navigating the menus have not been a problem at all.
The signal reception has been pretty much solid anywhere outdoors but once we get into our residence it'll drop to 1-2 bars unless I plug the external antenna into it then it jumps to 3-4 bars to hold down a solid connection.
Our location is in Richardson Texas(North of Dallas) on the Cingular Network.
I also purchased a pair of OEM Motorola leather VL50001 leather cases which is a must to protect the exterior from any scratches or damage that would occur with normal use.
Pros;
Small & Lightweight
Large internal display which is sharp
External window display (handy for caller ID)
Availability of many accessories
Phone book storage,ease of add/edit
Display brightness adjustability
External antenna capability a big plus
Speaker-phone
Camera works pretty good
Cons;
Battery life could be more in between charges
Wife's phone has powered off a couple times on it's own.
Overall we both really like our new V551's and we're very pleased with the choice,hopefully we'll get just as many years out of them as our last Nokias which gave us great service during those 5 years.
