Motorola V551 / V330 / V547 / V555 / V557
Average Ratings
Excellent
This phone is great. I've had it about a month and love it. Pros and Cons are below.
Pros:
-Great camera quality
-Ringer is loud and plays mp3 ringtones
-Uses bluetooth
-Voice recognition dialiing
-Perfect size, nice solid grip
Cons:
-A little on the heavy side
-Doesn't include phone tools
-Doesn't have changable faceplates
All in all, This is a great phone, can't wait to see what they do with the v635 coming out soon in the U.S.
Great Phone!
I've just switched to Cingular GSM from AT&T TDMA. I purchased the Moto V551 and boy was that a great choice. I got a great deal because of their sale also.
PROs:
Great sound & clarity while talking.
Takes great photos.
Bluetooth sync is wonderful. (Worked with my mac)
Never dropped calls.
Worked well with the cingular.
CONs
After I would get done with a conversation my phone would sometimes turn itself off, after I closed it.
The battery life! Be cautious when you use your phone. I like to text and send messages alot and about a week ago I had sent about 30 messages and that used alot of the battery. When I wanted to talk I had only one bar left in the battery.
Overall a great phone! You go MOTO!
Good Phone
I got this phone as the replacement for my Sony Ericsson Z500a. The phone is excellent. Great reception, awesome screen and camera, and full of features. The only little things that could be better is the battery life (only average, or a little below) and the external antenna. I worry about the (stub) antenna breaking, even though it has not yet. The menus and features are a little bit of a hassle to learn at first, but after you learn them it is no problem. It seems to be pretty solid and of good quality workmanship. I will probably keep this phone at least a year, as long as it holds up. Make this phone with an internal antenna, and include a 1200mah battery, and I would give it a rating of 5. I think all the bugs have been worked out as I have not had any of the problems that the other reviews have complained about. Maybe it is my area, (Minneapolis/St. Paul) but the reception is excellent. Far better than my old TDMA service from the former AT&T. It beats T-Mobile anywhere in Minnesota! The phone even works up in the north woods at our lake home. Fantastic value at $69.99 after mail-in rebate. If you can still get one for $69.99, don't hesitate! Don't waste your money on a RAZR, even the Cingular employees admit this is a far better phone, just not as much a "fashion accessory"
Great Phone
The V551 is a great phone. It has great service in my region. The external antenna makes the service better. Overall this is a good phone.
Pros Cons
has bluetooth and
clear speakerphone No MP3s
not a great camera
great service okay battery life
okay camera
loud ringtones
Excellent Phone
Phone Model: Motorola v551
Service: Cingular Wireless
Location: East Tennessee
I am a geek, and I love the many features of this phone. The exterior is very classy and professional, and textured, for the best grip I have ever had on a phone. The phone is slightly heavy, but the keys are large and have a satisfying "click" to them. The screen is large and bright, except in direct sunlight, but I notice considerable washout when viewed from any odd angle. Therefore, taking pictures can be tricky. When you hold the phone at arm's legnth to take a picture, the screen can be rendered unviewable. Many aspects of the phone can be changed, such as most key assignments, what order a menu appears in, as well as the ringtones and background images. The Bluetooth wireless radio is quite convenient, and the ability to sync the phonebook with Outlook is necessary, in my book.
I have had NO problems with this phone and dropped calls, poor call quality, or any other complaints of that nature.
PROs
-> Large keys
-> Brilliant Screen
-> Texture on case
-> Professional Looking Case
-> Many advanced features
-> Battery life- great, even after considering I have the BT radio on all the time, but...
CONs
-> ...the battery life might still be too short for some people.
-> May be too large for some people's taste
-> Texture may cause problems with certain tight-fitting cases
The v551 is a great buy, although I would make sure you need all the features this phone offers. Else, I would reccomend the v180, also a good phone for those who need a more basic phone.
Working Out the Quirks
I think this is an excellent phone. I am a sales agent and have not had a ton of complaints about the phone. One complaint is dealing with the issue of freezing up. This phone does not work well with a 32k SIM card. The problem is usually completely done away with when a 64k card is inserted
Pros:
Ability to copy phonebook all at one time.
Good reception and earpiece quality.
Well Built, sturdy
Quad Band
Bluetooth
Its the phone, not the network
I recently sent my v551 back to motorola to be repaired because I was dropping calls excessively. I work for cingular, and I know its not the gsm network because my Nokie 6230 works wonderfully... So maybe its a fluke, and I just got a bad phone, but the reception leaves something to be desired. Other than that, Motorola seems to wow me with how well their features work, like the camera and video, bluetooth, etc... I love the concept of the v551; I just didn't have a good experience with it
ATTWS/Cingular V551
I replaced my V600 with the V551 and so far am very happy. Gain Edge for data with the V551 over the V600 and also video capture. Very easy to download my V600 phone book, pictures and ring tones using Moto's Mobile Phone Tools. I used Blue-tooth to do this and it went off without a hitch and was very, very easy to do.
Pros:
1) Reception
2) Signal Strength
3) Blue Tooth
4) Quad band international usable
Cons:
1) Moto's clunky menus
2) Multiple entries per name, rather than one
3) Stubby antenna, may break off if not careful.
Overall I am very pleased with the V551.
I HAVEN"T HAD GOOD LUCK WITH THIS PHONE
I got this phone because I had tried the v300 with T-Mobile and I really liked it. This phone looked the same but wasn't. I really just want a phone but it's hard to get anything without a camera these days.
Pros
good size
sturdy
speaker phone works well
compatible with older Motorola accessories (car charger, etc.)
Cons
Reception is HORRIBLE - I tried 2 phones and they both had this whooshing noise whenever I was connected.
They changed the call and hang-up keys (our old phones and the v300 are opposite)
Since the reception is so bad I really have no use for this phone.
At this point I don't know if the problem is Cingular or the phone. I am pretty frustrated with Motorola. The v180, v220, and the v551 all have different power connections, why aren't they compatible with themselves?
