Motorola V555 Cell Phone User Reviews

Pros: voice recorder, datebook, alarm clock, camera, video camera, data modem, nice design

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.

Pros: Talk time, good camera

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.

Pros: Size and feel are good. There are more features available on this phone than I will ever use.

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!

Pros: easy to use, decent reception

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.

Pros: I have never had any problems with this phone. I get great signal, speaker is good and loud and just works great

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.

Pros: Great visual, feel and features

Cons: Same bad power connection in jack to phone, bad user manual and web site support

Summary: This will be a journal of my first few days as a new owner of a V555.

March 25, 2006

As a preface I am a brand new user of the V555 as of yesterday. I use the Dobson Cellular One system in Northern Michigan. I traded up from my V60S and use the phone almost exclusively in my car driving around 33 counties in Northern Michigan.

The V555 upgrades so many things such as Bluetooth, color screen, polyphonic ring tones and SIM card technology.

I have no experience yet using the GSM network to see if I get better reception but I certainly have an opinion so far in the two days that I have been programming the phone.

First of all I decided on this phone 1st because of the decent reputation of Motorola and secondly because I want to use Bluetooth while in my car. Cellular One offered the V190 as free for a two-year contract, but I decided to spend the extra $100 to get this V555 specifically for Bluetooth.

I love the look and feel of the phone. It is much lighter than the V60S that I had (granted- I had an extended battery on that). There are many positives which you can read about here and I will mention as the spirit moves.

Now some clear negatives about Motorola as they are fresh on my mind. The users manual is terrible. It is clearly written by people who speak English as a second language. Basic things are not taught, such as the difference between “phone” and “SIM” phone book entry. It also does not clearly differentiate between “Quick Dialing”, “1-Touch dialing” and “speed dialing”. So they end up throwing vocabulary around with presumptions that we know the differences.

Then the Motorola website is just as bad. Again, their support area is terrible and does not answer obvious and valid questions. I took my phone in the retailer today and they also had no idea how to answer my questions and ended up calling Cellular One Customer Service. Answers were finally answered, but I had to go to all that hassle to get basic questions answered.

It turns out that you cannot program 1-touch dialing in SIM mode. So all 112 of my phone book entries are under “SIM” except for the nine “1-touch” dialing entries. What a hassle.

OK- now for the big disappointment. The power connection jack on the bottom of the phone is the same bad design as their older phones. This connection is terrible and eventually goes bad as ALL my Motorola phone jacks have done. Those 4 prongs on the end of the jack always end up getting dirty or something after about one year and then don’t connect properly. The USB connection on my wife’s new V190 is great, I wish they could have incorporated the same connection on the V555.

I know my negatives are strong, but at this point those are my honest thoughts. Those negatives are not near enough to make me want to return this phone as the positives far outweigh the negatives.

More on the reception and day to day usage later…

Pros: none

Cons: many

Summary: This is the worst phone I have ever used. Every time I close my phone, it loses all it's settings. The manual does not give you half the instructions you need and many of the keys it asks you to press don't even exist! It has a world of features but NONE WORK! Support from Motorola is non existant!

Pros: has an awsome look.

Cons: makes bad wall paper pics

Summary: has a good battery life and has sweet ring tones

Pros: Camera w/ zoom, video recorder w/ zoom, voice recorder, mp3 ringtone capability, mms... something for everybody in our family!

Cons: not able to turn off start up and shut down music. locking of downloaded mp3 ringtones, certain downloaded wallpapers and downloaded screensavers.

Summary: this phone is wonderful... something for everybody in the family. compact enough to bring every where. it's great to have that camera and video recorder on hand for those moments you normally wouldn't have a camera or camcorder handy.... and be able to send the pictures or video via mms or email to other phones or email addresses.

Pros: Loud speaker, great screen, comfortable feeling

Cons: None...

Summary: I Love, love, love this Motorola V555 phone! It has really good reception quality, buttons are in all the right places for easy navigation, large screen w/ bright vivid colors. Most of all the great features you would find in a much more pricey phone. Last but not least, the design makes it feel comfortable in your hand. It's doesn't have that slick, slippery surface that makes it hard to hold on to. If you want a great phone w/ all the buttons, and superb clarity, I highly recommend this phone.

Summary: My Motorola V555 and 2 other friends who own this phone have the same problems. In edit mode in the phone book or any other screen the menu will not pop up in certain cases. Every time I tried to call Motorola they do not know the reason for this. I highly advise not to purchase this phone unless you want to be stuck with a lemon. I gave a 1 for ease of use since it just doesn't work properly.