Motorola V555 Cell Phone

Cons: Manual is pretty bad, not enough voice recorder memory, datebook interface with Outlook Express is shaky

Summary: I've had this phone for about 2 years, and I really love it. The only problem I've had is that I dropped it on a hard floor once and the external speaker quit working, but my provider fixed it for me for free in a couple of minutes.

The manual doesn't tell you much at all, but I had Motorola phones before and a lot of it is the same. If you're new to them, I'd go to the v120t page on this site and download the manual for that phone to get a more useful introduction to the basic Motorola features.


Here are the things I like about the v555:


I use the voice recorder all the time to record "notes to self" when I'm driving or something. I wish there were a little more memory devoted to this, as it fills up after about 12 messages. There's also a text "QuickNotes" feature that's good for jotting short things like membership numbers, usernames, etc.


I also use the datebook and alarm clock features all the time so it beeps at me with reminders.


The v120t manual will tell you how to enter your own ringtones from the sheet music notes, as it's the same on this phone, and that's kind of cool I think.


The camera does great in most conditions, though certain mixtures of sun and cloud seem to confuse it a bit. You can take a ton of pictures before the memory fills up for them. Video is great too, but you'll want to go to Videos/VideoSetup and change the VideoLength from "MMS" to "Maximum" or they're just too short.


I'd probably go ahead and spring for the Motorola Phone Tools software with the data cable, then you can use the cable or Bluetooth to transfer your photos, videos, ringtones, contacts and events to your computer. Contacts and events can be synchronized with Outlook Express, but I'm not real crazy about this and just use it as a backup for contacts. I think this is more an Outlook Express failing than that of the phone, and maybe it's partly because of my older version of it. I do wish there were more options to sync with.


If your provider supports it and you sign up, you can also use this software with cable or Bluetooth to connect your laptop PC to the Internet via the phone, and that has worked really well for me.


Oh yeah, and you can use the phone to talk on too, and that's always worked just fine. :)


It would be nice if it had the independent voice dialing like the v262 has instead of having to make a recording for each one to match, but that's a minor detail.


Overall, I find this phone to have many very handy features, and am very happy with it.

Cons: Durability, construction, reliability

Summary: This phone usually has a great signal, as long as the phone you have is not a defect. The only major problem with this cell is the fact that it seems like it can break very easily from some internal damage. Other than that, the picture quality is great, battery life is excellent, maybe 3-4 hours while talking and can last for days without.

Cons: BIGGEST ISSUE: The ear speaker (not speaker-phone speaker) after some use starts to slowly fade to the point that you can barely hear who you are talking to. I have to send it in for repairs all the time so they can clean the contacts. It works well when I get it back, but after a few weeks... here we go again. What an inconvenience!!!

The charger connection is poor. I sometimes have to wiggle the plug until I see the display light up to confirm connection.

Summary: This phone could be a good phone if the problems were addressed by Motorola. Their customer support sucks. The 1 year warranty on the phone covers repairs, but they (the factory nor the carrier) won't REPLACE it even though it is always in for the same issue! The phone was NOT FREE when I got it. It's a lemon, and because of the way they handle the problem issues, Motorola will never have a place by my side ever again once it has been replaced. Six more months, they're outta here!

Cons: bulky, ringer not very loud

Summary: I have had this phone for almost 3 years and it still looks brand new and have never had a problem with it.

Cons: This phone, just like the 551 and the 505 has the same problem. the number buttoms rub on the screen and over time you see rub marks on the screen from all the number keys.

Summary: Mechanically this phone is the best phone i have ever had, yet like all of it predecessors it has the same cosmetic blemish on the screen. If Motorola could fix this, i would never switch to another type of phone ever.