Motorola V551 / V330 / V547 / V555 / V557
Average Ratings
great phone!!
I just got this phone yesterday after dumping my Motorola 120t. This phone does everything I want it to and more. I live in rural Maine and I get great reception on this phone thanks to the ever expanding GSM network. The battery life is decent as well. I found this phone to be the best value at the Cingular shop.
Great Phone!
I really like the V551 phone. With my husband being a truck driver I figured I would have a hard time reaching him and hearing him. But found out that was not the case. We talk for hours on end and we can hear each other great. We have 5 kids together and there is a lot of times that he wants to talk to them all at the same time so we use the speaker phone and I have very little trouble with it.
As far as the camera goes it works great most of the time. My husband enjoys getting pictures of the family since he misses a lot of the things that goes on. And I in return can receive great pictures of places that he has been that neither I nor the kids get to see. The only thing that I have found out that I do not like about the camera is that when you send it in an email or try to store it on the computer is does not turn out very well, it is very blurry.
The hands free and voice activated is great. Then again it makes my husbands job a little easier. He can have the phone answer by it self and be hands free, so that he can drive safer. And the voice activated part also works great I have not yet had to repeat myself on it.
All You Need And Then Some
After a long wait and many discussions with people who have this phone I finally have picked up a V551 and let me say first off I work as a Tech for Cingular Wireless and am somewhat skeptical about Motorolas with all the calls we get in about them.
So with that out of the way after having the phone for about a week now I have to say I am impressed. After helping hundreds upon hundreds of customers with this same phone...I have to say I now know that it had to all just be operator error. This phone has everything and then some and it works flawlessly if you know what you are doing.
This phone has just about everything a person could want in a PHONE...if I had to say this is about as close as you can get to a PDA next to the Ericsson S710a this is 2nd in line in my book for phones.
PROS -
-Awesome sound quality
-Display colorful and easy to navigate
-Features (All you could ask for) Bluetooth, MP3 ringtones, Email, Sync Capabilities, EDGE, Voice Connect, etc.
-Superb camera
-Size...yea some people think its a little heavier and bigger...but thats a great quality. You don't want something you feel you are going to break.
-Great signal anywhere I go even at work.
CONS -
-Battery life could be a bit longer
-Contact list could be more user friendly
-More memory would be a plus
That is about all I have to say about this great phone. If you are looking to buy a PHONE that has all the goodies then this is the phone for you. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!
Solid Phone with some Quirks
After using this phone for about 2 months, I've come to the conclusion that it is a very good phone, though it has some quirks that you must be able to accept to like the phone.
The v551 is not the most attractive looking phone, but is still distinctive. The rubbery blue exterior offers excellent grip when holding the phone and is more resistant to minor bumps and scraps than your average plastic phone. The v551 has a nice weight to it, feeling significant and well built, not extremely light as if made of cheap plastic like some phones. Some people may not like the greater weight, but I personally like it. The phone's size is just about right for me, not too big to be a pain, and not too small to be easy to lose or hard to use.
The v551 comes with about every feature you could want in a mid to high-end phone. It's quad band, has bluetooth, camera, and even some video capability. The camera isn't going to make you throw away your regular digital camera, but does a decent job for quick pics. The bluetooth worked great with my motorola headset.
The phone does have some significant "quirks" though. As with most Motorolas, the interface is not the easiest to learn, and some menus are needlessly buried or complicated, though practice will make it easier to manage. The phone will also occassionally "freeze" during a call and drop signal. The reception meter will go to zero and the screen will turn completely white for about 10 sec before everything goes back to normal and you have to remake the call. Happens maybe 3 or so times a week depending on how many calls I make.
The v551 does a good job of pulling signal doing a noticeably better job that my old Sony t616 and my friends' LG1400 and Samsung x427.
Pros:
Many features (bluetooth, camera, video etc.)
Solid feel and construction
nice screen
good reception
good call volume
Cons:
the usual motorola interface
phone will freeze semi-regularly
battery-life only average
current time not shown during calls
This Phone is Good
this phone is good if u want all the latest features and eveything. the look is great, even though a little bulky, but its good.
Pros
-Camera( good resolution)
-Video Recording (Okay resolution)
-Bluetooth
-Edge
-Email
-Mp3 Ringtones
Cons
-Signal Stregth is bad with some calls dropped with the ATT/Cingular network its worse than my v220 which never had calls dropped with the ATT/Cingular
-Menu organizaion is okay
Overall this phone is good if u like all the latest features. the camera is great, and the resolution turns out good even when u send it to a computer. the video recording is good also, but u cannot compare a a camcorder and a cell phone video cam, so dont expect too much from teh video recording.
best phone i've owned so far..
I've had moto's before, this one is the best so far. Finest camera quality so far in any camera phone, calls are clear, speaker phone works great when I'm driving. Data seems to run a little slow. Helpful hint I've heard with this phone: Power cycle it off about every 3 days for a minute or two. The phone will accept updates over the network when the phone is off.
Battery needs a couple of hours to charge more than I'm used to, but no big deal.
AAAAAA++++++
Only two problems
First, I want to say that this is the best phone I have ever owned. It has all the features that I want, and with a little bit of customization it works exactly like I wish.
You know all the great things it has. Here are my problems.
1st. The camera aperature is recessed. WHY? It only gets filled with pocket lint and then I have to clean it out everytime I go to use it.
2nd. Why is the name menu so slow? My Nokia would scroll as fast as my little finger could push the button. With my V551 I am now famillar with the "bong" tone that lets me know that I have pressed the down button too fast.
Everything else is GREAT.
PRO
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.
Nice phone but terrible battery
I've had this phone for about two weeks now on the Cingular network. I've got a motorola bluetooth wireless headset to go with it. I love the phone's features and the downloadable ringtones/wall paper and the wireless headset works great. The only drawback is the poor battery life. I have to charge the phone every 24-36 hours and that's only making a couple of short calls a day. I've tried buying a new battery from Cingular but it's the same story. I used to own a V60i which could go 4-5 days without charging so I'm a little disappointed in this new phone.
Feature Packed Phone Low Signal Strength
Pros: Lots of nice features. Crisp clear display.
Cons:
Small outside display.
Low signal strength inside my home and office building.
I am using the phone with Cingular service in the Houston, TX metroplex. I work from a home office. Whenever I am home I have little to no bars at all. My daughter has an LG C1300 which is also Cingular. It has perfect reception anywhere in my home. The same scenario applies inside the office building of my best client.
I am seriously considering returning the phone for an LG 1400.
