With Bluetooth, a VGA camera and a large color display, as well as support for high speed data and video capture, the V551 is a powerful mobile companion. It's the perfect complement to Cingular Wireless service.
Design
Click the image to get a closer look at the V551's features. |
The phone features a sleek clamshell design with a large 176 x 220 color display with 65,000 colors. The outside cover of the handset sports a supplementary 96 x 32 blue monochrome display that can display time, call information, battery and signal strength, and more. The VGA camera lens and self-portrait mirror is housed above this display. A stub antenna is placed on the top right side of the unit, next to the phone's headset jack. Volume buttons are placed on the left side, while a one-touch camera button is on the right. Most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's control pad. A combined charging and USB data cable port is placed on the bottom of the phone.
Calling Features
The V551's internal phone book can hold up to 1000 contacts while the phone's picture ID system allows you to assign pictures to your most common callers. It also supports polyphonic ringtones as well as MP3 ringers, allowing you to use portions of your favorite songs to alert you to incoming calls. A number of ringtones come preloaded on the phone and more ringtones can be downloaded from Cingular Wireless' MEdia service. There's even an included application, MotoMixer, that lets you mix your own ringtones. For times when you want to be discreet, there's a vibrating alert. A built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear while voice activated dialing makes calling your friends, family and associates as easy as saying their names.
Because the V551 is Bluetooth enabled, wireless headsets can be configured with the phone for total handsfree operation. The phone supports Cingular's "Fast Forward" call forwarding device, which enables you to effortlessly forward your wireless calls to your land-line phone.
Messaging, Internet and Tools
The V551 is a messaging and wireless Internet powerhouse. Support is built in for sending and receiving pictures, text, graphics, sound and video via messages. When used in combination with the phone's built-in still and video camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. Instant messaging is also supported via AOL Instant Messenger and the phone ships with a built-in email client with support for POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP protocols (Cingular messaging charges apply). There's also a built-in web browser for MEdia downloads and mobile web browsing. Cingular's MEdia service lets you receive and send emails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more. iTap text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit-- a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.
Getting on the Internet is easy with the V551. It supports the GPRS protocol, as well as the new, high speed EDGE data protocol. When used with a Cingular data plan and the phone's Bluetooth or USB data capability, the phone can be used as a wireless modem for laptops and PDAs.
A number of handy software tools are bundled with the V551 including a voice memo recorder, a calculator, a calendar and an alarm clock. Use the V551's Bluetooth capability to set up a wireless link with a Bluetooth accessory or connect to a computer or hand-held device to exchange and synchronize data. The phone also supports the SyncML PC synchronization standard, which means it can be used with Motorola's Mobile Phone Tools PC application to manage and synchronize contacts, calendar and other data with your PC.
Imaging and Entertainment
The V551 shines in the entertainment department. The phone's VGA camera can capture stills and clips with up to 15 seconds of video, both of which can be sent to your friends via MMS messaging or email, or to your PC via USB or Bluetooth. The phone is capable of MPEG4 video playback when you receive a video message. Meanwhile, an included image-editing application lets you modify the pictures you take before you send picture messages. The V551 also supports custom graphics for wallpapers so you can dress up the phone to suit your fancy.
Support for gaming is built into the phone and games are available for download via the Cingular MEdia service.
Vital Statistics
The Motorola V551 weighs 4.23 ounces and measures 3.5 x 1.93 x .97 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3.75 hours of digital talk time, and up to 225 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the 800/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
What's in the Box
V551 handset, lithium-ion battery, travel charger, user's manual.
1 Phone decent - one disappointment
So I chose this over the Razr because of all the rotten reviews and complaints I've heard from people who own it. I almost wish I had gone with the Razr (just for the looks). This phone is great and sounds clear - I have great reception and get better reception than my boyfriend who has the same carrier. The sound is clear and the menu options are waaaay better than I remember. (I was against Motorola because I liked the Nokia menus) The only problem I see is that on the pictures I saw through Amazon the picture caller ID fills up the entire screen - NOT TRUE - I got this phone excited to try out the picture caller ID and once I assigned a pic and got my first call on it I opened it to see a dinky little picture within a small menu pop up. Worthless! I don't even use it now. I have looked up online and checked the manual to fix this problem with NO luck. It is slightly irritating and now that I have been looking longer the ericsson s710a looks to be awesome and as soon as I can upgrade I am getting that phone! Which brings me to another gripe - I love Amazon BUT Amazon does not allow exchanges! Come on - I got this phone for the great deals BUT my mom got the same phone for free at the Cingular store and has the option to exchange it. I thought Amazon was great with their cell phone deals but I would never do it again - just go to the carrier themselves - believe it or not they have just as good deals with exchange options and their rebates don't take 8 months to redeem (slight exageration but still...) Read closely to note that rebates from Amazon require a paid cingular bill so it will be quite a while before you see a rebate check. Otherwise great phone and so far great service carrier (I was at t-mobile previously - glad I switched). And not to go on forever - but those switching to cingular will be pleased with the service and network calling but will be disappointed with their media plans. text messaging and browsing are charged at ridiculous prices. Also their ringtones and graphics charge not just for the ringtone but also for the download of it. HORRIBLE compared to tmobile.
2 It's pretty good phone but not without it's flaws.
People have pretty much commented on the pros and cons and I won't repeat. But just to give you an idea of the sloppiness of the design team. The phone has a nice speaker phone on th eback of the phone. That's ok but it also means that you want to use it with the phone folded. You would think that a standard feature of the phone would be to answer calls on speaker when the phone is folded by hitting the smart button and then disconnecting by hitting it again. Nope and it's not programable. Smart button is a dumb button.
Another annoyance. Let's say you want ot adjust the volume of the ringer while the phone is folded. Easy huh? Nope, you have to switch through some preset modes by clicking on the smart button. Too bad if none of the modes have the right volume for the situation.
Other annoyances are reflecting facets which blind you with sunlight just when you're trying to read the screen.
No games and if you want some you have to pay for them and the download so you're double charged. Come on. Talk about extortionate practices. Just charge once please and don't force us to sign up for more service packages.
I made the mistake of getting my phone through sbc and paid for it. Given that you get paid if buy it here it's not so bad for what you pay.
3 Some are V551'sgood some are bad
I am a a former AT&T customer, now Cingular "blue". My first example of this phone had a firmware bug (that is well known on some of the cingular forums) that would cause the phone to reset when you tired to change SKINS. Also the battery life was under 24 hours. This phone was locked to AT&T SIMS and had cingular logos one it (the cingular logo key and start up logos). It would not work with a Cingular SIM even though it was completely branded Cingular.
The replacement phone (new still during 30 day period) had no cingular key or cingular start up screens (only an "MMode" screen. It came with more ringers and did not have the firmware bug. I have run it 48 hours on a charge and still had three bars of battery showing. It too is locked to AT&T SIMS.
For the most part I like this phone. Bluetooth functionality is not as nice as my Treo 650 (Sprint). Pictures are fine for 640x480 camera. Time and caller id are nice on outside. Size is a bit larger than some but for many users this will be a plus.
CONS:
Phones are locked so you cant use them with local SIMS if you travel overseas. Most Cingular/ATT phones are like this but some are easier to unlock than others.
MOTO tools is not a free program, they charge for it. Should be a free download. You still have to buy the cable.
Speaker phone speaker should be on front like the Sprint Sanyos, so you can hear it.
PRO's
Nice display,
Enough ringer options (on the ATT version)
Loud enough for me
Enough customization to get it to work the way I want.
Didn't evaluate data (costs too much on Cingular/att)
4 phones unlimited picture/data +100 SMS =40 bucks on Sprint. Close to 100 on Cingular.
Biggest issues are with cingular not this phone, price of data plans and unlocking policy for ATT customers which is they won't EVER do it!
4 Motorola V551: good reception, bad design. Get Nokia 6230.
First of all, I've used Sony Ericsson T610 with both Cingular and T-Mobile service and found them comparable in Los Angeles (Verizon is best here). From comparing all three phones (Nokia 6230, Sony Ericsson T610, and Motorola V551) with Cingular service, I've discovered that there is a *BIG* difference in phone reception quality.
Phone reception quality is as follows: Nokia 6230 > Motorola V551 >> Sony Ericsson T610. The Sony Ericsson T610 had no reception in my apartment, the Nokia 6230 has great reception everywhere.
Overall phone quality: Nokia 6230 > Sony Ericsson T610 >> Motorola V551. (Though if reception is most important, you might rank Motorola V551 over SE T610)
Here are pros/cons of Motorla V551:
Motorola v551
PROS:
-Much better reception than T610
-The clock and reception bars on the flip cover are convenient.
CONS:
-Bad battery life
-Bluetooth: requires Motorola Phone Tools software, costing $25, to sync contacts with PC => disappointing.
-Bulky (large phone, didn't like external antenna)
-Disappointed with operating system...there were no cool features, "silent" and "contacts" were more difficult to navigate to than with T610 and Nokia 6230
-Other reviewers claim Motorola phones are most susceptible to viruses. Not currently a problem in US, but possibly in the future.
Nokia 6230 is worth the extra $.
5 I've had a good experience with this phone
I've had this phone for about four months now, and I haven't had a single technical problem with mine, even after a couple of typical drops on paved surfaces. I do charge it every night; however, I've found that the Bluetooth radio makes a very significant difference in battery life, which may spur some of the complaints about the shorter battery life than the V400 (no BT capability on that one). It is possible to turn off the BT radio if you don't need it for any accessories or connections. My charge lasts for several days if I do this. I really don't feel inconvenienced by charging daily and leaving BT on, though.
In general, the phone has great screen quality (compared directly to my friends' V400s), great speakerphone and polyphonic ringtone capability, great sound quality at both ends, great voice dialing performance (very useful with headset), and I'm entirely satisfied with the camera, considering it IS a cellphone camera.
I'll admit the interface was a bit cumbersome at first, but it's VERY customizable with changeable function keys, shortcuts, and menu orders. I find mine very efficient since I've tweaked it to suit my tastes and usage.
Additionally, contrary to some previous reviews, I have successfully transferred both information (phone book, etc.) and media (pictures, ringtones, etc.) to and from the phone with my Bluetooth adapter on my PC, without using Cingular's services. I did have some trouble getting it to work initially, but I found that it was my firewall getting in the way (remember, Bluetooth IS a network connection).
I suppose my one complaint is the conspicuous absence of games (only comes with a Bejeweled demo), but in the end it doesn't really bother me. I could buy a game for $4 if I really wanted one.
Overall, I find the phone very feature-rich and high quality, efficient to use once customized, and as rugged as the average cellphone.
6 This is a so-so phone
I bought this phone in replacement of my lost v400, I was really excited about this new model I got, however, not everything's perfect, I'd like to share with my thought with whoever will buy this phone, but again, the choice is yours :)
(...)
the good
1. good battery
2. SUPERB DISPLAY, there are 3 themes came with the phone, nice and pretty
3. you can take videos
4. good reception, headset and speakerphone works great
(...)
the bad
1. camera quality is SURPRISINGLY low, my old v400 took better picture than v551 :(, for example, when you switch your phone to night view in the dark, it will start picking up any brightness(such as street lamp) and that one single light source will WASH OUT the entire picture completely, very disappointed
2. I wish they have better design for the look of the phone(outside)
3. polyphonic ringtone is great, but you can't hear it too well even if you turn it to loud mode(unless you set your ring to be "siren" or "continental", those are pretty loud)
4. the video file you took will be in '3gp' format, which I have no idea what kind of software can play it if I transfer it onto my pc, I guess it can only be view on the phone
(...)
I hope these comments help!
*answer to the question from below, you move your cursor to the time you want to edit, below the screen you'll see "disable" click on that to disable/enable the alarm clock, if you want to edit it, simply click on the stript bar(the bottom with 3 horizontal line) and choose "edit", you should be able to edit your time...good luck, if any more question, feel free to e-mail me
7 Does anyone know how to reset the alarm clock feature?
I just purchased this phone recently and for the amount of features and options that come with phone the manual is pretty much useless. They might as well not even give you one. There are certain features that I have no clue what they do, whether or not it would be better for me to change them of turn them off etc. Battery definetily could last longer. Does anybody know how to clear out the alarm clock so I can start entering new times. After you enter 5 times you can't enter anymore and I am not sure how to erase them so I can start entering new times again.
8 Warning, Not a good buy!
I've had wireless devices for 20 years. This is the worst one. I have had to return my Moto V551 phone 2 times and replace the battery once. The first time was within the 30 day Cingular warranty for volume problems. The second was for volume and bluetooth not working. After 30 days you can only get a refurbished phone up to 1 year via the provided Cingular warranty.
- Battery Time is awful. I get about a day out of a charge.
- The volume level is too low. You can't hear callers.
- The camera/video quality is very low.
- Bluetooth to PC usage is cumbersome.
- When you open the shell beyond what is I find to be an uncomfortable angle to use, it feels as if it will break off.
- Your stuck with the case it comes with. No color options I am aware of.
- Official Motorola Accessories, cases, headset, etc. can be found at WalMart and at cheaper proces than the Cingular store.
In addition. Since migrating from ATT, I have found Cingular to rate at an unacceptable level for Customer Service, repair, dropped calls, return merchandise, hold time, customer side web site not functioning, etc.
It has been my experience that the "Sony T637" and just about any Nokia device are a better choice. Cingular is the best deal pricewise in my neighborhood but you get what you pay for...
9 Liked my Samsung X426 better
I just bought this phone about 3 weeks ago, b/c i wanted to be cool and have mp3 ringtones. I found the price to be reasonable. One good thing, is that I don't have any dropped calls, which I did with my Samsung X426. Other than that, the menus are bulky and not user friendly. The manual does not tell you how to do anything.
The battery on this phone is absolutely scandelous. I constantly have to have the thing connected to the charger, at home and work, b/c I am afraid that I will actually need the phone in an emergency and the battery will be drained. The battery will drain the same day after it is charged. My Samsung could go on standby for over a week. The battery is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Also, I still cannot figure out how to get the phone to alert me when I have a text message or voice mail. My Samsung would constantly beep or make noises to notify me that I had a message. I have lost several messages and spontaneous appointments b/c I am not around my phone when I receive the message, and the phone is not around me. I would sure hope that this can be changed. One simple, one time beep is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
The volume control sucks also, the loudest volume level is still too soft, you may need a hearing aid to hear the phone ring.
I would go with nokia and stay away from motorola, motorola seems to be a company that does not get it.
10 Mechanically, it's a good phone -- but poor user interface.
My only gripe with this phone is that Motorola's user-interface just doesn't have an apparent logic to it, and as a result you have to dig out the user manual time and again.
Also, if you use reading glasses, you will probably need them with this phone b/c there is no option to make the tiny letters in the display any larger, as is the option with some other phone brands.
11 Do yourself a favor, go with Verizon
Cingulars customer service totally sucks. They made me hold 2 hours every time to get a warranty exchange on my phone, and finally had to pay $175 to disconnect the service. I regret changing over from Verizon, really do.
12 Phone is hot!
This phone is hot! Looks good, has a lot packed into it. The only thing questionable is the battery, but that's only if you're constantly using the phone and if you don't charge it properly (let the battery die after each charge for a couple of days). Otherwise, the battery is not bad. Picture quality is great (even when zooming in), video quality is good. Instruction manual not too useful, but it's very easy to find out a lot of features just by exploring. Speakerphone is great (especially when playing MP3 ringers)! Cop this phone...especially if you're gettin a new plan!
13 Hot and Cold
This phone replaced my nokia 6340i. (I'm debating returning it)
Major Gripe: You CANT unload photos, messages, videos, ringtones, themes ... anything useful via bluetooth to your PC. You have to spend $$$$ per item transfering them over the cingular network! (like .40/pic) WHAT A RIP!
Pros: Well built, nice display, outstanding voice signal quality, better "bars" than my nokia, good ring tones, useful
but low res photos.
Cons: No useful direct to bluetooth/pc transfers. It might be
possible to reflash the phone. But, what a money grab!
motorola's website raves about all the connectivity this phone
has, and then cingular disables it to pick your pocket.
To be fair, it might be possible using a usb cable, Ill write
back and see. If it can't, my phone is going back.
14 Still A Good Phone....BUT...
This was my first review of this phone. I gave it five big stars....
I was a little skeptical about getting any new phone. I was quite attached to my samsung x426, but it was old, and outdated and didn't have some of the newer features that I needed and wanted.
I'm surprised, but I'm very very happy with my motorala v551. It's not as sleek and pretty as my samsung, but it's more stylish than I had originally thought and it's got a nice feel to it. Good weight and soft blue exterior - it feels quality. The screen is just as big and bright as my samsung and the interface is easy to use.
Text messaging is great and fast! It anticipates exactly what I'm meaning to say...can a phone read your mind?? This one tries and does a good job. Ha! *kidding* The camera and video is good for a phone. And you can take pictures of your friends and have their faces in your address book. You can also assign different rings to each person in your address book. It has a crystal clear speaker phone, the reception is great, and the battery life is satisfactory too.
Now, bluetooth is super cool! But, if you're surfing the web a lot or playing downloaded games (I've gotten addicted to cell phone tetris!!)It's going to deplete your battery life faster. I'm pretty active on my phone but I still only charge it once every night. By the end of the next day I'll notice my battery is half down, so I'll HAVE TO charge it every night. This still has never been a problem. My Samsung would stay fully charged for DAYS...so comparatively I suppose the samsung has better battery life but the v551 is still OK even with active use.
My reception is also clear, but I suspect that has more to do with my service provider than the phone. I'm in an urban area so I always have all bars up. The same was true with my Samsung. It was important to me that all audio is loud. I hear my callers loud and clear. The ringers are loud and clear. And you have the option of downloading any song you want...if you need something even louder!!
I've heard people with concerns over the manual...but I found the set up for most of the features extremely easy. I was able to set up all the major features without it. Even though I wasn't familiar with the motorola interface. I was also able to personalize everything easily and right away. Everything is personalize-able even how you access the screens you use the most. A nice touch. And the Motorola can just do a bunch of fun stuff that my Samsung just couldn't do.
Also, if you travel overseas, or have friends all over the world, this phone works internationally too. Not bad for the price.
This is a good solid phone that does its job and has nice techie features too. I really can't think of anything bad to say about it...except that it's not as girly and cute as my little Samsung! But, I must say, it's cute enough.
Bottom line is...if you want a simple to use durable phone, or something more substantial with high-tech capabilities (but without the high-tech price, of course) then you should definitely take a look at this phone.
Here's my second review after having the phone a little longer...
I wrote another review for this phone and gave it a five-star rating, but after having it a little longer, I'll have to take away a star. It's still a GREAT phone, especially for the price and the features. It's a good value for the money. Consider this however, especially if you are purchasing this phone as your only phone and you choose not to have a ground line.
I used to have a Samsung 426x, which was a super little powerhouse of a phone but lacked any cool features. It would stay powered up for a week, was always crystal clear, only a few dropped calls now and then, and I NEVER turned it off.
I've found that with the Motorola v551 you MUST turn it off once a night and let it fully charge or you will suffer with dropped calls. I think I kept this phone on for two weeks (charging it every night) then all of a sudden, I couldn't maintain a single conversation without major drop out calls. I called the technical people and found that it is because this phone must be turned off every night and allowed to fully charge or it'll go screwy!
I'm doing that now, and all is good with the phone again. I kinda don't like to have to turn the phone off since it is my only phone, but the features and basic quality of the phone still outweigh this inconveniece for me.
But, keep this in mind if you're thinking about purchasing this phone. Depending on how you use your phone, this could be a real problem.
15 Fundamental quality leaves something to be desired.
The engineers of this phone definitely thought of everything as far as added features are concerned. This phone has magnificent features. The screen color is brilliant and very bright except in the sun. It has bluetooth. It has AIM. It takes the best pictures I've seen from any phone. It records videos. It's so easy to use. I'm going to cry the whole way to the store to return it. If you can't make calls on it then it defeats the whole entire purpose of having the phone. This phone definitely has some fundamental issues. I have been using this phone for 30 days. It continuously drops calls on me. In a call (from my land line) to the Cingular agent, I was told that it was dropping calls yesterday because they were working on the sytem. What about the four days before that when it had the same issues? My sister, who is on Cingular network, doesn't have any of these issues that Cingular is claiming to be network wide. I haven't been able to make a call longer than 10 minutes that didn't get dropped. The battery life on this phone is absolutely the worst of any I've ever seen! If you make more than two calls per day on it or if the inside screen gets activated more than four times then it has to be charged daily! I'll miss the features but it will be nice to have a solid 10 minute conversation again.
16 Yep. Some models do eat batteries.
I purchased a brand new V551, wishing to take advantage of its EDGE internet capabilities. However, right out of the box it sucked the life right out of both the included battery and the one that I used on my V400. In fact, it looks as if both batteries are now unusable. There is no doubt that some of these units are defective.
17 Good reliable phone
I've had this phone for about 3 months now and have not had any problems such as dropped calls or any operational prolbems. The only thing I have had any problem with is understanding the manual. There is not enough detail about how to make certain things work, but eventually I was able to figure out everything that I wanted to do. Over all I think it's a great phone and I really like the speaker phone part especially when listening to messages and being able to write down numbers without having to hold the phone on my shoulder.
18 Battery problem? What battery problem?
I have to say, I spent a lot of time fretting about whether to buy this phone because my old phone had such good reception and battery power.
But. Let me say: I think the battery is great! I charged this phone up fully, the charge lasted several days and I waited till it ran out completely. Then I re-charged it Sunday night and took it with me, fully charged, to work on Monday. I had a full, three-bar charge that lasted three days (through Wednesday). It's now end of day Thursday and I'm still at two bars. It looks like one charge will have successfully gotten me through the entire work week.
Now, I don't take a lot of pictures and scroll through them and show my friends and use my bluetooth and all that. I call people. I talk a moderate amount (maybe 30 minutes a day). If this describes what you want out of a phone, then you probably will find it to be a great phone with great battery power. I know some of you use the phone a lot more rigorously, but if you're a moderate user like me, you shouldn't be afraid of the battery power at all.
Also -- the reception is great! I get reception in places my old phone didn't -- and I had never had a complaint about its reception. So hopefully this will allay some of the fears the other reviews might have raised.
19 Good phone!
I love this phone. It takes good pictures and video. I'm still trying to figure out if it takes more then 10 seconds of video though. When you are typing a text message or names in your phone book this phone will auto suggest what it thinks you are trying to say which I like, its less typing for me. Dropped calls and service all depends what area you are in. I'm in a populated area so I don't have to worry about that but when I'm in an area where all the houses are 2 miles a part I have no service. It is not the phone, it's the provider.
20 I Like It!
I really like this phone. It has so many great features! The pictures it takes are great. You can't expect some top notch pictures that are similar to pictures taken with a camera but for phone quality pictures, they are pretty good. I love the way this phone has the speed dials! It's great. And some complain about the reception but usually that has to do with the area you live in and the service you have there. My husband has this same phone and so does my best friend. They both really like it also and have no major complaints! This phone is a lot of fun and I like it! I recommend it!
21 Pretty darn good
I must start by saying that I have never encountered a cell phone with which I was completely happy. Having said that, I think this phone is one of the best out there for the money. Most importantly, the phone provides clear reception and a strong signal most of the time. It's also fairly durable.
Motorola has obviously spent some time with the many special features on this phone. The speaker works quite well--good reception and volume with little distortion. The camera, for a cell phone, is fantastic. It does a great job automatically adjusting the lighting so that your pictures are as clear as possible for such a small camera. I have similar praise for the video camera (although you must move very slowly while using the video feature). My only gripe about these features is that neither the pictures nor the videos can fill the entire screen in the viewing mode. But the large screen size makes this a minor problem. The address book and calendar are effective, clear, and user-friendly. I cannot say anything about the voice-activated dialing or bluetooth capability, as I have not used those features.
Unfortunately, Motorola does not provide you with many decent ring options. There are two rings that are OK for professional use and only a few "fun," melodic rings. Of course you may download monophonic, polyphonic, or mp3 ringtones, but they will cost you. And be careful when purchasing ringtones--the rings sound different on the Cingular and Motorola websites than they do on the actual phone. One advantage, however, is that the phone is fairly quick while "online."
Overall, I've had no real trouble with this phone. I notice that some reviewers have experienced low battery life and some dropped calls. I've not yet experienced these problems (knock on wood). Some users might find the phone bulky, but you will spend hundreds more for a thinner phone with comparable features.
Long story short, this phone is not perfect, but it is pretty darn good. And in the world of cell phones "pretty darn good" is about as good as it gets.
22 Poor reception
GThat's about it poor reception. Phone feature are good, pictures are poor quality and so is reception
23 Do not buy.
Keypad doesn't work. The phone is cheaply made. Drops calls. Battery life 20 minutes.
24 NO battery life. This phone is terrible!! DONT BUY IT!
I bought this phone two weeks ago and the battery life listed in standby mode says "170 to 240 hours". Thats directly from motorola in their documentation. The truth is this phone lasts about 4 to 5 hours, EVEN IN STANDBY before the battery is dead. Use it at all and it will last you about 2 hours. Use bluetooth in the car? It will last about 30 minutes.
Check google with a search for "v551 battery problem" and witness the truth. This phone is trash and nobody should make the error of purchasing one and wasting your money like I did. Motorola has no plan to fix this problem, so dont buy this phone.
25 Warning existing Cingular customers:
Cingular and Amazon.com have not yet established a method for customers to transfer their current number to a new Cingular account. Unfortunately, in order to port your previous number, Cingular will cancel the account that Amazon.com activated and will activate a new account with the ported number. This process makes you ineligible for the Amazon.com rebates. We hope to offer a porting option in the coming months, so please check back at [...].
26 Disappointed in Bluetooth capability
I purchased this phone specifically for the bluetooth technology. I also purchased a Motorola HS810 bluetooth headset to go with it. My prior experience with bluetooth is that it is always ON. NOT SO with this phone! Every time I turn on my phone or open the boom for the HS810, I have to go through the menu to reconnect to my bluetooth HS810! For me, this defeats the purpose. Of course I can always leave the phone and HS810 on and never turn them off, but that's a waste of battery for me. Very Disappointing in this age of technology.
27 Not this one either...
As indicated in a review for the V600, I received the V551 as a replacement for the V600, after that phone had already been replaced several times.
Initially, I liked the V551 better, even though it is a less expensive phone. It seemed much less "buggy" than the V600. However, I have had more dropped calls, and more failed calls (which I initiate), and worse reception than with any phone I've ever owned.
And just like on the V600, the stupid mechanism on the left side of the phone changes the ringer capriciously. Expecting a call? Don't hold your breath. The ringer is now on "silent".
28 Phone is fine, rebate offer is not.
The phone has performed well. No dropped calls, good reception and sound quality. I'm charging it every other day.
As of now, March 2005, you will not get the rebate if you are porting your existing phone number to Cingular. Amazon seems to be unable to say that while you are ordering the phone with a Cingular plan but they will make it perfectly clear when the phone is delivered. If you can't get the rebate you may be able to get a better deal at the mall and have the phone working that day. See if you can port your number and get the rebate at: www.amazon.com/keep-your-number.
29 Feature-rich phone with some flaws
I should begin by telling you that my expectations for cell phones were shaped by the motorola V60, my first cell. It had excellent reception, a sturdy metal case, and superior battery life. This is what I look for in a cell phone. Does the V551 measure up?
First, the good:
The phone is solid and attractive, although it no longer has a metal case. The screen is bright and backlit so it's easy to see even in complete darkness. the user interface and menus are almost completely customizeable-you can set what the side and soft buttons do, and there is a rotating menu that can be accessed by the radial button-you can set these options as well. Several people have noted that the phone has many sub-menus and it's often hard to get to things-this can be bypassed by learning how to customize the radial menu.
The speakerphone is easy to engage and satifyingly loud and clear. The external speaker on the phone is loud and can be heard from several rooms away at high volume-in fact, I've started using it as an alarm clock. The camera and video cature features are easy to use, although figuring out how so send them from the phone to an email address is not. I've not had a chance to use the bluetooth feature, so can't comment on it.
The phone comes loaded with AIM instant messenger service. whether this is useful or desireable is going to depend on you. I don't have any friends on AOL and don't chat much, so it's worth nothing to me. As an aside, any phone that's meant to be a messaging powerhouse, as this one is advertised, needs a full keyboard, in my opinion. This phone does not have one.
The reception seems clear and I have had no dropped calls, though I have had the phone only a short time. volume is nice and loud and easy to adjust.
Now, the bad:
the phone has a number of options the require that you buy additional service to use. Want to send pictures and messages? You will need to purchase the messaging service. Want to download games and shop ringtones online? You'll need to purchase internet data connectivity service. It's a bit disconcerting to have the phone ask you for money whenever you want to do anything fun.
The battery life is, hands-down, the worst aspect of the phone. Even if you only talk for a few minutes a day, have bluetooth turned off, and use the camera only occaisionally, you will get, at best, two days of use between recharges. If battery life is important to you, look elsewhere now.
The manual is simply useless. I have learned more about how the phone works by playing with it than by reading the documentation. There are any number of features simply not described at all. Want to customize the user interface? You are on your own, buddy. Want to send an image to someone else? Figure it out yourself.
The phone comes with two skins, and three music ringtones. this seems a bit skimpy to me.
I am debating taking this back. The features are fun, but the battery life is a deal-breaker. If this is not your primary phone and you want something fun, by all means, buy this phone. But if you want a workhorse phone with good battery life, this is not the phone for you.
30 Best Cell phone I have ever owned - Bluetooth is sweet
Phone has great reception in the Los Angeles area. I have had extensive problems with other carriers.
PROs
Phone has excellent features including crisp Bluetooth reception, easy to activate. Phone works quite well with the Motorola HS850. The voice call feature does work, but has to be enabled on the phone itself. LCD screen has nice overall display. Good weight to the phone itself - doesn't feel flimsy like the Razr. Camera takes good pictures, far from excellent - good feature to have nowadays.
CONs
Motorola should have included an external LCD display as well - the blue display is a bit dark. The Bluetooth has to be activated per call session - not per call, but per extended call session. Once the headset is turned off the connection is lost. Moto should enhance programability of side buttons to activate Bluetooth without opening the phone. Speaker phone has to be activated by opening phone - this should be improved for next round.
Overall the positives far outweigh the negatives to the extent that this is a 5 star phone. The issues I've listed are improvement advice.
31 Worst cellphone I've had so far!
The first cellphone I've ever owned was a Neopoint 1000 which at the time was the top of the line phone and I never had a problem with it. Then last year, the Kyocera KX414; flawless perfromance. All of my friends have either Samsung or Nokia with no major issues, but I fell for the "Hello Moto" marketing ads and bought this V551 and have had nothing but problems with dropped calls every 2 to 5 minutes regardless of location. When I am connected the other caller can barely hear me and says the sound is breaking up. Never had this problem with the Kyocera (which by the way was a cheapy phone compared to this!)
After some research it does look (as someone else mentioned) that the V551 and the V600 as well as other Motorola phones have an unfixable defect in the phones when trying to connect to the Cingular network. Again, this can NOT be fixed apparently, no matter how many times you send the phone in and get it fixed or replaced with a new one! NOT ACCEPTABLE!
Also, the battery life on this phone is not only terrible, it is fraudulant! It is advertised as "7 hours talk/ 9 days standby" but no matter how I've charged the phone (using all the different suggested methods) I get about 40 minutes talk and almost maybe a full day standby time! NOT ACCEPTABLE!
Today I am going back to the store and demanding that they switch this out for the Nokia 6230 which has not received one (legitimate) bad review. I was hoping for a flip phone but... I'd rather have a phone that actually works!
32 How to turn off Cingular web button
Simple. Go to Menu > Settings > Security > Lock Application.
It will ask for your unlock code. Default is probably 1234 (if not, check your manual).
Once you're in, lock all the web-related stuff. This way, if you hit the cingular key by accident, you'll be prompted to put in your unlock code.
33 Disapointed in Chicago
I was am very disapointed with this phone. I am in in the process of sending it back in exchange of the Nokia 6230. I knew that I should of stayed with Nokia but I wanted to try something different. The reception is terrible and week. I can only use this phone when I'm inside my house by the windows. When I'm in certain areas in my state there is a lot of static. I didn't have all of those problems with my Nokia 3560. I just can't deal with it anymore. I've had the phone for 2 weeks and I'm ready to send it back. If you want a phone with good reception don't buy Motorola. A lot of my friends had bad experiences with Motorola as well.
The Cingular customer service is just as bad. They keep transferring me around. Nobody seems to know where to send me. Since I ordered online they say that I need to exchange it online. Well I can't find the option anywhere. So now I'm back on the phone.
34 Amazing phone overall-Long,detailed review
I rarely post reviews,though I scour them before purchasing anything!I did extreme research before purchasing this phone,and before deciding on Cingular as my provider.Cingular,hands down,has the BEST coverage area,period!NO DROPPED CALLS,Kansas City.Customer service is not as bad as many reviews state.They have always answered EVERY question I have had,and dont hesitate to call them for anything.*I have learned,to go right to the ZERO option for direct customer service to get the most knowledgeable people. Ok,the phone......
I went from a digital Nokia,to this,my first flip phone.I wasnt sure if I would like the flip phone,but I LOVE it!I bought my daughter the Samsung x427m at the same time,and it too,is a great little phone,as far as battery life and signal strength(much better than mine!),but fewer features,no camera,not as customizable.Ordered the Motorola V180 for another line,also,great little phone with minimal features, though, more customizable than the Samsung. Again,did extensive research,even for the freebie phones. Will list cons of this v551 first:
CONS:
HORRIBLE battery life,so far!At first,no better than my old, worn out,Ni-Mh battery digital phone,but,improving slightly with each FULL recharge. However,you MUST follow the proper charging routine.Charge it FULLY before doing ANYTHING on it!Then,use it until DEAD!Do NOT charge it again,if even a bar left,wait until it dies!Do this process several times to build up the battery. Turn off any features you are not using or don't need,including bluetooth,key tones,decrease lighting to minimum or off,disable screen saver,etc,and this will save a lot of battery power.I have yet to purchase and try the Bluetooth features,so I have no opinion of how much battery usage this takes. I did purchase a backup battery, cradle charger,extra travel charger,and car charger!All extremely cheap on Amazon!I called Motorola an researched the internet,and as of yet,does not seem to be a more powerful battery(longer life) than what comes with it.*edited to note,I sent Amazon an email regarding my disappointment in the battery life, wondering if it is faulty,they PROMTLY,without question,sent me a NEW phone in two days!However,even with new phone,you still get maybe 3.5 hour talk time,and less than 20 hours standby if not using phone at all!Maddening!Do not want to play battery switch out every few hours.Rated at 4-7 hours TALK time and TEN DAYS standby! Contacted Motorola,they said to go to local store and have them check it,and gave me a bunch of reasons why it is poor(all my fault) from poor signal strength to features I have phone set at(none!).Why dont they acknowledge it is a problem!Everyone complains about it!I have every feature OFF,currently do not use internet,or play games,just make calls.I love the phone otherwise,there is something I dislike about all the other flip phones for Cingular,so do I stay with this,that is the question.Hoping it improves over time with recharging cycles.
Manual--If this is your first cell phone,or you are not very good at figuring things out on your own(or just plain easily frustrated without instructions),better go with another brand,as this one will be too complicated and there is no support in the manual.It is extremely vague! I have learned my phone through playing with it,writing down memos of places I found certain features(since it is hard to remember where I saw what once I leave the menu on the phone),and researching forum boards where I learned lots of tricks and shortcuts!
When screen shuts off,it goes black.Not dim,but black,so you have to hit a button to get it to come back on,which every button takes you somewhere,so you have to hit back to get to main page.Wishing it was at least dim.
No one-touch clear calls list option.Have to go into Recent,then it is in two categories, received and dialed,and from there you have to menu, then choose delete all.I miss some very simple one touch features my Nokia had and that the Samsung has.However,the shortcuts option is very handy once you figure it out!On any function you want a one touch,press and hold the menu key,then assign a hot key,then to access it,hit menu then that hot key you assigned.
Ringtones/Wallpaper/Games:Total marketing ploy to give you bare NOTHING,so you HAVE to purchase all this stuff from Cingular,and not only pay for the ringtone or game or wallpaper,but also the transmission data usage. The game that comes with it,demo!Ends after a minute.
One touch internet button, way too easy to hit!*edited to note, reviewer "krav" gave solution for this, thank you!!!*You can turn off internet through Cingular(call cust service for block).
Petty,but when typing a text message,if you accidentally(or purposely because someone walks up)exit the screen you are typing,and you go back,it is blank and you have to start over,very very frustrating when you hit arrow,and touch stop key instead!With my Nokia,it kept the typing until I sent it,or cleared it.Taking me a bit to get used to the key placement,opposite of my Nokia as to what selects and exits(back),and deletes.
Pros:
Totally customizable!You CAN change nearly everything to your liking!The button on the side by the volume button,the four navagation keys as well as the two top right and left buttons,all can be made shortcuts to whatever you want.(Settings-Personalize-Home Screen-Home Keys-Change each key to option you want).Anywhere you are,you can hit the menu(middle dot,or the 3bar key at top middle)to get a list of options,many not found any other way. From audio,you can change each ring style(detail) to make each sound the tone you want,turn on or off keytones,different sounds for each alert,etc,all your preferance.Also,you DONT have to hit the volume button on side multiple times to shut it off making noisy beeps.If phone is ringing,and you do NOT want it to ring,just hit vol button on side once,it silences the ring.If you want to change ring style options, hit either up or down volume(with phone closed),then use button below that on side,to scroll through ring styles(LOUD to SILENT to VIBRATE,etc),then hit volume key again to show time.One beep to make phone silent if going into meeting or quiet setting and need to silence phone.If you keep hitting down button on volume,it will go to vibrate on zero.Takes some playing around to find all the neat features this packed phone has and make it YOUR way!Middle button of navigation keys,acts also as an "enter", or "select" key.
Sound-CRYSTAL CLEAR,and plenty loud for my poor hearing!Everyone else is raving at how great and CLEAR I sound on this phone!Better than previous phone,better than any of my home phones!Even the earpiece that came with the accessory kit(order ALL accessories from Amazon,cheaper than anywhere!) is great!The speakerphone is awesome!Loud,clear,I can set it down on desk and carry on conversation perfectly from both ends.
Button on right side of phone,says Voice Records when you hit it,however,nifty little feature,records 20 second voice,for little memos to yourself when away from pen and paper, or to voice memo driving directions!
Camera-for a phone.......incredible!!!I have a digital camera,so no need for anything on the phone,but,what a nice bonus feature,and its good too!Not to mention video!I can see many times in the future when it might be nice to have a quick instant picture,maybe of a landmark or road sign to find my way back home, or take a picture of something I am shopping for, to mull over at home, etc.
Phonebook-Lots of options,if you save it to phone,and not SIM card,SIM card limits features and display(like cant put the picture ID by name when saved to SIM). However,when time to get another phone someday, take the time to go through addy book and save to SIM before getting new phone so you can just transfer the card. You CAN have mulitple numbers under ONE NAME! (Enter phonebook-hit 3bar menu button(top middle)-Setup-View by:List,Sort by:Name,View:Primary Contact.Now all numbers and email,etc,will be under the one name,just highlight that name,use right and left arrows to scroll through numbers,or choose VIEW to scroll though).
Keypad, I love!I had the raised buttons on previous phones,and I frequently text message, and used email on the internet, and my thumb would get sore hitting those raised buttons. I am getting better at hitting the numbers without looking when entering command promts on a call. Keys larger than the other two phones I just bought.
Screen is bright(I dimmed mine even to conserve battery!),and beautiful, also large, larger than the other two phones I bought!
Phone is great quality,solid,sturdy,nice feel,heavy enough to have substance,not cheap feeling at all.Flip cover seems strong. Very nice phone,looks expensive.
All in all, amazing phone!More expensive phones,had far less features. Phone not user friendly interface initially until you take the time to get to know your way around. Battery life worst of ANY phone ever owned!Even my cordless home phones are better!
Great phone! Great price!(cheaper here than anywhere).Four stars because of LOUSY manual, and poor battery life for this style and price of phone.
35 I LOVE MY V551
I bought this phone after taking my v220 back to the store the same day I bought it. This is a great phone. It isn't flemsy like some of the phones out there now. The picture quality is excellent! It adjust to the light and you can zoom in and out. The speaker phone is an excellent feature, it's so clear on both ends that you really don't need an earpiece. The quality of the ringtones is great. The only reason that I'm not giving it five stars is because the lens doesn't have a cover on it, so it's not protected from dust and things like that but, don't let that stop you from buying it, I just wipe it down using a Q-tip occasionally and it's fine.
36 Motorola gives you the razor, you buy the blades
Motorola's latest high-end flip-phone doesn't have the sexy form factor of the RAZR, but it's loaded (some might say bloated) with function. This is a worthy successor to the TDMA series that started with the StarTac and progressed through the V60 model. It features a similar form-factor to the latter, though slightly thinner, but with a wealth of new features.
The most obvious improvement over the V60 (and its follow-on, the V60 color) is the beautiful interior color screen. Unlike the V60 color, the V551's screen is actually used to display improved graphics (including wallpaper, screensaver, downloaded images, or photos/videos shot with the phone itself). Also improved is the outer display, which is large enough to read comfortably (unlike the poorly thought out multiline display of the V60 color).
As with many advanced GSM phones, the V551 provides features like internet browsing, a low-res still and video camera, and MIDI and MP3 ringtones. In addition, the V551 is Bluetooth enabled, which allows you to transfer data from the phone to a Bluetooth enabled computer without wires. You can also use a Bluetooth headset, which seems minor, but is hugely convenient in the car.
On the downside, the V551 retains many of Motorola's classic drawbacks. The manual is, to be kind, weak. Large swaths of the phone's function are un- or under-documented. The V551 also continues Motorola's poor ringer setting design. In particular, if you have the phone in an audible alert mode and you wish to switch to vibrate (e.g., you find yourself in a meeting and realize you didn't turn the ringer off), you can't do this without the phone beeping. The V551's stylized keyboard is difficult to dial without looking - the number buttons flush design is hard to pick up by feel. Further, the function buttons include an internet browser key which is easy to press in place of the dial key.
Cingular's version of this phone (I believe the generic model is V550) is larded with Cingular-specific items. The internet browser mentioned above can be launched by several "handy" shortcuts. In addition to the dedicated key, there are several items on the Media Mall home page that take you by browser to various Cingular locations. You can also get to the Cingular store via the ringtones panel.
This wouldn't be quite so bad if it didn't all feed into Cingular's incredibly transparent marketing plan. Want to load new MIDI or MP3 ringtones to augment the mediocre selection given to you with the phone? Buy them from Cingular's marketplace! Want to download your own? Buy Motorola's software plus USB/or/Bluetooth package for half-again the price of the phone (hey, I might as well just buy a bunch of ringtones from Cingular)! Same goes for games (none ship with the phone) and wallpapers.
You can use the phone with any Bluetooth enabled computer (or with a third-party Bluetooth/USB dongle) to download ringtones, but you'll have to surf around the web to find out how, as it's not documented in the manual. While you're surfing, make sure to shop for a belt clip or case, as Motorola's declined to ship even the most basic version with this phone.
Overall I'm happy with the performance of this phone: excellent form factor (especially the reduced length of the antenna over the V60), crisp display, good sound (including the speakerphone, though its inability to operate during dialing is disappointing), and a fine feature set. Still, I find it ironic that Motorola makes another phone called the "RAZR," as the V551 is a classic case of "give away the razor, sell the blades."
37 Great!
Wonderful phone!
Pros:
-PRICE!
-Shell looks good (When I saw pictures, I thought it would be ugly, but it turned out to be nice)
-EDGE modem
-Decent camera
-Crisp, well-lit screen with big numbers
-Large, clearly seperated, well-backlit keys
-Bluetooth
-Loud, clear speakerphone
Cons:
-Long wait when saving/discarding pictures
-A bit too much Cingular crap
-Long and complex menus
-No option to remove pre-installed pictures, screensavers, and tones
-No color screen on outside
-Data cable is $30, unless purchased on eBay ($7-$20)
Wanted features:
-Ability to answer calls to speakerphone with phone shut
-Expantion slot
-MP3 playback
38 well put together.
I've gotten the phone just recently, i was hesitant at first bec. of its ergonomic style. but soon as i got a feel of the phone it sort of grown into me. it's loaded with good features such as stream video, camera, voice record, speaker, real music tone. and much more. overall, if you are looking for a good phone with less pretty penny, i would invest in Motorola's V551.
39 Bad battery life, period.
I would rate this phone with 5 stars if it weren't for the wretched battery life. I'm getting only 24-36 hours on a recharge. (And yes, I've turned off Bluetooth; and yes, put it through several recharges; and no, I'm not using a rapid recharger). Cingular graciously replaced the battery, but the replacement seems to be doing even worse. The worst problem is that the battery meter goes from two bars to none in a matter of minutes. This is in stark contrast to my older Motorola v60, which seemed to go forever. I would avoid this phone.
40 UPDATED: Okay phone - bad Bluetooth implementation and OS
I just purchased this phone to replace a Nokia 3650. Good in many respects listed below, but one thing I find incredibly wrong-headed about the design is this: the phone comes with Bluetooth and it is iSync compatible, it just isn't iSync compatible THROUGH Bluetooth - you have to buy a data cable!! What is the point of even having Bluetooth if you can't even carry out a simple function like data syncing?
PROS:
1. Nice loud speakerphone
2. Good fit and finish
3. bright screen
4. loud ringtones
5. smart button placement
CONS:
1. Unnecessarily convoluted interface. It shouldn't take four button pushes to take and store one picture
2. Bad photo interface - no way to fill entire screen with photo, severely limited resizing - no way to blow up picture beyond full size
3. Syncing address book and calender on Macs is impossible without data cable
4. Batch transmission of photos through Bluetooth doesn't work. Photos can be selected for transmission in groups but must be manually sent one by one. Annoying and time consuming.
5. Picture quality not even remotely as good as on the Nokia
6. Photo software does not have ability to rotate picture.
It is only because this product functions so well as a phone that I give it three stars. It has terrific reception and sound. But the interface is mess, requiring far too many button pushes to accomplish even the simplest tasks. Also, paying for Bluetooth functionality on this phone is a waste of money if you use a Mac. Especially since Nokia extends Bluetooth functionality on its phones to all of their phones' vital features, not just some of them.
I suppose in a more fair scoring system I would give the hardware on this phone five stars, and the software only one star.
UPDATED: After owning this phone for a little over a month, the earpiece has stopped working. I can only make and receive calls over the speaker phone. A replacement phone is on the way. Meanwhile, I am back to using my Nokia 3650, which I now realize has an infinitely superior operating system, and the picture quality isn't even in the same ballpark. The Nokia produces about the most crisp and vibrant picture that can be expected on a low res camera, while the Motorola pictures are, by comparison, washed out and fuzzy. And again, the Nokia operating system is sleek, intuitive and a breeze to use, making the Motorola look like the convoluted mess it really is. At this point, the only real advantage the Motorola has is its size. I regret buying it. I'll probably give it to my wife, who doesn't care about Bluetooth or any of the phone's extra features.
41 Has every feature you could want
I had purchased this phone back in November 04. I bought my phones online but couldn't migrate my numbers online. So I was sent two new phones (I ordered two...don't worry!) but, as advised by Cingular Online Support with new numbers also. When I got the phones I went to a Cingular store and within 20 minutes I had my old numbers on the new phones, except the new numbers were never cancelled. I later had explained to me that you can't have two numbers on one handset. I was told that was the cause of the miserable performance. After the numbers were cancelled, BAM! It was like a brand new phone.
It works flawlessly and at first the battery would not hold a good charge. After about two weeks of use it holds a charge for about four days with moderate talking.
One more bonus is that some of the V551's come unlocked! My friend put his T-Mobile sim in my phone just for laughs, and it totally worked.
I highly recommend this phone.
42 One Of The Best
This is probably the best phone I've owned. It is packed with features, including a camara, video recorder, voice dialing, and picture caller ID. What really impressed me was the sound quality, I have yet to say, "Can You Hear Me Now", and I live in a little small country town. I would highly recommend this phone.
43 On the telephone
Hello I would like to know if the telephone motorola V551 this unblocked, I live in venezuela and I want to buy this telephone but I need it unblocked
44 Broken Phone
I received my phone on or about Jan. 25.
It was set up properly but from the first day did not hold a charge.
The manual said to charge it 4 or 5 times and the charge will get better. This was done and now the phone is DEAD. What do I do?
45 Rebate caution porting numbers
If you're with Cingular or AT&T your phone comes activated which means that when you have your number ported your original activated number gets canceled which voids your warranty. The website only says that they haven't worked out a procedure with Cingular and to contact Cingular. No mention of their dealer code cancellation if number ported. Some people are going to be in for a very big surprise when they don't get the rebate. Because I had my number ported which I needed I am stuck and Amazon will not work with me on this. It's a shame because up until now I have been very satisfied using Amazon. Now I feel like I've been taken for a lousy $100.
As far as the V551 phone... it's great and I'm really happy using the bluetooth Motorola HS 820 headset while driving. Voice dialing, clarity and everything else is fine so I don't understand some of the negative reviews below. It's an earpiece not a telephone and everyone hears me fine.
Mobile PhoneTools also works fine with desktop using Linksys adapter and the V551. It does everything it's supposed to do so again I don't understand negative reviews. I'm using XP and a 1.8 processor with 512 MB memory.
46 solid phone, recommended
Purchased V551 a month ago after being a satisfied T721 owner. This phone takes everything good about T721 and makes it better.
1) brighter display
2) Bluetooth functionality (use this frequently with HS820)
3) Speakerphone
4) Camera
The minor negatives are:
1) Reduced battery life with Bluetooth active
2) Cingular software: wish i could remove shopping applications, AIM, and other cluttering software installed on phone.
47 Motorola v551
I liked the v220 until I saw this. The speakerphone is very clear. Also, if you need a headset get a bluetooth $29.99 (after MIR) from cingular online. Also, camera is great. Lager screen than the v220. But, Motorola needs to improve the video feature. But phones werent made to take video with. Also, still Moto's don't come with any good ringtones. So more money for Cingular for a real music ringtone.
All in all it is a great phone for $100.00 (after MIR) I like it better then the Moto Razr v3 at a fifth of the price.
48 Best Phone Ever
I was tired of Nextel's i730. It was getting old after only a year. I made the jump to Cingular and the Motorola V551 here in the Metro Detroit Area. All I can say is WOW! Reception with Cingular here outranks Nextel 10 to 1. The Motorola V551 is an amazing phone in such a nice package. The phone is just the right size. Not to big like Nextel i730 and not too small like some Samsungs. Easy to push buttons. Best screen ever. Unlike some bigger phones that have a 176X220 2.2" screen, it has a 1.9" 176X220 screen which makes the resolution really shine. MP3 ringtones are much clearer then the WAV ringtones that I had. Only Complainent is that the speaker is not as loud as Nextels. But nobody can beat Nextel in speaker loudness.
49 GSM improved
When verizon was charging me too much for simple features, i wanted to switch. I came upon the cingular 250 plan with the v551. The v551 has quad band for international roaming and the sim card is 64k for now because cingular and at&t are intergrating there networks. I used to be a huge CDMA fan and leieve that the IS2000 connection was fast. Cingulars GSM has improved its signal, claritiy. The phones feel is nice with the rubberized covering. The speakerphone is amazing!. The service is amazing clear and perfect. The phone has themes and everything. The video is a bit blurry, but its VGA what can you expect. The camera is nice and the contrast and zoom are awesome. You can assign peoples names to pictures and picture id's. The phones bluetooth i have not tried out yet but i will be buying a handset soon. Amazon is amazing because if you buy this phone you will get 150.00 back!!.. This phone is a must buy
50 Excellent full-featured phone
I've had it only a couple weeks but so far I am very impressed.
First the downside. I agree with another reviewer that the battery life has been dissapointing-- hoping it will improve over time as the manual claims. And I've had 3 dropped calls in a week. On Sprint with my little Sanyo I dropped 3 calls maybe in 2 years! The signal for both companies is pretty good in my house. I went with Cingular cuz of the GSM SIM card to put phone # in cuz I broke the screen on my Sprint phone and couldn't read the #s! But I copied the SIM #s to the Motorola's book and now I see 2 sets of each name... help!
I'm amazed you can get this level of phone free with service. Speakerphone, video camera, Bluetooth-- amazing! I'm most excited about the bluetooth to get my pictures out and use as wireless modem. Haven't done it yet, so anyone please comment on how the wireless modem feature would work with a Cingular plan... Another reviewer mentioned it takes a lot of menus to get to the Bluetooth function. You can customize one of the 4 "home keys" (the directional pad) to jump immediately to that function. I've got mine set for bluetooth, calendar, phonebook, and calculator. This phone is very customizeable.
51 Richards review
Great phone easy to use,have this phone about 3 months now.Had the v400 nice phone,but the v551 better phone great camara,video phone.Bluetooth awesome.Highly reconmend this phone V551 for the money.RPotter
52 WoW, THE Best phone I've had so far!!!!
I had this phone for a little while now and I must say that it is the best phone I've had so far!...The vga screen provide really crisp and clean pictures, the sound quality is fantastic and the bluetooth features makes transfering data (graphics/sound clip) to and from your laptop/desktop so easy, as well as hands/cord free driving!...The only con I have is not about the phone but its instruction manual, very confusing to follow, some features are not listed on the contents pages, you have to go to the index pages and hope to find what you looking for...Otherwise, this is a fantastic phone, Good job Motorola!
53 Motorola V551 = Perfect
I have had this phone for about a week, and I couldn't be happier. It has every feature you can think of, and calls are crystal clear even when on speakerphone. It is the nicest looking phone that I've seen besides the i860 and v3, but those are over $300.00. I got my V551 direct from Cingular for $150.00. The camera takes great pictures and the video feature is pretty cool. Picture caller id is awesome. BlueTooth means no more paying for ringtones or wallpapers. I used to have GSM w/ AT&T and they SUCKED! Cingular has been nothing but a great experience for me so far and I love this phone.
54 Nice phone but some issues
I just purchased the V551 through Cingular to replace my Samsung A620 that I had with Sprint. Over all the phone is nice but there are a few things that are of issue.
1.) The standard battery needs to be recharged often. If you have the bluetooth feature turned on it drains even quicker. The first time I used the phone the battery drained in 2 days and that is with very low talk time. The manual states that battery time will increase after the first few charges so we will see if that is true. I would like to get an extended battery but haven't seen one for sale yet.
2.) Dropped calls. Not sure if it is the Cingular service but I have had more dropped calls in the first few days then I ever had with Sprint and my Samsung A620. On the plus side my signal strength is better with this phone and Cingular but that hasn't paid off in better phone calls.
3.) Bluetooth- there needs to be an easier way to turn the bluetooth feature on and off. I only use it while in my bluetooth enabled Acura TL so I would like to turn it off easily when not in the car to save battery time. With this phone you have to go through several menus to get the the bluetooth off feature.
On the plus side there are some things I like about the phone.
1.) Quality seems very good so far.
2.) Screen resolution is good and bright.
3.) Bluetooth works great in my Acura TL. The signal strength and incoming caller id shows up on my car display, pretty cool. I can talk hands free via the bluetooth setup and the cars built in voice system, pretty cool as well.
55 have some annoying issues
The nice thing about it is that it plays MP3s so you don't have to pay for ringtones.
It has the following issues though:
1) very poor battery life, one day and it's gone, and for some reason it takes so long to charge!!
2)The ear bud has a very annoying noise that gets worse if the earbud wire comes closer to the antenna. Don't understand why Mot will put the ear bud plug right next to the antenna
3) Drops calls like crazy, and it starts by you not hearing the other side while they do hear you, and then the call ends.
4)The voice command feature is of no use:
a)First, it allocates very short time duration for the command.
b)if you have multiple numbers for each person, you have to record each one with a unique voice command. My T610 used to record the name of the person, and then it lets you record if it is a cell or office, etc..
c) not matter how I record the name using my bluetooth headset, or any other method, it just seems to be having hard time recognizing the speech.
56 Good Phone
I just bought this phone to replace Panasonic GU87. I have AT&T servide. I have used Samsung X427 in the past which I gave to my daughter. Motorola I have it for a week. It is a great phone. Very sharp display. I used to get "Searching for Network" message with Panasonic at my work but with V551 I've got 3 bars.
Phoen is easy to operate. It is a bit heavy and a bit too big.
If size is a concern Samsung e317 may not be a bad one. Samsung X427 is equally powerful but it does not have all bells and whistles but works really good.
57 THE BEST PHONE EVER
Hey all you buyers.This phone is the best phone i have had and I have only had it for like 2 days.The pictures are so much better and clearer and the video is AWESOME!!If you like to take pictures and everything youll love this phone so buy it.The best phone i have had and ever will have!!
58 Great Phone. Dreadful Customer Service (BEWARE PORTING)
Cingular has dreadful customer service. The phone is great but I tried porting my number over from T-Mobile and it was a MONUMENTAL task. First I was on hold for over 45 mins with Cingular. Wrong department. Gave me another number. Dead line. Called back. Waited 25 minutes. Told me that I had to go to the store. Went to the first store. They told me that I had to request the port BEFORE the phone was activated and it was now too late. Went to ANOTHER store. They said they could help. Took them an hour, but it happened. NOT impressed.
So, if you need to port your number - be aware!
59 No Calling Card Functionality,.... I returned it!!!
I have been a Cingular customer and always liked the coverage. So decided to upgrade with them after my contract got over. I got the V551 after signing an additional 2 year contract (which I always think is not right).
I had a few issues with the phone though.
- NO CALLING CARD functionality. I make a lot of international calls and having this is imperative. All Nokia and SonyErricson phones have that. Its stupid to not have it. This was probably the one thing that made me return it. I could have lived with other issues.
- Battery indicator not accurate: The indicator will easily fool you into thinking the battery is full when its not. In the two weeks that I had the phone the phone went dead on me atleast thrice. I am not saying that it runs out of juice quickly, but if it gave good notice I could have planned for recharging it.
- This is probably because I am used to Nokia... but the menu could have been better.
- THE PHONE IS LOCKED: thanks to Cingular even after signing a contract the phone comes locked. This is just not right!!! I searched some websites and they quote anywhere from 25 - 50 bucks to unlock the phone for you. You have to mail the phone in. This is so not right.
Pros:
- Bluetooth is amazing. I am probably more happy about the technology than the phone it self. This was my first bluetooth phone and it seemed to work fine. I paired it with Motorola HS820 and was happy about it. I did lose the connection a few times though and I don't know if its the phone or the headset. I could hear the other party but they couldn't hear me.
- I haven't tried the PCsync capability but that was one of my requirements and the phone has it. The calendar functionality in the phone though is ok. would rate it on 4 stars.
Hope this helps.
60 Moto v551, an excellent purchase
I got the phone 2 weeks ago, and it makes me happy. The bluetooth transfer works great with my Mac and transfering my custom iTunes ringtones to the phone is just too cool!
Just go a wireless headset today, Scala500, and it sounds fantastic.
The e-mail set up works flawlessly, can check my Earthlink account when away from home.
I haven't set up the v551 as a wireless modem to connect to the internet, yet, but that is something to look forward to.
Cheers
61 Dumbest Phone ever!
This phone is what computers were 25 years back. In the world of idiot friendly phones this phone is like pen and paper. Even after 4 months of using it i cannot remember all the required button presses mandatorily required for simplest thing like storing a number in the phone book.
The speakerphone doesn't come on till you are 5 seconds into a conversation. It doesn't allow you to configure that. All nokia phones allow you to dial the number with speakerphone on. Also the key press tones are delayed when using speakerphone which tests your working memory at remembering each digit of the phone number.
If you want this phone then be prepared to reconfigure all default settings before using it. Cross check every important entry because for some dumbest reason you might lose that information.
Do not fall for the Quad band either, because you cannot switch from Cingular to Tmobile (or any available network) easily, especially if you are driving. Quad band might be helpful if you are going abroad. But first get your World Connect service activated. Its free with ATT cingular but the customer service might not do it unless you ASK for it. Boy you will have to ask for a lot of things if you want to use this phone efficiently.
Yes you can do a lot with pen and paper, but only if you have never used technology in the past.
62 Cingular customer service STINKS-17 people confirm my fear
The phone gets 4 stars, the service 0 Stars for an average of 2.
I got my V551 on a Friday and tried calling to get it activated and getting my cell number from ATT first migrated and then ported to my new GSM phone. The phone is nice but I have yet to get as good reception out of GSM at my home as the old TDMA Startac I had. That was quite a phone, everything you need-solid and easy and intuitive to use.
Now to Cingular's TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, VERY BAD Customer Service. To get the phone migrated-then ported I called Cingular, who after 2 people talked to me said I had to go to the store. I went to the store and he said I had to do it over their phone-back to Customer care. After talking to 3 people on their phone, the phone CS guy gets on the line with the inside employee who can't or won't do what I need to do-Port me over from ATT to the new phone so the guy on the phone sends me home with a number to call to do it 17 people-I counted and only 6 hours on Saturday and 2 on Friday-and I had to double pay my bill. Did I mention that you can have everything entered for a phone number and if you close the clamshell without pushing DONE, it ALL goes away? Or that you have to turn the speaker off before closing the clamshell to hang up, or that anybutton answer doesn't work. I want a phone that works like a phone.
63 What more would you want?
I have had the Moto V551 for nearly a week now. I cannot describe the relief I have now that I've actually got a phone that doesn't dissapoint me.
I am a tech junkie. I own a recording studio and have a degree in electrical engineering. After doing a collaborative 4 hours of "homework" on phones I decided to go with the V551. My expectations were VERY high! Even higher was my expectations to be disappointed. However, I was not disappointed at all.
First off, you can actually transfer pictures, ringtones (which I've made a few of my own sampling DVDs, music, and even my 2 year old saying "pick up the phone Dad!") using the bluetooth enabling and bluetooth dongle for PC. So right off the top I was already pleased. I don't care what anybody says, you DO NOT need the Mobile Phone tools to transfer ringtones, pics, or video. You may need Phone tools if you want to sync your phone with Outlook or other data transfers. The only thing needed is the V551 and a bluetooth dongle.
Ok, so we got what I hoped and expected out of the way. Now for the pleasant surprises I got in addition.
Voice dial - VERY NICE! Especially when using a blue tooth headset, you can have your phone in the stinkin' trunk and still answer the phone and make calls using the blue tooth!
Display - is by far the best I've seen to date. I've got a digital picture (taken with a REAL digital camera, not the phone) and it is spectacular. Colors and resolution are AWESOME!
The camera part of the phone is exactly that, a phone with a camera in it. Don't expect to use this for anything except maybe snapping a shot of someone your are putting in your phone's address book or if you get in a fender bender to document damage.
The speakerphone is awesome, you can clearly hear the person and they can clearly hear you. Easily the best speakerphone I've had.
The handset is also clear. No more saying, "wait a sec... what'd you say???"
Some reviews here get all bent out of shape over button size and location. That is some of the lamest information I've seen. All phones have buttons, and depending on the phone size dictates the size of the buttons. I am a 6' tall male with hands roughly 8"-10" in diameter. I have NO PROBLEM with the buttons.
The V551 isn't the lightest or smallest phone on the market, but for someone my size it is great. It actually has a little weight to make it feel like a phone (not an empty plastic shell of a phone) and the hinging on the flip is strong, I can actually put it to my face without feeling it want to bend backwards.
The outside display is good too, very cool blue color scheme, true, no outside photo caller ID, but you can pay a little more and get that in a different phone.
If you want a reliable, well built, and "as advertised" phone this is the phone to get. Not to mention the fact that Amazon will pay you $25 (after rebate) to take it is nice too.
This is easily the best phone I have had to date and I've been wireless for almost 8 years now getting a new phone every year.
This phone is exactly as it is described, and that alone makes it worth 5 stars, I've had too many phones promise me features only to find the features weren't described acturately or were dependent on other parts of your wireless service (meaning I have to PAY to use them) This is not the case. Enjoy it if you get it!!!!!
64 Motorola & Bluetooth
My CRITERIA for phone.
Bluetooth, GMS Global, camera, internet, compact & comfortable flip phone, Significant rebates with service contract.
Motorola V551 apparently met all these specs.
Connected V551 to my Power Mac via built in Bluetooth. Was only able to see photos, but not able to sync contacts and calender from Entourage. Needed theese contacts on my phones.
Found out that I could only sync via Bluetooth on a PC. My old PC notebook did not include Bluetooth. So I purchased USB Bluetooth adapter and phone tools. This package costs about $85 thru Motorola.
There were major difficulties in gettting Bluetooth adapter and Mobile phone tools software to work on Windows XP Pro. ( Incompatable with Service pak 2) Finally successful with Motorola tech help. Phone tools still has a problem. It frequently wants to update itself. The update causes it not to work.
The good part about the this adapter is that it will allow this old Pc to to connect to the internet. I was also able to easily add any of the contacts that I had in Outlook to my phones (2 of them, family talk plan). (However the format automatically was full name, not last name first. To change format I would need to alter each name individually. The phone tools software will allow you to make these changes on your computer, which is easier than doinging it on your phone.) Also speed dial numbers are automatically assigned as contacts are entered. You need to enter preferred speed dial numbers to each contact and OK a change of number.
The bad part is that I will soon need to repace this old notebook with a Mac Powerbook.
When I questioned Motorola about Mac compatability, they stated that they have not got around to testing software for Mac.
Will think twice or thrice about another Motortola phone if they continue with this attitude.
65 Great phone!!!
i bought this phone about two weeks ago. I recently owned the V220 which was the worse. I wanted a flip camera phone and decided to get the v220 because it was free. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. I went on and bought the V551 after some research. I asked a few cingular representative and read reviews on amazon. The phones picture quality is much better than the v220. I'l admit that i've had a few more droppped calls with the v551 than the nokia 3560. The v551 has great wallpapers and skins. I bought a brand new hs820( which is the bluetooth headset)and it really is handy. it works with the phones built in voice dial. go to the address book record a name. press the button on the headset and say the name works great. Ive alway had trouble with those headsets with wires. I've used al of its features except for the cable for tranferring ringstones etc. The internet button doesnt give me an problems because my fingers are tiny. this phone is very sleek and replaces the need to buy a faceplate. This phone is one of the best phones that cingular has to offer. HAS ANYONE USED THE FASTFORWARD FEATURE!!1
66 Great phone if you don't mind dropped calls
This phone is great. The speakerphone, camera, video recorder, etc. The big problem is the fact that it drops calls every 7 minutes or so. Sometimes more or less frequently. I just spoke to a customer service representative, and they said that it is a defect in the phone, and it needs to reconnect to the network every three days or so. This means I must turn my phone off for 10 minutes or so every 3 days. This is just a big pain and unless you want to deal with this problem, please do not buy this phone!
67 Mixed Feelings About this Phone
I have had this phone for over a month. Here are my thoughts.
Pros: Loud speakerphone, sound quality excellent, neat design, bluetooth capability, large screen, crisp clear graphics, camera and video capability, large buttons.
Cons: Experienced dropped calls every 10-15 minutes during some conversations (very annoying), useless instruction booklet that comes with it, only 4 actually usable ringtones, one touch dialing feature is difficult to set up=makes this feature useless, motomixer feature that supposedly allows you to mix your ringtones to sound different only allows you to mix only one ringtone (which makes motomixer really pointless), one game that is only a demo. Basically Cingular wants you to buy their ringtones and games.
These are the things i encountered with this phone. I hope it helps you judge whether its worth buying. My opinion is if you can get a good deal on it, it's worth it. If you have to fork over a lot of dough for it, forget about it. Go for something else.
68 excellent replacement for my StarTac
Short response to previous reviews: YES, there is a hierarchical address book view. You have to make sure all the entries for a given person are stored in the phone's internal memory (as opposed to the SIM card); if so, for each person you can then assign a number for work, home, main, mobile, fax, and pager. And YES, you can use voice dialing, as it is indeed enabled in the phone. Again, make sure your address book entry is saved in the phone's memory, not the SIM card.
Long review: I needed a new phone since my antique Motorola StarTac I bought from Sprint in 2000 was on its last legs. I've had this phone and service from Cingular for a week, and they've both been exceptional replacements. I use this phone in Silicon Valley in California, and the reception is freaking amazing. I get four bars in my home (where I used to get 1 bar and lots of dropped calls on my antique phone on Sprint), and I get 5 bars in my office (where I used to get 0 bars before).
The phone itself is great. It's smaller than my StarTac in all dimensions and lighter as well. Sound quality is excellent. The camera (video and still) is surprisingly good, even in poor light. It certainly does not use a Canon L lens, but the pictures come out well. The speakerphone is very useful, particularly when you're waiting on hold. The personalisable wallpapers, screensavers, and skins are nice, but I think I would have been more impressed were I 15 years younger.
The address book works well, although there is some incurred latency as you scroll through your list. Note that if you want to assign photos, tones, or voice dialed names to entries in your address book, you must save that particular entry to your phone's internal memory, not the SIM card. The latter is the default, but you can change it on a per-entry basis. I think as a general rule, if you're keeping just a single phone number for a person, keep it on the SIM card.
The exterior finish of the phone is nice. The back has a rubberised blue-ish material which is resistent to minor dents and scratches. The top has a silvery look that is quite nice. I still miss the more professional all-black look of my StarTac though.
The setup with Cingular was excellent. I bought my phone from Amazon, but I wanted to port my number from Sprint. The phone came pre-activated, with Amazon even e-mailing me my assigned number on the day the phone shipped. After I started up the phone, I dialed Cingular customer service to have my number ported from Sprint, which was finalised in 24 hours. Additionally, since I do not subscribe to a data plan, I had Cingular disable all wireless data communication on my phone, as it is easy to accidentally press the Cingular button next to the power key, which invokes a data transmission. To top it off, the two female customer reps with whom I spoke had cute voices.
Negatives: the phone doesn't come with a data cable or with the software to sync your calendar and such. All must be purchased separately. The hierarchical phonebook is functional, but scrolling through it is not as intuitive as on my old StarTac where a different icon for each type of phone number was shown at the bottom of the screen. Also, the GSM signal interferes with the unshielded audio cable with my computer speakers (static bursts every 50 minutes), so I do my best to keep my phone away from that. From what I've read, this static is due to the GSM signalling.
69 this phone is cool
I like this phone a lot, the bluetooth connectivity removes the need to pay $2.50 for ringtones and transferring pictures between phone and computer is cool. I dont have problems with dropping calls, and voice dial works fine for me.
70 4th Try is not the charm
This is the 4th phone from Cingular. The first 3 V600's were dropping calls every 18-21 minutes. Defect in the phones. They were nice to replace it with a V551. It too is dropping calls. The non-ability to use voice dial is a crime. The videos aren't worth anything..just a novelty. When the phone hangs on to calls, the voice quality is good, the features are fine, and the bluetooth is priceless. While the dropped calls may be a motorola thing, I've never experienced so many dropped calls (in a major metro area) on the other carriers I've had. They have good customer service. My suggestion is to get a Sony-Ericsson or to use another carrier altogether.
71 BUYER BEWARE
The phone itself is very nice very very nice but....IF you are a cingular customer with another motorolla phone don't fool yourself into thinking you can just put in your sim card and be off....NO NO I tired this and unless there is some secret society that runs around giving out Subsidy codes then you can't use the phone. Cingular will tell you that they can reasearch the IMEI numbers to try key word try and get you a unlock code for the phone but then the phone is not covered under cingular warrenty and some of cingular features you are use to might not work. Call AT&T for the code since they are the only next option for this phone made for cingular and them well they too can not give you the code if your not a customer for their company and Motorolla themselves well they will tell you they can't get the number either cause it's done by the company the phone was made for and they don't have access to that kind of code. SO now again nice phone would be even better if you could use it with your SIM card if you choose. SO advice don't buy unless you are a AT&T customer or you are getting a SIM card with it.
72 No Voice Dialing without additional "voice connect" service.
Overall this phone works very well. I am very pleased with the voice quality, signal strength, display, keypad and battery life. When used with Cingular, it does not support voice dialing unless you subscribe to the $4.99 Cincular "voice connect" service.
The phone is capable of voice dialing but it appears that Cingular has asked Motorola to disable the ability to enter Voice Names in the phone's address book. To get around this I use a Motorola V60 to add new phone book entries with a voice name. This requires swapping the phone' SIM card between the V60 and V551 every time a new entry is added.
This phone would receive a 5 star rating instead of a 2 star rating if it did not disable entering voice dialing names.
73 This phone is tha bomb
The Motorola v551 phone is built for those individuals who enjoy not only taking pictures but for those who like shooting videos, and it offers bluetooth. The bluetooth capability on this phone is awesome, you can take the phone to somewhere like CVS and develop pictures for cheap prices. You can also use this phone in areas where you have bad reception on most other phones because this is a quad-mode phone. You can use this phone with wireless technology...if you purchase the bluetooth enabled headset, you can use this phone wirelessly. The screen on this phone has great colors. It has a good battery life for a camera phone. I think this phone rates as a 10 stars out of 5.
74 World Phone
V551 is a great phone to have with its bright color screen, easy navigation, speakerphone, and sleek design. The phone is a Quad band GSM phone which means you can use it on any GSM network in the world, pretty useful if you are a globe trotter. It has an integrated camera with zoom and exposure control.You can send pictures you took and music in your messages with its MMS capabilities. With 5 MB memory, there is a lot of stuff you can store on this cellphone. Navigation is easy and additional options are available in most screens with the 'menu button' which has a context-sensitive menu. The phone has bluetooth, so when you are driving, you can take calls with a bluetooth handsfree, even if you cannot reach the phone within the car! Speakerphone is very clear!
75 Motorola V551
If it were not for the poorly written, nearly 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! Prior to purchasing the V551, I'd owned a sturdy Kyocera (2135) and wanted something similairily solid, and not "disposable" as many new wireless phones are.
Upon searching for a new phone, I was dismayed at the tiny, delicate, hard-to-dial/use phones on the market!!!! I own a real digital camera and was not interested in one on a phone, but the durability, easy-to-dial layout and sound qaulity of the V551 sold me!
Unlike some of the "obviously" fragile, ultra small, light wieght phones now so popular, the V551 is well made, with a durability factor standard for Motorola. The user 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 poorly writen, incomplete manual!
The sound quality is superb over other "tinny" sounding minature phones I tested. The ring tones that come with the phone are good, though more business sounding rings are preferred for the adult business crowd : ) The vibrate mode is good. 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.
Other reviewers have suggested there are problems with the text messaging interface, but I don't do text messaging so I don't know. The internet capability is a good feature, I'll investigate later. Unfortunately, the net access button is easy to accidentally hit due to it's location.
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. It feels substantial in my hand and when opened it feels phone-like and cradles my face well.
The one phone number per name is unfortunate -- a hiearchical phone book allowing multi-numbers under one name is perferred. I am working on customizing the short-cut features to allow smoother functioning for frequently used items. The speaker phone is excellent and I will try out the blue-tooth capabilities soon.
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.
76 Great Phone For Most Users!
Pros: Sound / voice quality, great internet, great feel and construction quality. Bluetooth wireless works great with my wife's new Acura TL hands free link system. She can make and receive calls in her car with a touch of a button without taking her hands off the wheel. A great safety issue. No more wires for the headset (optional)!
Concerns: Battery life is suspect especially if used for internet, camera and prolonged bluetooth applications. Looks like charging is necessary at least every other day if not daily. This is probably true for most phones and is a function of battery technology.
Wish the font size could be adjusted for many applications especially for text messages. The small fonts are hard to see for us older folks!
It does seem I am pushing more buttons to get to certain applications compared to my old Nokia phone. Not a big deal.
A five star phone for most!
77 Great Phone
Full of cool features...bluetooth, still and video camera. Nice size. Good call quality.
78 Moto V551 review
This phone is a really good deal... especially since its free after the rebate. The sound quality is great and I always have a good signal (from Cingular). It is much much better than my old Nextel service. The phone looks good and is much amaller than my old Nextel phone. I am definatly happy I purchased this phone. I gave the phone a 5 star because it is overall a very good phone with cool features, including bluetooth. There are two things that I didnt like though. First, the instructions for the phone are amongst the skimpiest (by skimpy i mean worst) I've ever seen. I had to play around a lot... my menus from the Nextel phone are VERY different from this. Second is, the battery life indicator isnt too accurate. It told me my phone had a full charge for 3 days... then on the 3rd day it went from a full charge to two-thirds to dead withing 8 hours.
79 Great phone, worthless battery life
I've had this phone for about a month. I get about 36 hours of battery charge with maybe 20 minutes of talking before the battery goes dead. That is without using the other features of the phone. (Bluetooth, games, speakerphone, etc). The battery life makes this phone useless as a wireless phone, because it's always connected to the charger. Otherwise the phone is great and full of features.
80 Everything is clear now
I only got this phone two days ago, but I have to tell you it's already proven to meet all my expectations and more. The most significant thing about this phone is the great voice quality. I still have my old cellphone working (Samsung x426 from AT&T), and for the last two days whenever I get a call on it, I tell people that I'll call them back with my new Motorola cellphone, so I can immediately hear the difference, and everyone have been telling me how clear I sound on the new phone. Gone are the days of saying "what? what?" all the time and asking people to repeat what they said. I can hear everyone loud and clear, even in the middle of a party. The camera is also nice and easy to use. The interface may have few quirks, but it's reasonably easy to use. This phone at over 4 ounce is larger and heavier than the Samsung, but definitely manageable. The number of rings and games it comes with is disappointing, although there is a way to download mp3 as ring tones. Overall, a very good phone with superb voice quality and clarity.
81 great phone for the price
great phone, great price. bluetooth, quad band, outer display, everything a phone should have is here. i love the outer display although i wished it could've been a little bigger and offer color display for a wallpaper and photo id, but it serves its purpose by displaying incoming caller name and reception bars and battery life. the shell is nearly scratch free due to the cool rubbery surface. its a phone where i dont have to worry about scratching or abusing since its fairly inexpensive with a rugged, yet beautiful construction.
82 Feature Rich, But Troublesome
I won the phone so I'm not as critical as I would be if I had paid for it.
With that said, be aware that the first software release had a problem that caused the screen to lock up--it would be white. The quick fix was to close and reopen the flip. The better fix is to return the phone for a new one or to have the phone flashed with the newer software.
I've also noticed that I drop more calls when using the V551 versus a Blackberry 7280.
Motorola should have done a bit more laboratory testing before releasing the phone.
83 Read before buying a cell phone.
First, let me tell you about these cell phone plans from Amazon.
Unless you have a great credit score a deposit may be required.
Chances are that if you are rejected, Amazon may not tell you.
Knowing this, it is in your best interests to be very proactive.
Always be certain to read the contract, or you may be sorry.
Many contracts have huge penalties, which may not be aware of.
Also many companies do not have coverage where they claim to.
Zane, a town in Utah has more coverage than my office building.
Once you are certain of a carrier and a plan, then pick a phone.
Nobody wants to end up like me with cell phone trouble.
84 Sleek little phone!
After years of having a non-flip phone, I still wasn't sold on the idea of having to open the phone every time I needed to answer or place a call. This phone comes Blue-Tooth enabled, so I also purchased the Blue-Tooth headset and when that feature is in use, you don't have to flip the phone open to place/answer calls. The clarity is excellent, although I'm still not answering the phone quite correctly with the headset. A detail I'll get worked out. Didn't want a camera, but the phone came with it. The menus are easy to use and fairly intuitive and it's easy to personalize and program. I think I'm going to be very happy with this purchase.
85 Not good for use outside/sunlight
If you need to use this phone alot outside in bright conditions consider getting something else. You absolutely cannot see the LCD display on the cover or the inside of the phone in sunlight. This means you cannot see who is calling, you cannot see if you have a missed message, if you do have a message you cannot see who it was from, you can't type a text message, you can't read a text message, you can't make a call (except blindly) and you cant take or view a photo if there is bright sunlight. If you take this thing skiing, to the beach, etc. it's almost unusuable.
Except for the problem with viewing the screen it seems to be a fairly well designed and full-featured phone. I'm not overly fond of the motorola menu navigation, but will get used to it.
86 Motorola V551 Is A Winner --- Great Value For Money !
Recently I bought my first flip-phone after saying goodbye to my trusty ol' 4-year old "Candy Bar" Nokia 5190 (it was hard giving it up--sniff, sniff, I'll miss you) :( :(
After poring thru almost every review imaginable on the latest flip-phone trends and craze, it was down to three models for me: This, the Motorola V551, the LG 1400, and Samsung P107. Actually the final showdown was between the V551 and the LG 1400. Both are gorgeous phones with features galore, but the Motorola won it in the end simply because it has been in the cell phone biz longer plus the fact it has a speakerphone (which the LG 1400 doesn't). I know that doesn't sound like a scientific decision, but I trust my gut instinct.
To be honest, I was risking getting a phone with these many features, thought I'd be over my head. But the V551 has made the transition from my "Candy Bar" Nokia very easy and proved my gut instincts to be right. First thing that strikes me right away is the clarity and reception of this phone. The person's voice comes thru loud and clear as a whistle ! The feel is solid and comfortable in your hand. Buttons are also logically laid out. Even those who consider themselves with "clumsy fingers" will find the layout very pleasing to the eye and easy to maneuver. Yes, it might be possible to press the "Internet" button (as others have pointed out) in the dark if you are not careful, but so far that has not happened once with me (and I have big hands).
Some users here have complained about its battery life, but unless you are constantly playing games (which actually is difficult considering this one comes loaded with only one game) or chatting nonstop 24/7, you won't need to charge it every day. My one pet peeve with cell phones is having to charge it every day, something that I did not need to do with my ol' Nokia and luckily, that is not the case here with the V551. Maybe one charge every 4 or 5 days (maybe 3 days with heavy use) and I use the phone daily and keep it turned on throughout the day. So "battery phobics" need not fear with this one. It is NOT a "Battery Fiend". I heard from LG users the LG 1400 phone eats up more battery compared to this phone, which was another deciding factor in choosing to go with the Motorola.
I am sure I will grow to love this phone even more with time and continued use. Its beautiful clam shell exterior masks an equally beautiful LCD screen and layout. But the heart and guts of a phone is what matters and this one has plenty of it. I feel my money has been well spent on a very reliable brand and model. It has almost every conceivable feature (many I probably won't even use) and for the money, it's hard to beat.
87 Camera is great, but everything else sucks. Go with NOKIA.
If you're buying this for the camera features, great. But why not just get a real camera??
If you're a current Nokia user, you will most likely be disappointed with this phone. Motorola does things differently(unintelligently). This phone has too many things about it that takes control away from the user. For example, you can't delete any of the default pictures from the memory, you're forced to look through Motorola's stupid pictures for as long as you own the phone (same goes for the sample video clip).
When you dial a number and it fails to connect, you can hit the "retry" button. But when you do this, if it succeeds in connecting, the phone will set off a long, loud beeping tone to announce the success of connection. Very annoying because when you dial a number, you don't sit there and stare at the phone to see if it's connecting, you put it directly to your ear. So when you hit the "retry" button, instinct tells you to put the phone to your ear, so when the success tone goes off, it's like holding a ringing phone up to your head. Good job, Motorola. Also, it's annoying that the whole bus has to know that you're making a phone call. And of course, there's no option to turn off the alert during a successful redial.
Next, changing ringtones. With Nokia, you can pretty much have ANY ringtone you want. I had a ringtone that just gave off one single beep and that's it. With this phone, there's no such option. The "single beep" ringtone will beep continuously, which really doesn't make it as discreet as I would like. And of course, there's no option to change it.
With Nokia, if you want voicemail, you just dial #1. With this one, you have to click once for the menu (1), twice to get to voicemail (2), then once more to call (1), which adds up to 4 clicks just to dial vm. With nokia, you can press and hold #1. One click with Nokia, four clicks for Motorola.
Next is text messaging, which is its worst feature, in my opinion. To get to a blank page for text messaging, you need 3 clicks. With Nokia, 1 click. Once you're on the blank page, if you want predictive text (which most of us do), you need to click 3 times. Total of 6 buttons to press just to start writing your text. Predictive text on this phone is such a joke that I don't even want to get into it. Just take this advice: if you'll be using text messaging often, DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE. Also, with Nokia, if you accidentally exit the page where you're writing your text message, you can go back in and see everything you've already typed out. With this phone, nothing is saved, so you have to start all over.
With Nokia, the calendar option allows you to assign birthdays to people in your phone book, which makes a lot of sense because if the people are in your phone book, then they're most likely people whose birthdays you'd want to remember. Nokia makes it very easy to do this. With Motorola, there is no such option as assigning birthdays to phonebook entries.
One thing that makes this phone better than Nokia is the voice recording capability. You can record quick reminders for yourself when you can't write something down immediately. Very useful for getting directions or phone numbers. But that's about it.
88 Great Phone, features, and Price!
This phone is a great phone especially for the price! I got it through Cingular with a two year contract extension. It cost $150 - $50 MIR for a total of $100. This phone has all the features you could want in a high tech phone: Bluetooth, Camera plus VIDEO, QUAD BAND - it works all over the world, large bright screen, white back light numbers which is a nice professional change from the common blue, and it is made from this great blue, no-slip plastic. The one thing I would like to have seen on this camera is expandable media. The one annoying thing about the phone is the one button internet access. Pushing this button by mistake will cost you 2-3 cents each time. Overall this is a really great phone, and when you consider your getting quad band, bluetooth, a camera, and all for $100, you can't go wrong.
89 WOW!!!
this phone is very sleek. I think it is a good price also. plus it is part of the biggest network ever! and just because I'm a kid don't think I don't know. I have done all of my research. I had a nokia 6800 and that was a good phone, but this phone takes the cake!
90 V551 experience
The phone is overall a complete packeage. However, there are a couple problems that I have experienced with this phone.
First, the battery indicator goes very quickly from full to 2/3 to "low battery". Second, the brushed metal on the fron of the clamshell does scratch easily.
Other than that, the hardware is excellent. While the programming could be somewhat improved, the important thing is that the phone will be able to coexist quite nicely with my laptop (a 12-inch iBook with a Bluetooth adapter). Call quality is very good, the Bluetooth implementation is very similar to the V600 (transfer audio, photo, and video between computer and phone easily) once you get it paired with your computer.
Games: I don't view a cellphone as a device on which to play games; if that was a priority I would have bought one of the N-gages. Instead, I am looking for a good, functional phone that works well.
I live in the Minneapolis area, and before the merger, there was AT&T Wireless but no Cingular. This phone may be the best Motorola that Cingular has to offer as far as capabilities are concerned, and for much less than the Razr, and without the Razr's bling factor.
What I look for in a cellphone:
1. GSM. The sim idea is probably one of the best ideas I have seen in a cellphone - ever.
2. Bluetooth. With it, I get a phone that works well with my other equipment, and that goes a long ways. It's nice that the Bluetooth capabilities are not crippled, like Verizon does to the V710. (Can you hear ME now?!)
3. Quad-band. Great to have if you travel abroad, though the international roaming rates are the real killer.
4. Clamshell/flip phone. I don't want to accidentally hit the "send" key.
91 CELLULAR WAREHOUSE HAS NO CUSTOMER SERVICE
We bought two of these phones; one for husband and one for daughter. Inside of a day, my daughter's phone had a small crack in the silver faceplate next to the rubber edge. She didn't drop it...it was in my husband's possession most of the evening. We took it back very next morning thinking perhaps this was a stressed area. Cellular warehouse, including management, offered nothing to remedy the damage. They incessantly claimed they don't sell used stuff, which we never insinuated! My husband and daughter love the phone, but there are NO FACEPLATES available for this phone. It wouldn't be a big deal, except that we actually have a NEED to cover up a crack that could snag her clothes. I don't think the phone is all that fragile. I do think this was an exception to the general quality. But we got nothing out of Cellular Warehouse...I wished we would have purchased from Amazon.com.
92 Not a Sony Ericsson
I tried it. After one hour of fidgeting with it's childish user
un-friendly interface, the darn delayed number buttons, no games, dreadful ring options, I want my T637 back.
I'll do with less resolution in pics, no video to have a more grown-up phone.
This V551 is going back.
93 Good Features, Good Looks, But could be more
I recently changed from simple Sony Ericsson T310 to Motorola V551, so my feedback is based on comparision of two.
While V551, is extremly sleek and good looking with additional advanced features like crisp resolution, bluetooth, GPRS/EDGE, Camera, Speaker and Video, it lacks the user friendly interface of Sony Ericsson. It is not possible to search a name in your address book, except for jumping to particular alphabet. Also the address book displays each number seprately, so you wud have XYZ (Home) and XYZ (Mobile).
One drawback (and major for me) is that this phone does not have a mute option. This might be important for people who travel and attend lot of conference calls. Having a mute lets you attend as a silent listener from a noisey airport!!
Overall the phone is great!
94 Very satisfied - A Good Buy
This is a great phone with some very good features. I just swithched from TMobile since the servic coverage was lousy in my area (ohio). The cingular coverage is great here and the phone is great.
+
>Speakerphone - The speaker phone is very clear, Both parties can hear & talk clearly on this.
> Camera - The camera takes pretty good quality pics, though not like a regular digital camera but as along as it you just want to capture pics for the moment, it's good.
> Bluetooth - works awesome! I connected my jabra bt 250 with the phone, and it works great. I leave the phone in the living are and use the jabra on the 2nd floor, and it works just fine.
> Good feel of the phone, nice rubbery outer feel to the phone.
>I was also able to download some ringtnes from wap sites, so that works nice. My friends from outside USA were able to send me ringtones which worked just fine on this phone.
> You get it for free.
CONS (minor)
> You cant activate the speakerphone without opening the phone & also the speakerphone is behind the phone.
95 You'll be pleased with it
After doing some homework/research on it, I ordered it and just received mine. Glad I did. BTW, thanks for all the reviews here, it did help in my decision-making. It's a nice phone with some great features i.e. bluetooth and EDGE. This is few steps up from the Moto V400 (what I previously owned, another good phone). I would highly recommend this to those who like flip phones and don't mind not having the smallest cell phone around. A lot of positives have been written here so I'm going to jump to things you might worry.
I didn't give this phone 5 stars because the hotkey for the internet is placed too close to the send button that it can be accidently hit too easily. Each time you press it, Cingular will charge you 2 cents for the 2k data usage if you have the pay-as-you-go plan, even if you cancel off immediately (what a great way for Crapular to make few extra bucks!).
Another reason: if you've decided to buy this phone, do check to make sure it's from the BA batch and not from the AA batch (by checking on the phone underneath the battery when you take the battery out, it's some numbers/letters followed by BA or AA). There have been problems with *some* phones from the AA batch that the screen would go white randomly. It's substantial enough that Moto has asked Cingular to stop the initial distribution. Any batches above AA will solve this issue.
Unless you're a nitpicker or a disgruntled Cingular user (see below), I have no doubt you will be pleased. If you're Donald Trump, go with the Razr V3.
96 Excellent Phone
The best phone I've owned by far. I've owned many of the recent top of the line stuff from Panasonic, NEC, Nokia and Motorola. I'm a phone nut and this phone is the best of them all. I'm not into the cameras, etc. What I like is the extremely solid feel, outstanding reception and clarity of my calls, especially when compared to other high priced phones that Cingular offers. Also, the speakerphone is surprisingly clear and useable and the display is beautiful, with easy to navigate menus. An excellent phone all around. My only negative? No USB port. The phone has bluetooth, but how many of us have bluetooth on our pcs?
97 Beware of LOUSY Cingular system
I got this phone from Cingular one week ago, and it NEVER worked. I had to call them and waitting for more than 30 mins to talk to the representative AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN during mt thanksgiving holiday. They still CAN NOT fix the problem so far. Their excuse is the merge of Cingular and AT&T. I guess they already have enough customers now and do not need any more. I am going to return my phone and swith back to T-mobile. At least I can see the logo on my phone. KEEP AWAY from this LOUSY company!!!!!
98 Perfectmoto
This is my first Motorola phone. I have previously had a Panasonic DuraMAX prepaid phone with AT&T, then a Sony Ericsson T226 with Cingular on a one year contract. I am happy to say that I am completely blown out of the water with this phone! The design, silver with a blue rubber surrounding it, gives the phone a beautiful and striking appearence. The blue rubber can also be foudn covering the battery cover on the back. Next thing I'm impressed with, the feautre set. One word: WOW! VGA Camera with Video record. The camera produces great pictures, and the videos are very good, but are choppy at some times. But, its a phone, so what do you expect? You can also take pictures of your friends and save them to their numbers in your phonebook, so whenever the person calls, their picture we'll pop up. Next, the Bluetooth. Though I haven't used it yet, it does offer wireless connectivity to a Bluetooth Headset, which is a big plus. EDGE is a great feature! Application and ringtone downloads are very fast, much faster than GPRS. The call quality and speakerphone sound quality is great; I never have to ask the person I'm talking to "What?", and they can always hear me fine. Besides the obvious features, this phone offers extensive personalization options. You can download polyphonic and MP3 ringtones, which sound great, as well as screen savers and wallpapers. You can even change the look of the menus.
Overall, superb phone! Excels in every feature, and looks great too! This phone will definitely not disappoint!
99 My Experience
This is my 3rd Motorola phone ever (previously, T720, V120e). I must say when comparing this to the T720, the phone completely destroys the competiton. There are a small percent of users who may experience a white screen
