Review: Motorola V550

Motorola V550 Review

Phone rating:

The Motorola V550 is an updated version of the V500 clamshell camera phone, which was the most reliable of the trio of similar phones - the V500, V525 and V600. The V550 is exclusive to Vodafone.

So what's new in the V550? Physically, the V550 looks very similar to the V500. They're both silver clamshells with the same external dimensions and the same screens and near-identical keypads. The V550 has the same rather high weight as the V500: 123g. The only real differences are the addition of video capture and the slightly improved battery life.

Still, the V500 was a successful phone that received good user reviews, and the V550 builds on this basic model. The best features of the V550 are the excellent internal screen, the camera with video capture, MP3 ringtones, speakerphone and quad band. If you want more you should consider the V620, which has an upgraded screen. The V550 does have a tendency to freeze occasionally, but is a pretty robust phone apart from that.

Features of the Motorola V550 include:

• Internal display: 65k colours, 176 x 220 pixels
• External display: 96 x 32 pixels (2 lines of text) with blue backlight
• Digital camera: 640 x 480 pixels (VGA), camera light, 4x digital zoom
• Video capture, download and playback
• Voice recorder
• MP3 ringtones & polyphonic ringtones
• Downloadable themes: animated screensavers, wallpapers and ringtones
• MOTOMIXER™ (Remixable MIDI ringer software)
• Downloadable Java™ games
• Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, group SMS, mobile chat, instant messaging, email
• Predictive text: iTap™
• Connectivity: Bluetooth™ & cable
• Voice-activated dialling
• In-built hands-free speakerphone
• Picture phonebook: up to 500 entries
• Calculator and currency converter, date and clock, datebook with reminder alerts, PIM functionality
• User-customisable softkey functions, main menu and shortcuts
• Memory: 5 Mbytes
• Quad band
• WAP 2.0, GPRS
• Size: 89 x 49 x 25 mm
• Weight: 123g
• Talktime: up to 7.5 hours
• Battery standby: up to 240 hours

Motorola V550 Consumer Reviews

Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

Average rating from 100 reviews:

Reviewed by Alex from New Zealand on 15th Dec 2005
my sister just got this phone yesterday and she thinks it great however i have issues with it. although it has great screen quality and such they could have made the video recording time much longer and the memory bigger. they could have also had a sound recorder so you could record music and use as ringtones and such(and im not talking about the voice recorder).
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Reviewed by I luv my V550 from England on 9th Dec 2005
Very Very gd it is an outstanding phone
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Reviewed by S.M from u.k on 6th Dec 2005
This is a decent phone, but nothing more. I bought my v550 about 2 months ago and i am starting to relize some poor features. 1, The video camera is extremely poor, and mine only lasts for about 30 seconds. 2, the memory is also very poor with only 5mb, so with about 30 txt messages, 20 photos and 4 videos that has just about filled it up. 3, the camera lens is very hard to clean and the camera is average. 4, this phone is extremly easy to scratch, which is very irritating. On the up side though, vodafone live is good, bluetooth is easy to use and the screen quality is good. Overall this phone is pretty good, but for the price, NOT WORTH IT.
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Reviewed by murphyjf from Ireland on 19th Nov 2005
I am disapointed with the phone having used an ancient sharp GX10 for the last few years. There are a few plus points, great battery life, nice clear text display and cool looks and sounds. On the downside...... a really poor camera, the lens is the size of a pin head and is very difficult to clean. The quality is quite grainy/blurred in any case. The side button controls aren't remotely intuitive and it is easy to change you ring settings inadvertantly. Also try riding a bike with the side button chirping at ya it knocks the inside of your pockets. The loud chrips cannot be turned off and the button is way too sensitive. Also what good in quad band with a 220volt only charger...hellllo motorola. Not the worst phone but could do better. Pity!
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Reviewed by Jade from Australia on 14th Nov 2005
this phone is the best,i have read that some people dont like it but who cares i have had this phone for a while and it quite good!to me there is no flaws it is easy to use,some things might be a bit tricky(like the blue tooth) to use at the beging but once you get the hang of it, it is very easy! so thepeople that dont like it,heres some words for u,you didnt have to bye it if you dont like it!
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Reviewed by george from england on 9th Nov 2005
its a wicked fone and u can change the video to 3 minuits
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Reviewed by John from london england on 8th Nov 2005
i brought the v55o only just yesterday and so far im very happy with the functions on the phone .. however does anyone know if the predictive text can be turned off other then that the motorola v550 is an excellent phone
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Reviewed by Mathwin G Derrick from uk on 6th Nov 2005
I think that the v550 is realy realy COOL!!! I am go ing to get one for my 10th birthday! I like the v620 but I think that the v550 is the BEST!!! COOL! COOL! COOL! COOL! COOL! COOL! COOL! COOL! COOL!
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Reviewed by Billy from on 31st Oct 2005
Why r so many people saying that this phone is so rubbish-its brill!!!!!!!!just cos u cant work it properly.if u keep moaning about the top breaking off-u shouldnt break it should u???????duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (umust hav really fat + clumsy hands!!!!!!!) any way get this phone + dont listen 2 the wingey people that WILL NOT STOP MOANING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Becky Bamford from Wales on 30th Oct 2005
I got this fone 4 my birhday, and after a few weeks the buttons were realy dogegy. It would only stay on after id just charged 4 about 2 days and was very poor! I wouldnt reccomend dis fone 2 any 1!!! im much happier with my motorola V3!!! The motorola V3 is the best fone in the world!!! its outstandin!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by zoe from england on 29th Oct 2005
I've had this phone a while now. It looks great and has great camera and video quality. I've only had 1 problem with it, it turned its self off and lost signal. That was to do with the battery. As long as it is fully charged it is fine. I do not regret buying this phone.
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Reviewed by Danny from england on 22nd Oct 2005
This phone is quite good but they could of made it a bit cheaper i suppose.I really miss recording sounds and playing on FREE games but its ok i recommend it for anyone who just wants a decent phone but not for someone who wants a top phone.
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Reviewed by Karen Holland from Hampshire on 20th Oct 2005
Having had a V500 in the past and found it to be one of the best phones Ive had and did'nt think I could do better but when I upgraded to the V550 I realised that there was something better, its so user friendly and has great sound quality, and it doesnt matter where I go (unless Im in a cave or Tesco's)I allways get a good reception. there many "GOOD" phones on the market, but there are few that you could say "NOW THATS WORTH HAVING".
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Reviewed by charlie burman from United Kingdom on 1st Oct 2005
This phone is the best £70 I have ever spent. The only ever phone that has come close to it was the motorola V3. This phone is better and I also know if I have it or not. With the Motorola V3 I don't know if I have it or not. THis phone is brillant all over.
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Reviewed by Luke from Belgium on 30th Sep 2005
Just writing this review to compensate for all th idiots talking rubbish. It's a great phone if you take the time to explore its functions. Bluetooth works great for headsets, data must be transmitted by USB cable, also works great. It has a very handy organiser/calendar and alarm function that can be customised very easely, unlike what someone below me claims. It has little memory for pictures, and you can only store so many bad quality movies, yes, but that's not what you buy this phone for. This was a phone ment for people starting out: long battery life, easy navigation trough menu's. You'll have to lear hoz to work a lot of specifics tough, I'm still trying to copy SIM-stored contact info to another folder, and I fear I can't, big deal. Great phone, it's been reliable and dependale to me so far, and I find it easy to work with 9/10
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Reviewed by jamie from england on 27th Sep 2005
i've already wrote a review of this phone, but that was before i really used the phone, ok now the camara good and the vidioes are quite good but with only 5 and a half megabytes of memory you can only record about 15 15 second videos and about 20 pictures. and most motorola phones have a lot of gliches and sometime they turn them selves off when there is no servise. the charging port is rather fragile, if this is your first camara phone it's great but if you want somthing with more memory i wouldn't get this phone
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Reviewed by savana from england on 26th Sep 2005
its not the worst phone ever but theres better. I like the zoom on it because you can get really close in. but i dont understand how to do the bluetooth to work. the video capture is a bit blurry but its ok. the memorys a bit on the small side. on the whole its a weighted, cute silver phone. what really do you need a phone for? well ringing people! it lets you do that with an easily accible menu and other features. i'd give it a 7 out of 10. xxx
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Reviewed by michelle from USA on 25th Sep 2005
i love this phone. i take a ton of pics and movies with it and have figured out how to put them on my pc with the usb data cable! it takes good clear pics and is quite handy. the screen is very vivid and clear which is good for my eyesight. I really really like it!
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Reviewed by Rky from Ireland on 25th Sep 2005
To all those having problems relating to using bluetooth I would like to say this. READ THE MANUAL. Select the item you want to send go to the menu and select copy - go to (look for devices) and make sure the other phone or pc is in discovery mode (V.Important). Now back to the review. Ps. Yes you can have ring and vibrate on together (MANUAL) Have the v550 for almost a year now. Begining to hate it. 1. After connecting via blootooth the menu system slows to a crawl. 2. Reboots itself every now and then 3. Camera is blurry even after cleaning and you can't send 640x480 pics via mms or e-mail cos they get shrunk down to mms size 4. What's the whole point of the motomixer It's junk 5.Can't delete built in ringtones of sample video 6.Changing the contrast only works by setting it and then turn the fone off and on again. (Actually this usally solves a lot of my problems with this phone) 7. The Backlight function is a must as without it i can't even see the screen even in direct sunlight (Miss my nokia) 8. Some game functions don't work with the phone. end up in continual loop. 9. Headset had a battery life like a goldfish (charge 14hrs use 1 time for 5 min turned it off 2 hrs later battery dead. 10.magic button too sensitive when carrying keeps beeping when brushed against. Good points. ehhh ehhh. yea# mp3 ringtones (Not in the manual at time of purchase) bluetooth,screensize Going to get a new phone , Nokia or sony I think Rky@vodafone.ie
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Reviewed by Shane from New Zealand on 21st Sep 2005
Well I purchased this phone today after reading reviews on here for the past few days. Had been looking to upgrade my old Nokia 5210, which was a good phone, but black and white screen and it was from the days of having to key in new phonebook entries for each number that one person has.. i.e. "john home..., john mobile...". Anyway, historically I have been a complete nokia freak. Love the menu, texting, everything so it was a big step to put my trust in a Motorola (having sold Motorola Startacs and knowing the problems they had with them back then etc). So, I have been playing with this phone all day, and have to say I absolutely love it. Yes, the menu is so very different to Nokia, the texting is completely different and it will prob take a while to get used to, but it's fun learning it. The bluetooth headset is crystal clear. Brilliant sound from the phone earpiece also. It feels sturdy, camera and video work a treat. No doubt I'll find things about it that bug me, but if anyone is reading this who is a Nokia fan and dares to try something different, I survived, and I'm sure you can too!
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Reviewed by KILLA CAM from BIRMINGHAM on 16th Sep 2005
IT'S THE BEST PHONE U CAN GET THAT'S NOT MADE OUT OF GOLD
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Reviewed by John from Texas (yes, it's a country) on 8th Sep 2005
Very good quad mode phone. I changed to Cingular from Verizon at the same time, so I can't quantitatively say that the reception is not at good as my old V60. But, I find more places where my signal is weak or non-existent, than with my V60 on Verizon. I don't know whether to blame the phone or Cingular, for those drrop-outs, though from what I hear from others, I am leaning towards blaming Cingular. The camera does not have a cover over the lens, so you have to remember to clean the lens before each use of the camera. The phone also has the same cheesy battery gauge that they have always had. It appears to have 6 levels, but in fact, only has 3 levels. It drops down two bars at a time. It's not exactly a problem. It's just misleading. With the latest release of iSync, from Apple, the V550 will sync to the Apple address book and calendar, via Bluetooth. However, if you use Microsoft Entourage as for contacts and appointments, you will have to download OnSync, at http://www.onmadesoft.com/. You can choose to sync all contacts or just those in specific Entourage categories. If your Mac did not come with Bluetooth, I find that the D-Link Bluetooth USB adaptor works well for this purpose. One caution --- Don't delete a contact in OnSync that has a voice-dial sound attached. It will delete the contact entry on the phone, but the sound will stay out there in never-never-land. The only way to get rid of it is to either reset the phone and re-input all of your custom settings, ringtones, etc. or have the maintenance software to manually delete the sound. YOU MUST DELETE CONTACTS WITH VOICE-DIAL SOUNDS ATTACHED, FROM THE PHONE ONLY. The problem that this creates is that you cannot use a similar sound, without resetting the phone. So, if you change companies and you no longer call "Robert" and you delete "Robert" using OnSync and then later need to add another "Robert" you can't. If you delete the entry on the phone, this is not a problem. All in all, after some initial problems, created by inadequate information from Motorola, I must say that I am quite satisfied with the V550.
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Reviewed by James from UK on 7th Sep 2005
This fone, when i got it was a really good deal. it came as an upgrade from my previous v525 and i was enticed by the prospect of video recording. however, if i had known of the simply pitiful memory that motorola have put in to this fone i would have instantly refused my contract upgrade deal and gone straight out and bought a different make such as a Nokia, for instance, which i know have far better memory, features, and most importantly, RELIABILITY. my fone has just randomly crashed on many occasions, and perhaps, most annoyingly, sometimes when i try to send a text, my signal will drop from full, to none, JUST as the text is sending!! also, the screen does not "react quickly", in a sense where if i go from looking a brightly coloured pic, to a dark pic, you can still see the image from the previous bright pic for at least 3 seconds over lapping the dark one!! Also, battery life is appauling :( Overall, an ok phone, but not a phone that is going to last long.
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Reviewed by rachel from england on 4th Sep 2005
this is like the best phone i've ever had it has the best quality ive had in years EVERYBODY BUY IT!!!! ITS DA BEST! HELLO MOTO!!! :)
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Reviewed by sara from England on 31st Aug 2005
This fone is rubbish!if you want a good phone then you should go for the sharp gx25 or gx30i. The screens rubbish, the camera is and it broke down in less then a month.
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Reviewed by BOB from ENGLAND on 30th Aug 2005
THIS FONE IS BRILLIANT ITS DA BEST FONE I HAV HAD YET GOOD QUALITY CAMERA AND GOOD QUALITY VIDEO RECORD LASTS UP 2 ABOUT 7 SECCONS AT FIRST BUT U CAN CHANGE IT BY GOING ON 2 UR VIDEOS PRESSING DA BUTTON WITH THE LINES ON GO 2 VIDEO SET UP THEN 2 VIDEO LENGHTH AND CHANGE IT 2 MAXIMUM THEN YOU HAVE ABOUT A MUINUET VIDEORECORDING INSTEAD OF 7 SECCONS THE BLUETOOTH IS GREAT THE SOUND IS REALLY GOOD NOT TINNY JUST THE WAY YOU WOULD WANT IT YOU CAN DOWNLOAD PICS AND MUSIC ON DA NET WICH R ABOUT 3 POUND AND PICS ARE ABT 1 POUND BUT PEEPS U STILL AY TOLD ME HOW 2 RECCORD RINGTONES COULD SUMMONE PLZ TELL ME I AM GOING MAD 2 FIND OUT ???????????PLZ PEEPLE?????
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Reviewed by Laura from Twickenham on 28th Aug 2005
I am gong to get this phone for Christmas. One of my mates has it and she lets me use it all the time. It is the best phone ever. I had loads of rubbish phones in the past and i am really looking forward to get this phone.Is off the hook. BYE IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by dominic skillicorn from united kingdom on 26th Aug 2005
Truly terrible, the Bluetooth wont work properly the memory is pathetic and the videos are blurry and annoying. And it just feels and looks cheap. Within 30 mins of the first time I switched it on it was on its way back to the shop for a refund. I will stick with my old Sagem MYV-65 thank you very much!
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Reviewed by zoe from england on 21st Aug 2005
I just got this phone and it is great! When you first go to video mode it only films for 7 seconds, but if you go on video setup and change it from MMS to maximum it'll give you a minute recording time. It looks ace and is ace - give it a try!
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Reviewed by ?????? from ?????? on 19th Aug 2005
looked good wen i got it but started to do nout e.g the flip used to be all straight n now its all twisted n the bluetooth hardly works but it might work 4 u
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Reviewed by Marc Higgins from Ireland on 18th Aug 2005
Useless phone i will never own a motorola again, it crashes, looses signal, wont accept comands and just generally does what it feels like and not what you tell it !
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Reviewed by Darina from England on 15th Aug 2005
I am going to be getting this phone for my birthday! I think its fab! One of my mates has it, and when ever I see her I ask to look at her phone and play around with it. It has a great camera, and looks wicked! You should defenatley get this phone, it has everything that someone would want.
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Reviewed by Shaun from USA on 15th Aug 2005
I REALLY LIKE THIS PHONE BEAUSE OF THE ATTRACTIVE FLIP FUNCTION. THE FACT THAT IT HAS BLUETOOTH IS AN EXTRA BNUS. THE CAMERA QUALITY IS 100% AND YOU CAN RECORD VIDEO....!!! THE FACT THAT YOU CAN USE REALTONESIS ACE. BUT THIS PHONE AND TRUST ME YOU WILL BE HAPPY
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Reviewed by Johnny from Portugal on 5th Aug 2005
Same phone than V545... The keypad only lights if there's not enough light in the environment. There's a light sensor in the right-upper part of the keypad. If there's enough light, the keypad's light doesn't work, to provide longer availability of battery. This is a great feature in a great phone! HELLO MOTO! :)
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Reviewed by pasxalie from netherlands on 5th Aug 2005
The foon is excellent!! but i CAN'T film a long time!. Just 1 minutes that's nothing!! i wont a foon that's, filming for a hour.But a simply foon ( EXCELLENT!!!!!)
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Reviewed by *C*h*L*o*E* from england on 3rd Aug 2005
One excellent phone! easy to use! great video/camera picture! Just great!
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Reviewed by kermit from frogland on 3rd Aug 2005
simply the best phone I have ever had.
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Reviewed by gwen from whales on 2nd Aug 2005
i just got this phone and it's the best.the camera's tops, the screen's great and the menu is really easy to navigate. have droped it on the floor on countless ocations and it still works. this phone should be made compulsory. BUY IT!
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Reviewed by Dazzler1408 from United Kingdom on 24th Jul 2005
NOT A HAPPY CUSTOMER: In Summer 2004 I got a Motorola V525, and Vodafone upgraded me to the V550 because of problems with my V525. The Motorola V550 is awful. It looks nice, and the features are good, but it has broken twice on me. It was switching off when I went online, so Vodafone gave me a new handset. This did the same. It kept switching off when I closed it, so Vodafone sent it off to be fixed. It came back and is now doing the usual thing of switching off when I connect to Vodafone Live!. I am presuming that random switch-offs are not a very attractive feature. Also the display brightness refuses to adjust. I am not at all happpy with this phone, and this Summer, only a year after having a Motorola, I am buying a Samsung E720, because I can't take chances with the reliability of my Motorola.
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Reviewed by Leeya from England on 2nd Jul 2005
This phone is ok but some people think that all flippy phones are the best well there are quite a lot that are'nt and this phone is'nt good if you want a phone that has long battery life phone if you like spending to much time playing games then this phone is'nt good
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Reviewed by Helen from UK on 30th Jun 2005
This phone has lots of nice features like the camera, video, downloadable games which all make it seem like a really good phone. And it would be, except there are just a few things that annoy me about it. Lots of people have said it has good battery time, but if I forget to charge mine overnight every night, it'll almost certainly run out the next day, which can be really annoying if you need to make a call. I've asked a few friends who own the V500 if they have this problem, and they've said no, and my model is meant to have better battery time than theirs! Another thing is that the video is quite poor. I know it isn't a 3G phone or anything, but I was expecting a little better quality and for it to film for longer than about 7 seconds. There has also been a few occasions where it has frozen or turned off itself, but luckily this has only happened a few times. On the plus side, the camera is much better than other phones like the Nokias (which nearly all seem to have considerly smaller screens) and produces sharp pictures which I've been able to send to my computer and print off. It also has good games and polyphonic tones. It is incredibly smooth and sleek looking, even nicer than the V500. All in all, the features are very good ideas but to me, a phone can have all the little extras it needs, but if it doesn't have basic things like good battery time then its fairly pointless. If Motorola could just do something about that then I would be much more pleased with it.
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Reviewed by Hazel from England on 26th Jun 2005
I have had this phone for about 6 months now and it has been the BEST phone I have had. I have always had Nokias until my supplier sent me this by mistake, I am now glad they did. I give the Motorola V550 100%. It is an outstanding and stylish phone and I am proud to ahow it off, everyone who see's it wants to either buy it from me or swop it for their phone. NO WAY, it's mine.
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Reviewed by Ray from Ireland on 25th Jun 2005
A very unreliable phone. The handset has failed twice after only 5 months of ownership and the warranty service provided sucks. The handset is also prone to freezing with a shutdown and re-boot required. A really bad phone.
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Reviewed by missy moto from motoland on 21st Jun 2005
yo ma homies i gotz the v550 and it iz bangin u no wot im sayin takes da moto out a FANDABIDOZI m8 u gotta getz one man it is fi ne fi ne fi ne fffffffiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnreeeeeeeeeee am nearly attrackted to it but not qwite m8 ido not go dere if u no wot iz is sayin!!!!
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Reviewed by matt from england on 21st Jun 2005
this ffone is good not the best, top of the range but a good phone and the design is really good, the only problem that i have found is that the camera flickers when directed at a dark are, but brilliant for the money
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Reviewed by Johners from Ireland on 20th Jun 2005
I'm undecided on this one- had it a couple of months but already things have started to fail on it! Battery life is no longer good. Camera doesn't always work. The biggest current problem is the sound can go on it altogether i.e. you'd be on a call and you can't hear the other person, then you can, but then they go again- eventhough I always push the volume up to 7. The phone was brand new and has never been dropped, flushed or abused in anyway! Despite all that I really like the phone, but its just not reliable. As a work phone, I'll just have to go back to Nokia. They are the only truely reliable handset. Shame, because I really like the look, feel and quality of the screen. Has anybody else had hassle with the sound on this phone- don't have the heart to bother sending it off to be repaired- not worth the wait!
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Reviewed by Tom from England on 5th Jun 2005
This is phone is truly amazing! The camera is brilliant quality and the video is also brilliant. Anybody who says the bluetooth doesn't transfer data needs to get of their backside and read the manual. I have been sending pictures to my pc and other phones via bluetooth. This phone is an excellent phone. The weight is a little on the heavy side, but everything has a down side. I also love the way the phone can be customized. This really does deserve 10 / 10.
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Reviewed by Davy H from Northern Ireland on 31st May 2005
I have had 4 of these motorola flip phones 1 v300,3 v500s and 1 v550. The V550 is a great little phone yea so it is a bit on the heavy side but i have found that the cameras on all these phones are not bad and I have read that users of these phones find that the short cut keys change their ring settings i to had this problem but guess what you can change these in your settings menu to function for other menus, also they complain about the phone beeping every minute to tell them that their battery is low or that they have missed a call again this can be turned of in your settings menu. Overall I find these fones very reliable and unlike the its older brother the v500 the speaker problem seems to have been sorted (for users of the v500 if speaker does stop working give it a couple of sharp taps on a table or kitchen worktop not too hard or you could break the screen. I done this to my previous v500s and it always brought my speaker back to life)I do recommend the v550 as a good every day mobile phone. thanks for reading and I hope it helps you make up your mind.
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Reviewed by LiBsTa from Australia on 29th May 2005
I've had this phone for a month now and it is so GOOD!!! Anyone who says different sucks just coz they have bad luck with phones.camera is clear, video is GREAT but how do u make recordings ringtones??? forgot to right that in the driections didn't ya buddies. STILL A GREAT PHONE THOUGH!!!
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Reviewed by dan from Portugal on 25th May 2005
This phone is quite good... Great price (much cheaper than nokia and with the same capabilities)Bluetooth works good... and yes.. you can transfer DATA with it! If you can't i sugest you get a decent adapter for the PC or read the manual -_- The ergonomics are quite good.. sound also.. quick call... just like any other phone.. the camera is within average.. JAVA games dont slow down as much as in some phones and the battery life is quite good. Many good features for a low cost. I can't see why there are people that say this is a bad phone -_-`. And yes.. i tested all the features. The 4 stars is for the average camera.. nothing more.
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Reviewed by Simon Heaford from UK on 23rd May 2005
Thought it was a great phone until I reliased bluetooth only worked on the bluetooth headsets and you could not send data through the bluetooth system. This is a massive dis-advantage for me as had a nokia before and used bluetooth a lot.
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Reviewed by Martyn Williams from UK on 23rd May 2005
I've had the phone for 3 months and am happy with it. (I prefer the Sharp GX20 but that has no bluetooth.) It took me 2 hours to get the phone to connect with the bluetooth on my computer but having finally done it I found it works well. A bit bulky in one's hand but the battery life is fantastic. On another note, don't buy anything from 'Mobile Fun'. If it doesn't work and you want your money back they'll ignore your emails!!
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Reviewed by David from Ireland on 22nd May 2005
Phone is reasonably ok but it is very here the phone ring.Camera is brilliant.
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Reviewed by Doggy from Ireland on 20th May 2005
This is a cool phone.With bluetooth and no infa-red,but BAD BAD BAD BAD blurry video.Fairly bad camera.Otherwise this is a good phone.
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Reviewed by Declan from Ireland on 20th May 2005
I got this phne as an upgrade via Vodafone. This is, without a shadow of doubt, the worst phone I have ever had the misfortune to own. The good points are the screen clarity & resolution, ergonomics & general ruggedness of the phone. The bad points are that it has the worst logic I've ever seen. An alarm that has to be re-enabled every day - why? why not have it recurring? A quick Dial menu where your entries are called Quick Dial 1, 2, 3, etc. instead of assigned names... and much much more of the same nonsense. Can't ring & vibrate at the same time, it's one or the other. The good-as-useless camera stops working - Motorola says run the battery to flat, recharge & it'll be fine. It was, but thats typical of the phone. Garbage, avoid it if you can.
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Reviewed by UNTOUCHABLE from U.K on 20th May 2005
xcelent phone, great lukz, nice features... anyone hu sez any different shud get a reality check... lolz and as for camera faults.. ther are no faults! it just needs cleaning.
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Reviewed by Derek from United Kingdom on 19th May 2005
This is officially the best phone ever!
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Reviewed by Lorenzo from Italy on 19th May 2005
Ok... i never owned this phone - one of my ex-girlfriends had it - (i have an E398)... and i think it's much better... mine doesn't have video recording and that's a plus to the v550... but instead i have a memory card wich can give me up to 258 mb of memory... ( a 64 mb transflash comes with the phone )... on the v550 there's only 5 mb of space wich is very little to my needs as i use my phone as an iPod...the picture/videdo quality is the same.... actualy i think mine's better... anyway the difference is minor... personally i don't like flip phones because if you drop it by mystake they can be seriously damaged...this is a black ball for the v550... so... i think it's a good phone (only because it has the video recording ) but i vote for the E398 wich not only has better performances but it also costs less ( i bought mine for 199 euros but now it costs less... @ 160 ) :)
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Reviewed by cat from uk on 19th May 2005
rubbish phone. I've had three and they have all been faulty. Firstly the camera broke. does not close properly so the time never comes up on the outside screen. looks great but quite heavy.
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Reviewed by Steven Jaye from UK on 17th May 2005
Awesome. End of.
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Reviewed by Jaffa from Ireland on 16th May 2005
Dis is da worlds best phone.But why no infa-red.WHY!
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Reviewed by hannah from uk on 15th May 2005
i think this fone is reli cool and it has an amazing camera and video!!! i think ne1 wud luv dis fone as it iz reli reli cool
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Reviewed by ? from england on 15th May 2005
i got this phone about a mounth ago for mi birthday and its so cool ok the video recorder could have been better but the pictures are very very good qulitey i dunno y any one would diss this fone coz its the best the ringtones on it are not so good but u can download them bettery use is ok lasts up to about 4 days when camara is used i do really recommend this fone to any one coz its really good i use it like every day
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Reviewed by Helder from Portugal on 10th May 2005
Well I bought this phone one mounth ago specialy because it was a good and cheater phone. I wanted to buy the new sharp 902 a new mobile phone 3G, however I bought this one. This has a good image 176*220 pixel and works weel with bluetooth. I'm portuguese and I'm 16 years old so don't care if ther are some gramatical errors. i hope i could help you to buy your phone!
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Reviewed by sean from england on 5th May 2005
I've had this phone since christmas and i love it its the best phone ive had in my life and ive had about 7 in 2 years. lol. i recommened this phone to everyone as it is the best you will get for an outstanding price. Bluetooth is brilliant onit aswell. thanks motorola/vodafone!!!!
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Reviewed by stuart tweedie from uk on 2nd May 2005
Very good handset and easy to use,outstanding features.The only problem i have found is that you can not send picture messages to models eg vk range.
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Reviewed by cookie from uk on 1st May 2005
i thought the phone was absolute rubbish it had very liitle memory and the video and camera were rubbish i wouldn't recommend it to anyone
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Reviewed by Matt from Australia on 29th Apr 2005
What can i say this phone is awsome ive had the phone for less then a day and im already in love with it, this is my next 3315 cause that was the best phone untill now
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Reviewed by John Snith from United Kingdom on 25th Apr 2005
I've had this phone for 2 weeks now and it is outstanding!! Ringtones are cool, first 2 days battery life is low but after 1 week it is absolutely great! Anyone who disses any part of the phone spanks! This is the best phone I have had. I also recommend the motorola v980.
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Reviewed by jamie pope from united kingdom on 25th Apr 2005
i got this phone 2 days ago as a early birthday preasent and i am so happy with it the bluetooth works fine and the games are good and this is my first camara phone i love it sooo much
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Reviewed by Johanson from Sweden on 15th Apr 2005
This is truly a great phone, an excellent value for the money, and an image enhancing gadget too. It looks great, has a camera, a video recorder, both of great quality, bluetooth, large color screen, it plays mp3s and you can upload java games. There are several other usefull and not so usefull features. A comparable Nokia or Samsung would cost you loads more money. There are a few things to be noted however. It doesn't have an infrared port, and getting bluetooth to work is a bit tricky. Also it took me some time to learn how to upload and download stuff from it using USB connection. As for games, uploading them to your V550 is a real science. Once you are through all the difficult parts this phone becomes endless fun.
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Reviewed by robby from england on 10th Apr 2005
i think this fone is a excellent fone...its brilliant in every way..the camera is brill and the ringtones are good..the video recorder is ok (could of been better)..the only problem i have with this fone is that you cant send ringtones or pictures..they are all locked and i think that is stupid..apart from that i think its a good fone,i would recommend it to anyone..
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Reviewed by John-Paulus from America on 29th Mar 2005
I think this phone is great, I also have this phone and nothing bad happened with it sinds I've got it. I've Vodafone as operator, which is also the best, and this phone is the best you can get, so if you haven't buyed this phone yet, BUY IT! It rocks, and it's worth every single euro I payed for it.(I've got this phone import which costed me 130 euro's)
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Reviewed by jensicle ! lol from england on 25th Mar 2005
basically my friend has one of the moto v550's and i think it is amazing i personally dont have one myself but my friend always lets me play with hers and take pics and look at her messages, sure it takes a long time to load things up but u get used to it after a while. all these mean people that say its rubbish phone are wrong, it has a buff cover, and is set out with things easily, i think i am gettting one coz they are so goood.
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Reviewed by Spiritual from Ireland on 24th Mar 2005
The Motorola V550 is a great phone. It has a brilliant camera that is so clear. It has great sound on it because some other flip phones that I used has TERRRIBLE sound because instead of chatting I was screaming down the phone "WHAT?!" on the other one. Its has a nice big keypad for even the fattest person's fingers! If you are getting your first phone you should really consider getting the V550. It is very straight forward and has LOADS of stuff in it at the same time! Get the V550 now at your local Vodafone shop or The Carphone warehouse. Plus in the V550 it is exlusive to Vodafone and I personaliy think that Vodafone is the best ever!!!
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Reviewed by jaap from netherlands on 18th Mar 2005
I cant put my mp3 as ringtone.. very wierd.. and how u put a moving wallpaper on the background and it still will b moving? if i place it on the background it doesnt move anymore... :/
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Reviewed by dragos from romania on 16th Mar 2005
this is the best phone from motorola,the camera and the bluetooth connectivity is great.
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Reviewed by Kathy from UK on 12th Mar 2005
Although this is a great fone,with its picture quality, it does have its faults. Firstly theres the bluetooth device, which i find problems in connecting or recognising other devices. Also theres the problem of downloading MP3's. It seems to have its own opinion of wot it allows to installed on it. I have tried to install several split MP3's from the same albums but it doesnt allow them all to complete transfer or sometimes it comes back with corrupted file. This is not a memory problem as it happened from first downloads, although i cant seem to find where to access memory status. please can anyone advise me further on how to overcome these problems.
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Reviewed by Amy from England on 9th Mar 2005
*~This phone is the best phone i have eva used!! I havent even had it for a week yet but i certainly think it is the best phone around at the moment for its price. The camera is really gr8, and the video is good, and the sound is really clear. The colour screen is amazing. I have upgraded from a samsung and i find it will take me a while to get used to its different layout etc.. However the memory is not the best. But all in all if you want a great phone.... BUY IT !!~*
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Reviewed by alex from new zealand on 8th Mar 2005
hey guyz buy this phone coz its great!!the only problem i think is the storage which is only 5mb..though mp3ringtones are cool as, and pictures 2..the screen is magnificent-so bright..the only bad thing is its hard to see the screen on bright sunny days..otherwise this phone rocks!!!
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Reviewed by J Johnson from England on 7th Mar 2005
The phone looks great, no problems with coverage, battery holds for 4 days of heavy camera usage and the record 7 days when i did not use camera or games. Charging time was pretty long at first, but now after a month it has reduced to 6 hours. Longer than my old Siemens, but still very good for a more advanced phone like that. The only problem that I encountered is the bluetooth. I couldn't get it to work with other Motorola V-500 series. It works perfectly with phones from other makers and headset device.
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Reviewed by anonymous from england on 5th Mar 2005
Overall, this phone is pretty good. it has a good camera, an ok video recording time (if u set the recording length to maximum) and has a quick response. On the other hand, the video recorder is rather laggy, the external display is ezily scratched and u must hav a vodafone sim card to use the internet.
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Reviewed by my name ? from ireland on 21st Feb 2005
5 stars?? 5? did u even look at the phone i tried to get it to connect to phones computers and a kiosk thing that u can print out your pictures no nothing!! then i thought nah couldnt be the phone i just near spent €300 on so my friend who bought a phone for €80 tried it and of course his one worked!! the phone is slow deletes messages when it feels like it the cover is horrible and of course vodafone has their name written all over it (not a problem when ya have a blade) but seriously the phome is awful i loved the v300 and cried when it was in the washing machine and i bought a new one only to be disappointed motorla have left me down
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Reviewed by matt watson from new zealand on 19th Feb 2005
This is undoubtedly the worst phone I have ever had the displeasure and frustration of using. The charge time is absolutely ridiculous as it discharges its self completely before it starts charging which often takes a few hours, I have had this thing charge for 6 hours before, and then for the first hour or so of its charge cycle you can't use it, in fact you cant even access any of the menus to get numbers out so you can call them off another phone. Also there is a long delay between pressing a button and the phone responding (sometimes up to a second) which makes it frustrating to type txt messages and take photos. Also the phone struggles to make bluetooth connections with other phones nearby, often will not even pick them up when you are standing right next to the other person. DON'T BUY THIS PHONE I'm going back to my old Nokia.
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Reviewed by -ChEsTeR- from england on 17th Feb 2005
this phone is excellent because it has a wkd zooming camera and video ,the phone is easy to useand holds lots of messages but the ringtones are rubbish and there are no GOOD games plus the blue tooth is hard to set up.the menu is simple and well set out ,it is a perfect size and is pretty stylish too.i recommend this phone to anyone who wantsto take lots of pictures. p.s the internet does not work
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Reviewed by will from england on 16th Feb 2005
it's the best phone i have ever had. IT GREAT
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Reviewed by Alison from UK on 15th Feb 2005
The phone itself is very stylish although very heavy in comparison to my Samsung E700. Unfortunately when I tried to make my first phone call, although it said connected on screen, I couldn't hear anything. I eventually realised that if I used the handsfree speaker I could use my phone. When I telephoned Vodaphone they offered to send me a replacement the next day. I am waiting in anticipation to see if the next one works!
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Reviewed by Martin from UK on 14th Feb 2005
Very Sleek and nice to View (tempting for other people)I've had it for one day and like all around aspects, still not convinced by the menus a bit confusing, i come from a long life family of Nokias that are easy. Found it a bit on the heavy side and bulky of what i've played with has good application to keep my busy life running up to speed, several alarms, date planer, camera not to bad (first i have) and a bunch of cool stuff all in all. Not bad for being free from vodafone. Buy the way missues also got one she loves it.
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Reviewed by Paul Over from UK on 3rd Feb 2005
Being a Global business user the V550 appeared the ideal replacement for my V600, however coverage is not available within Japan. Using a Vodafone sim it should have proven to have been an easy roam onto KK Japan, this phone will hopefully work in Australia & New Zealand over the coming week. Lets see?
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Reviewed by melissa from america on 3rd Feb 2005
its awesome!! it works really well and its top of the line. i am really impressed!!!
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Reviewed by Nigel Kitchen from uk on 2nd Feb 2005
nice phone nice looks but with a bit iffy bluetooth. connect to usb dongle on the puter one day works fine next day dosent work at all???? storage not too bad had 15 games on it with noprobelmm and about 50 pictures video a bit jerky though. other wise a very good phone
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Reviewed by Samantha from England on 30th Jan 2005
I think this is an excellent phone however the bluetooth system only allows you to send out a bluetooth signal rather than pick up other peoples, making it impossible to send information for free. Apart from the bluetooth everything is well layed out on the phone and the camera is almost, if not the same quality as the Sharp GX10 mobile which is the best camera i have ever seen on a mobile. this mobile is also very durable so excellent all round!!
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Reviewed by Maddie from UK on 28th Jan 2005
I love this fone as it has jus wot u need, n its easy 2 use!
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Reviewed by Jose from Ireland on 25th Jan 2005
Apart from the small memory it has and the terrible bluetooth it is fine, just not very interesting. Fine as a phone but not much else.
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Reviewed by sophie from england on 23rd Jan 2005
i got this fone 4 crimbo and luv it a lot the only thing is dat there isnt a lot of memory on it 4 like vids and pics DOES N E 1 KNOW HOW 2 GET IT? the pics are gd quality and the vids are ok and it is not hard 2 use
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Reviewed by Dan Harrison from England on 22nd Jan 2005
This is a superb fone. Okay there are some minor flaws like the bluetooth is hard to use but everything else works like a dream and it is the best fone i have ever known.
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Reviewed by Milan from Serbia and Montenegro on 22nd Jan 2005
It is cute. But only if mask is blue and black colour.The phone is real beauty!I love it!
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Reviewed by scott from UK on 9th Jan 2005
Had this phone for a day & i'm not impressed at all! Maybe it's the fact that im used to Ericsson's easy menu system and the fact that you can turn off predictive text input and the Bluetooth actually works and doesn't crash Windows XP like the Motorola V550 did! Maybe i'm being to picky about some of the features but it would be nice to have an SMS counter so you know how many have been sent. They might all be small problems but when you think that the phone is quite new and the T610 has been around for some time it would be expected for the features listed above to be available on the V550. If you want a phone that has features like a video camera and camera zoom then go for the V550. But if you want ease of use, a fantastic menu system, predictive text that can be turned off, bluetooth AND infrared then the Ericsson wins hands down! I suppose that if I was used to the menu system on Motorola I would have found this phone easier to use, you wouldn't believe how long it too k me to set the alarm, so many menu's to go through to get to what you want, don't even get me started on the Bluetooth! I am going to hopefully swop it for the Ericsson K700i ASAP!
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Reviewed by Emma from Ireland on 5th Jan 2005
i think this phone is brilliant! I know other people probably think its rubbish but I really like the v550. Its better than any other camera phone I've ever had! :)
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Motorola V550 "handy hints"

Submitted by becca from USA on 13th May 2005
look, i just want to say where you ALL CAN SEE that there IS, i repeat THERE IS a way to have multiple numbers or phonebook entries UNDER ONE NAME. PRIMARY CONTACTS. find that in the settings, and then when you're in the phone book, you just hit left or right to see the different numbers. i have 3 different work numbers in my phone, ALL UNDER ONE NAME. it doesn't say my company's name 3 times. only once. this is on all of the v series phones. i am SICK of reading about people complaining about this when it says in the manual how to change it!

Motorola V550 Links