Motorola V551 / V330 / V547 / V555 / V557
Average Ratings
good stuff
i had a nokia 3650 for about 1 year or so. then i decide to switch phones because, quite honestly, the nokia is great but man, it's just way too big for me.
i was with att and now i migrated to cingular with a 2 year plan, so i paid 100 and will get a 50 dollar rebate. basically, it's a 50 dollar phone for 2 year plan and 100 for a 1 year plan.
overall the phone is good. i believe the battery life has some issues but it's better than my nokia which would run out of battery after just about 2-3 days on standby.
pros:
mp3 ringers, polyphonic is old, too old, it's time for mp3s to take over
bluetooth (on par with the nokia(s) that have bluetooth, but it's a bit harder to use on this phone)
speaker phone option
loud sounds and ringtones (nokia 3650's ringtones can barely be heard, this phone is loud, even if others complain about the loudness, in my opinion, it's loud and proud)
picture with zoom option is nice!
cons:
address book, i hate with a passion.
low memory storage (pictures, mp3, video, err, 5mb of space is way too low.)
manual is pure crap, it explains nothing at all
video recording is choppy, like someone else said, it's way worse than nokia, and it's true, the resolution may be better than the nokia (in my case, the nokia 3650 is way smoother)
one thing i truely hate is that i can transfer pictures with my nokia 3650 to my computer but the V551 can not for some real odd reason. i use bluetooth but i can only receive and not send. it's sends to the nokia fine, but it has yet to send to my computer.
a little heavy for a small phone, feels like my nokia is lighter even though it's bigger.
i'm giving this phone a 4.0
V551 Addressbook
I've discovered that the address book can be made to act just the way I wanted. Follow the advice below, but to make it cycle through just the numbers for one contact name, arrow-RIGHT, not down. A benefit to arrowing right is that it sets the primary contact as well. For example, if you arrow-right to move from the home number to the cell number for a name entry, it'll "stick" and the cell number will be the default next time you open the address book and look up that same name. In addition, I set my "view" as text only so that I get many more numbers on a screen.
RE:
"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."
V551
I have this phone for a few months now and so far like it a lot. It is way better than my old LG flip and only needs to be recharged every 3-4 days with only moderate use. Have used this phone in the NY/NJ area and in FL with no problems on the Cingular network.
PROs: clear calls, good signal strength, fast connection to network, good battery life (though not as good as Nokia).
CONs: difficult to read the screen during the daytime, have to open phone to push button to activate speaker-phone which could be louder, can't put phone in pocket with other things as side buttons will get pushed and activate light draining the battery. To go through the menu is a pain as it does not appear to have been created to be simple.
Robust and functional
Over the past year both my wife and I have had Samsung S307s, a Motorola V400s, and now we both have V551s. I really like this phone. The S307 was a little too âcuteâ for me. The V551 is a much more robust, functional, and handsome phone. When I upgraded my to the V551, she willingly gave up the âcutenessâ. Her reaction was similar to the old Irish Spring commercial⦠âManly, yes, but I like it tooâ
With the S307, I had a quite a few dropped calls. With the V400, and now the V551, Iâve noticed a significant reduction in the number of dropped calls as well as marked improvement in clarity and reception. I work in downtown Atlanta and those who I talk to on the phone hear little, if any, background noise when Iâm outside.
The screen clarity and definition is magnificent. I also like the fact that you can customize the daylights out of this phone with a variety of âskinsâ to change the look and feel of the user-interface.
It feels more âsolidâ than the V400, which I like. However, being a huge fan of Ultra Man and the Silver Surfer, I prefer an all-silver exterior, which this doesnât have. (but this is very minor and can be changed easily with the purchase of a new faceplate)
Prior to purchasing the V551, I had used V400 for several months and had gotten used to the Send and End main keys as well as the corresponding âsoftkeysâ being âbackwardsâ. With the V551 they switched them so that each key is like most other phones. (To date, Iâve ignored many calls by pressing the wrong button as my reflexes are quicker than my brain, but Iâll get used to it).
Bluetooth is the BOMB! The efficiency of this feature alone is worth the price of admission. Having the video camera is kind of nice, but its novelty wears off pretty quickly. The only time Iâve only used it to show it off to other people. Iâve never used it in a practical manner.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this phone and I highly recommend it...
Motorola V551 Good, but there are some problems...
If it were not for the poorly written, useless manual, and a few issues, I'd give this phone 5 stars. That being said, so far it's a very good phone, packed with many features! And not "disposable" as many new wireless phones are. I wanted a durable, easy-to-dial layout with good sound quality of the V551 sold me!
Unfortunatly though made, the user Motorola V551 interface is NOT very "user" friendly compared to a Nokia or Kyocera. But for the core phone/voice mail features I'm finding my way. No thanks to the awful, incomplete manual!
The sound quality is superb over other "tinny" sounding minatures. The ring/ vibrate tones are good, though more business sounding rings are preferred for the adult business crowd : ) The blue texture is very nice -- I slapped a case on it anyway, to preserve the finish and have a saftey strap that I like.
I have fairly large fingers and did not want the hassle of hard-to-dial "dainty" keypads. This is one of the wider flip-phone models. It's fairly easy to dial, even with gloves on. Dialing with gloves on? Yes! One does find the need to dial with gloves on in colder regions!! : )
As a flip-style phone, I like the security of knowing it's off when I close it. The weight and bulk some complain about is what attracted me to the phone. The Moto V551 feels substantial, and when opened it feels phone-like and cradles my face well. The speaker phone is excellent and I will try out the blue-tooth capabilities soon.
The one phone number per name is unfortunate - a hiearchical phone book is perferred. I am unclear on the SIM vs. Phone storage options reg. contacts and the manual is useless in clarification.
For my basic phone needs I am very satified with the Motorola V551. And it's nice to know I have more "advanced" features/options for future use as I need them.
Good phone
Okay, I am coming from Verizon and an LG 4400 to Cingular and this phone.
I love the phone. I wasn't sure I would at first, because it wasn't what I wanted, but overall I do.
PROS:
1. Most of the phone is customizable to suit me.
2. Bluetooth is a good thing and works nicely with my Mac.
3. MIDI and MP3 ringtones. I use ringtones to determine who is calling me and whether I want to bother finding the phone to answer it. Being able to upload more ringtones is good.
4. Call quality is great.
CONS:
1. The button shortcuts (web button and the toggle button) are not customizable as far as I can tell.
2. Camera. I admit, this is a personal preference, but I don't like them, and I'm finding more and more situations where I can't have a camera phone.
3. Ringtones. I wish it had come with more ringtones standard.
4. Address book. The address book is not intuitive, and needs to be re-worked to make it view based on the contact, not the numbers. (In other words, I don't want a seperate entry for each number.) However, there seems to be an work-around to that, that may work for what I want.
Overall, I highly recommend the phone. 4 out of 5 stars for me is just an indication that it is not "perfect" for me, however, no phone I found is.
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.
The phone was awsome
back in the day i like this better than the razor...i just didnt get use to the flat phones.
Pros: All the same features of the razor
Battery life was awsome
great pictures for VGA
Nice UI
Cons: Receptions in the Bay Area was not as good as my v400 (though i think it was due to te merger)
Built to Last
I have owned this phone since December of 2005. I had used it and only for a brief moment (6-9 months) had a different phone.
Pros:
Strong battery life, easy to navigate menu, good multimedia functions(for 2006) Easy layout to navigate around menu options, alarm times, settings, etc.
Generally gets strong service signal on rogers network. I have had full bars 2+ hours away from major urban centers in cottage country.
Quite durable. Dropped in snow, dropped many times on multiple surfaces and cracked front face piece but did not affect front display.
Camera works alright, videos and picture quality is average.
Cons:
I have had trouble with getting it to charge, bu that was because my charger was partially malfunctioning.
Kind of bulky, does not nit nicely in pockets as well as other phones would.
the 14 second video clip max out time is quite annoying
Overall this model is somewhat outdated, but for a fairly cheap price you can get a reliable and functional cell phone that will last a few good years.
You may not be interested in this model if you like texting a great deal or would like a newer model to access web pages. But for the price and durability for talk-text it is fantastic.
I loved this phone
I got the phone back in 2004 from Cingular Wireless, which is now the new AT&T this was back when I had used that network.
The thing I really liked about this phone is that it is really durable. Really durable. I threw it, spilled water on it, it still worked threw it.
The ending to this phone was that it was giving me screen problems. I had to repeatedly keep opening up and closing the phone. And then it would just stay off. ended up giving it to a friend who thought maybe he could unlock the phone and fix the screen. But he just went to turn it on and the screen worked, and the phone still dialed, and he still uses it currently.
This was my first video phone. I had the LG g300 I think it was, before. It was kind of fat and looked like a pear, and I had that for awhile, but the Moto was a big improvement definetely. I loved it when i had used Cingular, if I still had them I would not even get the vu or any other. This phone is just right for me.
