Motorola V551 / V330 / V547 / V555 / V557
Average Ratings
V551
Pro's-
-Great screen
-Bluetooth (and will allow you to send Outlook contacts without using special software)
-Lots of memory
-Great speakerphone
Con's -
-Horrendous battery life (the sign at the -Cingular store claimed 7 hours of talk time - I am lucky if I get 2.5)
-Poor menu layout
-Painful to scoll through contact names (you can type a "3" twice to send you to the top of the "E"'s in your contact list, but then must manually scroll down to the correct name - most phones allow you to keep entering letters to accellerate the name search process)
Better Than Most
Let me preface by saying I have used AT&T GSM since its inception in my area. I have used a Nokia 6200, SE t616, and t637.
The Motorola phone is by far the best rounded of them all. There is no perfect phone but this is as close as its going to get.
Design: This phone has a very solid feel to it and has some weight( which I view as positive).
The rubber coating and rubber contact points on the phone will stop it from sliding if you put it down in you car. A+
Screen: Its magnificent. Bright, crystal clear, and sharp. The small outside screen is nice too and can be seen in direct sunlight or lit for night.A+
RF: Not quite as good as my Sony T637 but still pretty good. Much better than the Nokia. This is very subjective because who really knows how each manufacturer calibrates their bar signal strength. It works most everywhere I need it to. A+
Phonebook: Typical Motorola. Some like it some don't. You will get used to it. A-
Menus: Again typical Motorola. Nice and fast and you can customize EVERYTHING on the phone. A
Camera: Nice quality, Zoom, Video, Brightness control. Its really allot of fun, but there is no phone that will replace your digital camera so stop comparing the two. A
Battery life: I get 4-5 days with moderate use. It really depends on what type of signal strength you get. Lower strength higher battery usage. A
Browser: This phone has EDGE and when you can use it its great! The browser is as good if not better than anyone else's. A
Bluetooth: If you have never used it you are missing out. I dont use it for a headset but to connect to other phones and computers. It works great. You can add shortcuts on your main phone screen to expedite turning it on and off. A+
Speakerphone: Never had a phone with a better speakerphone. Great volume and clarity! A+
This is by no means the perfect phone , but its close. Motorola doesnt preload allot of games but if that interests you you can get pleanty of them on the internet.Ear and ring vol are great too.
I give it a 5.
Good Phone
I got this phone on 12/24/04. Switched from Verizon to Cingular in the New York Metro Area after being with Verizon for about 4 years. Couldn't stand Verizon's horrible phone selection and their business practices. After about 1 week of use, I find this to be one of the best Motorola phones i've ever used.
PROS:
Sound quality is excellent. Speakerphone is great and can be used with the flip closed.
Bluetooth functionality is a plus and it pairs well the Logitech Mobile Freedom Headset. Haven't tried connecting the phone over bluetooth with my pc yet.
Internal color screen is very vivid and text is very sharp. Phone is solidly constructed unlike the cheap build of the V710 from Verizon Wireless.
Battery life is pretty good. I can go about 2.5 days without charging the phone.
Camera is decent for a cell phone. Haven't seen what the pictures look like on my PC yet.
CONS:
The Cingular button on the keypad is annoying. You can press it by accident so easily which starts the web browser. You get charged by the KB. I've already transferred 27000 bytes. Wish there was a way to disable that button
Menus are not very intuitive. It's hard to find certain settings as you have to dig deep in sub-menus.
The user manual is garbage. The person who wrote it should be fired. A lot of different functions of the phone aren't even described in the manual so you really have no idea what they do.
Overall:
This phone is a great value and I highly recommend it.
its good
this phone is great. i like that i can lock parts off my phone, like the phone book and internet. i like the grip. my reception is great, i right out side of wash dc so its a busy area. 1,000# phonebook is helpful. i like that i can close my phone when on the speaker phone.
i don't like the instruction book. unlike my SE616, this phone does not tell me what certain things are for; the book is not that great. But the more i use the phone the more i learn on my own.
all around the phone is a great buy. when my friends and i compare phones (who's the best) i have lost of things to say this phone has.
Best Cingular phone for Cincinnati
I received this phone as a Christmas gift. I've been with Verizon the last two years, though never quite happy with their phone selection.
I tried a Sony Ericsson T616 with Cingular, and the reception was horrid. However, with the V551, I have twice as many bars. Yes, Cingular did raise the bar with the V551.
Pros:
Feels great- the blue rubber on the outside feels great to touch and hold.
Great quality- the buttons feel tactile and the hinge opens quietly and doesn't feel as if it will break off
Customizable- customizable menus, buttons, phonebook, settings
Speakerphone- quality speakerphone, though a little quiet, even at full volume
External display- I'm glad it's not color and it has a really nice blue color scheme, and shows up without pushing a button. Can be seen in daylight
Bluetooth- works well and able to pick up my Bluetooth devices quickly
Reception- best reception of any Cingular phone I've tried, in the Cincinnati area. Full signal at my house
Battery- although many have said the battery life is bad, I think it is quite good. I'm able to get about five hours of talk time. My mom's been using her V551 for several months, and gets the same. Perhaps it is the excellent reception in our area?
Cons:
Main menu- many useless icons. Not able to change the items
Phonebook- entering names is tedious, when saving to the SIM card. Saving to the phone is MUCH easier (but I won't do this)
Ringtones- not enough standard (non-music), resonable tones for business situations
Bluetooth menu- buried in the Settings menu
I can live with the few cons. Try out this phone before posting a review! You'll enjoy the way it feels in your hand and you'll enjoy good reception (tested in Cincinnati, Orlando and Sebring).
Not the worst phone, definitely not the best.
So I was excited to get this phone, it's my first motorola since my timeport years ago and I couldn't wait to give it a try. That being said. I kind of hate this phone... but i'll start with my pro list.
Pros:
- Camera is decent, better then many other motorolas I've seen and played with.
- Mp3 ringers are nice, easy to add with bluetooth as well.
- The address book with pictures option (while basically useless) Is also something creative which I like.
- Bluetooth with my iBook for file transferring was perfect and took 1 minute to setup.
And now for the reasons which I HATE this phone.
Cons:
- Like many know... the ADDRESS BOOK IS STUPID. 1 number per name? Dumb, having to change around options to fix that problem, even dumber. Not to mention with picture mode on your address book, or even not picture mode, the thing is sooo slow.
- The entire PHONE moves slow. The web scrolling moves are horrible speeds and so does cruising through the menu. I often find that the phone is trying to catch up with my last input of keys. It makes me feel like I'm using an old computer that just doesn't quite cut it anymore.
- The menu system?! Wtf is wrong with motorola! The menu system has NO order to it whatsoever. Not all the settings are in settings, actually, only about half of the phones settings are in settings. The other half of them are located in hidden places within the phone and when you finally do find them it's like discovering a new treasure and something you can use. Having the scout out and discover all the features and settings on the phone through various menus is very annoying.
- The web button. I usually don't look at my keypad when I dial. Every once in awhile i hit that damn button and up pops cingular web, not to mention while I'm on the web and someone sends me a text message... if I receive it the phone screens turns white and I lose everything I was doing.
I just feel there wasn't a lot of thought put into this phone with the user in mind.
Great bang for the buck phone....
I have the V551 through Cingular and overall am pleased with the phone.
Exterior is stylish and attractive, and the clock being on constant display without having to press any buttons is a nice convenience.
The main screen is large and sharp, the keys are easy to select and press, and the backlight glow is very nice.
I particularly enjoy the memory of the phone; I have a bunch of pictures and ringtones stored and plenty of room for more. This is a welcome change from the Samsung S307 I was using previously...
Camera quality is decent when you can get them to focus in adequate light. Pictures are sometimes a bit darker than I'd prefer, and I have a big problem with pictures blurring as they're saved. Video quality is sub-par, but pretty much to be expected from a cell phone. More or less for "bragging rights" than any riveting cinematography.
Menu navigation is relatively straightforward...there are so many extraneous features and settings to the phone that it just takes some playing around and getting used to. Previous Moto users will find themselves right at home after just a few minutes.
Luckily, I have also not experienced the typical Motorola "software issues" so commonly present in the likes of T720, V220, and even V400. The phone has never frozen up or gone blank on me, and typically responds immediately when asked to do something.
Speaker quality is very nice. Ringtones sound great from this phone and the speakerphone is a nice convenience though occasionally I wish it could go a bit louder. Overall phone volume is good, but maybe a level setting to 8 or 9 instead of just 7 would be nice. The vibration setting is more loud than physically detectable, and it's annoying that you can't make a vib & ring selection.
Battery life could be better.
I give the phone a 4 out of 5... great value for the dollar as far as features and overall quality. My only complaints are relatively minor and would exist with ownership of any phone. Highly recommended!
Keypad could be improved
This phone looks cool. Im glad they are adding more color to the case besides all silver. The keypad could be bigger, especially the soft function keys around the up/down arrow button which are way to small and close together, unless your fingers are the size of an ant. The Sanyo phones have small keys too. The best keypad seems to be the LG models but Cingular doesnt carry an LG that has a speakerphone which I needed. Another thing I noticed is the beep the phone makes when you press a key is way too quiet even when turned up all the way (useful if you text enter text in a noisy place). This phone didnt come with many ring tones or wall paper and no games were included. Cingular might have done this on purpose to get you to download them from their website at $1.99-$2.99 per download. The phone has both picture and video. The video is not worth much since you cant record long clips without running out of memory. IMHO they could leave the video part off and just have pictures only since it is more of a toy gimmic than anything else. Ill keep this phone until something better comes out thats affordable.
My Favorite Phone-And I've Had A Few
This phone is my favorite, and i have had a few. I like the outside, blue and silver looks really nice. The Screen is friggen awesome. Speaker-Phone comes in handy(more than you'd think). So let me list the pros and cons
Pro:
Nice Screen
Nice Looks
Nice Battery Life(5 to 6 days. If you dont fiddle around with it too much).
Nice Setup
Nice Pics
Alot of customization features
Video is really cool, a bit choppy though
Cons:
Pics are only nice if the phone can adjust to the setting your in, other wise they suck
video is choppy
I love this phone, maybe you will too.
I would have liked the Razor, but to much money for it. If you got 500 dollars, check that one out
Excellent phone with Cingular
I have been very impressed with this phone. I'm able to get signal where my wife's v220 can not. The screen quality is excellent and the pictures I've taken so far are better than I expected from my cell phone (although I don't have high expectations for photos. If I want a picture I'll use my digital camera.) The only con I've discovered with this phone is the owner's manual. The manual is not always clear on functions and is not user friendly. I can usually skim a manual and understand, but that's not the case here.
