Motorola V551 / V330 / V547 / V555 / V557
Average Ratings
pretty good
after being in the wireless industry for about 8 months, it was time for an upgrade. At the time it was between the V557 or the RAZR. I made the right choice.
PROS:
1. the general feel of the phone.
2. the VGA camera is pretty standard on camera phones, sometimes wish the resolution was better.
3. Bluetooth. More specifically- OBEX (OBject EXchange) meaning that you can transfer pictures and ringtones to other bluetooth devices.
4. Voice dialing. Also pretty standard now.
5. a specific camera button so you don't have to go through several different menus to get to the camera.
CONS:
1. The MEdia Net Ticker covers the bottom portion of your wallpaper. However you can turn the Ticker off if you wish.
2. Poor reception at my house but several miles down the road has full signal. (not really the phones fault. all phones are like that here)
3. difficult to find a case that I like. It's bigger than most clamshells on the market, thus it's hard to find a large enough case.
4. battery life is a little lack luster. It used to last a full week but now (only 7 or 8 months old) lasts half a week.
The Cons are only minor things that don't bother me too much. However I will be wanting more out my next phone.
Great Phone
I have had this phone for about a week now and i love it it has great coverage and a very colorful and vivid screen.
Watch out for the v551 overheating
I have been happy with my v551, right up until 5 days ago when I picked it up and it was red-hot. Had been charging overnite as usual...but lost the charge almost immediately and went black. Took it to the Cingular guys I'd bought it from, and, you guessed it, warranty ran out July 2nd and this happened on about July 8th...The guys were zero help, didn't know whether it was the battery or phone failure. So, bought another battery which promptly overheated and drained immediately, thus, the problem is with the phone. So, now I'm stuck with a non-functioning phone and a year to go on the contract. Wouldn't it be nice if the phone lasted as long as the agreement?!!
So...BEWARE!!!!
Good middle of the road - Not a tough phone
The V551 is a quintessential motorola. Loads of features at a good price. While it only has a vga camera it does take rather good pictures and video. The bluetooth reception is fantastic. The overall reception is good but it is less than stellar in fringe areas. The speakerphone is quite loud but can be distorted at high volume. The main issue with this phone is it just plain doesn't hold up. I am fairly gentle with my phones and I have been through 2 of them and the 3rd isn't tracking much better.
Pros:
Fantastic bluetooth reception
Good camera
Speaker phone is easy to hear
Software and data cable are easy to find
Accessories - a dime a dozen
Cons:
First off it is fragile
Charger design is dated and wears out quickly
Battery life is just shy of depressing
Software can be glitchy
Don't let this review keep you from a V551 but use it a warning of some of the issues that can come up.
It's Average...maybe a little less
Pros: This phone is a pretty good phone in that it does have the calendar option and good internet speed. The speaker on the phone does pretty well if you put it on speaker phone.
Cons:
1. The bluetooth does not allow for walking too far away from the phone before static is heard in the ear piece. I mean, I can't walk 10 feet away and the bluetooth is already having static.
2. The signal strength weakens considerably when I start to place a call and then it seems to recover after about a minute of being on a connected call.
3. Even when the memory on the phone is just fine, meaning I have plenty of text message memory, there are times when receiving and sending text messages freezes and I neither receive or send text messages without knowing it until somebody asks why I didn't reply to their message. I then have to turn off the phone and then turn the phone back on to reset the phone to where my messages are sent without a problem. Cingular tells me this is common and to just keep doing that but should I?
4. My phone tends to want to freeze about once a week like it is having a hard time accessing a program on the phone/computer. Again, Cingular tells me to just turn the phone off and then turn it back on (?).
Overall, at first, I would have recommended this phone but after having it for about a year with all these experiences, I am starting to question whether others should buy it. If I wanted it for just phone operation and not all the other stuff, such as internet / text messages, I would say go for it. But when you add all the other features, then I have to question it and lean toward not recommending it. And before I am asked, no, I have no dropped my phone to start causing these problems!
Is it worth the cost?
Ok, before anyone uses my review to make a decision whether to buy this phone or not, you all should know that I own it using a prepaid account, which may make my service a little different than others.
Anyway, i got this phone about a year or so ago and up up until 3 months ago has been a great phone. The phonebook is pretty good, the sound quality, such as the ring volume and earpiece volume, has been fairly good also. But about 3 months ago, the ear-piece practically stopped working and now I have to make all my calls using the speaker-phone. It isn't that big of a deal but it is annoying sometimes when I'm in public and everyone within 20ft of me can hear all the details of my conversation. Other than that everything is great--the camera is cool and the tools like the calculator, alarm clock, and calendar are very helpful/useful.
So... the pros and cons :
PROS: SIZE is good-fits comfortably in the pocket, purse, and hand.
CAMERA is descent-the quality is average compared to other phones and can be used in the phone book as well.
SPEAKER-is very loud and clear; great for when driving because you can set it down and continue to talk.
RINGTONES-you can download just about any tone you want.
WEB BROUSING-good connectivity though I don't really use it.
DISPLAY-images are very clear and colorful
KEY SIZE-not too big, yet not too small
MENU-easily navigatable
BATTERY- Can go up to a week without charging, which is really convinient for my busy life.
CONS: EARPIECE- died on me after a year and I don't really have money to get it fixed or to buy a new phone.
PHONE BOOK-you can't have an entry with more than one number. I.e--if your want to enter your friend's home phone number AND cell number, it has to be to separate entries.
FOR EXAMPLE: Mom 555-5555 (home)
Mom 888-8888 (cell)
These would have to be two SEPARATE entries
WEIGHT- it is relatively heavy for its size
V551 Reliability is the worst
I'm on my 4th V-551 and it too has now failed. Each of the phones that I received has lost the ability to use the built-in ear speaker. The only way I can use the phone is either use the external speaker, or a hands free device. My first phone also dropped calls consistently after 2-3 minutes. The replacements have at least not dropped calls, but I can't hear people though the built in ear speaker. I would not recommend this phone. The only good news is Cingular keep sending me new ones, but that has now come to an end so I'm looking for a new phone since this one has now also lost the ability os use a hands-free device.
simply awful
i've gone through 4 of these tmobile phones in the past 6 moths. i would have gone through more except they kept charging me shipping! the phones keep turning off for no good reason. i cycle them down at night and turn them back on, yet they freeze up and shut down randomly. these are refurbished units, but even the first brand spaknking new on I had did the same thing. all the features are useless if then phone is not reliable. tmoble wouldnt even help me at all so i ended up extending my contract and buying a v360 at the "current customer upgrade" price. no credit for the v330 that was for crap...which was THEIR substitution for a v600 bought new with software trouble. See my v360 review.
Nothing but problems
At first I owned the V551 and had nothing but problems. It first would just shut off randomly, I exchanged it. The second, you couldn't hear anything and the 3 button wouldn't work. The third phone I got wouldn't hold a charge. So Cingular sent me a brand new RAZR....which just shuts off randomly as well. I thought that I was just an idiot who couldn't work a cell phone. So I went out and bought the V557. BIG MISTAKE!!! This phone will just shut off or sometimes just blink constantly. Anytime I try to open a text message it takes me about 5 tries...I'm so over the Motorola..I want a decent phone that will actually work!!! Any ideas??? If its a good phone I'm willing to pay!
OK, but with "major" flaws
V557 review, Cingular
I recently transitioned from the Samsung E317 in order to obtain Bluetooth functionality (the e317 lacks bluetooth and requires a propreitary/low performing handsfree wired headphone).
PROs:
1) The exterior display is very clear in any lighting conditions. No key press is required in sunlight, and a single key press of any button gives a "cool blue" display in dark condictions. The display gives the usual time/signal strength display as well as voice/text msg indicators.
2) Flip phone seems durable and precise. Slightly larger than the E317 but easily fits into a jeans pocket.
CONs:
1) Bluetooth: I have the Motorola HS700 headset. Forget 30ft, I had to have the phone in my right pocket close to the phone. Switching to the left pocket produced considerable static. Reproduced this problem several times just to be sure.
2) Reboots: Had to reboot the phone several times in as many days. Customized menus/options frequently just "disappeared". I've never experienced this in a cell phone before and finally just gave up on the customized options.
3) The phone frequently dropped calls upon answering them or just experienced "odd" behovior (e.g. prolonged delays in menu selections).
Summary: If the phone didn't have reliability issues I think it would be a very good phone. But the reliability problems combined with poor BT reception have made up my mind to return the phone tomorrow (first time ever returning a phone). For reference, my priorities in a cell phone are phone reception / call clarity, text messaging, and ease of use. The phone was adequate in the first two, but in the "ease of use" area, I felt like I was having to treat my phone as a problematic computer requiring constant attention... not the complexity I wanted in a phone. I'm making a second try at the Sony Ericson 600i tomorrow.
