Motorola V551 Phone (AT&T)

by Motorola

Product Details

Product Manual [2.35mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3.4 x 1.8 x 0.9 inches ; 3.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0006I2G3U
• Item model number: V551
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (277 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,018 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very satisfied - A Good Buy, December 2, 2004

By 

Amrish Mohan (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Motorola V551 Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

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.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars V551 experience, December 12, 2004

By 

R. Wood (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Motorola V551 Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

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.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You'll be pleased with it, December 1, 2004

By 

Just Sam (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motorola V551 Phone (AT&T) (Wireless Phone)

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.