Motorola V500 / V525 / V505 Specs, Features & Reviews

Yes, it's a great phone, but it does have its share of issues.

Pros:
1. Good looking, sturdy feeling phone.
2. Bluetooth is nice, although I mostly use it for "borrowing" my friends ringtones by synching our phones.
3. High quality screen and camera are nice as well.
4. MP3 ringtones rock, although they do take up a lot of space. Expandable memory would be nice, but not a big deal.
5. Gets good reception, but not as good as my old Nokia 3595 (which got the best reception of any phone I've ever owned).
6. Sound quality through the earpiece is great, although it is a little quiet sometimes. Most of the time it's not an issue though.
7. Easy to use SMS interface (iTap is very, very cool and can save you a lot of time if you take the time to learn it).

Cons:
1. Phonebook could definitely use some work (being forced to view SIM AND Phone memory is a pain--let us choose to view one or the other if we want). I ended up having to delete the phonebook off my SIM after I copied it to the phone so that all the features would work right and I would still have a cleaned up phonebook.
2. MMS won't work with Cingular. I got an unlocked AT&T version of the phone, and the AT&T phone won't communicate with the Cingular MMS network. SMS and GPRS are easy to set up (if you have the time and the know-how) but for MMS, it's like trying to type Japanese with a Chinese keyboard. But since I don't really use MMS, not a big deal.

This is a great phone and worth buying if you can find it for about $150.00, like I did.

Hey my wife and I really like these phones/ Previously we had a Nokia 2260 which was a pain in the butt because although it was simple to use, all the accessories needed for it were twice the price because of Nokia's three ring system of 2.5mm connections. This unit is not only a standard 2.5mm connection but the Bluetooth used in Conjunction with our Jabra Freespeak 250's makes a great combination. It automatically does the voicedialing option when hitting the headset button on the earpiece so dialing anyone is a snap. Sound quality on the cellphone itself is wonderful and the speakerphone is great. Should you need more Speakerphone capability, you can get the Jabra SP100 Speakerphone which works with the phone through it's Bluetooth capability.

I had the Motorola v600 and like many people had some problems with it. I was very wary of buying another Motorola phone, however after reading tons of glowing reviews I decided to give it a shot.

This is the best cell phone that i've ever had. It has great reception, looks good, and bluetooth works pretty good. I also really like the rubber exterior which is stylish and durable.

My main gripe is that the phone book is not as advanced as some of the competition. However thats fairly minor.

Pros:
1. Great reception
2. Good looks.
3. Feels very well made
4. Customization

Cons
1. Motorola needs to overhall their phonebook.

The Motorola v505 has excellent features.

The handset is stylish yet sporty and has a good feel to it, in part because of the ergonomic design and blue rubberized covering bordering the front and covering the back (the rubberized covering is also great for preventing scratches and not sliding around on slick surfaces like leather car seats). The handset fits my hand well and the keypad feels great. The handset just feels good.

The screen is large and has the clearest resolution of any I've seen. The camera is equally excellent and it takes great pictures.

Call quality is excellent and the speakerphone makes this handset very versatile. This phone is also Bluetooth enabled, but I have yet to try this feature.

On the down side, the phone is a little bulky and heavy for my liking. I'm used to ultralight handsets such as the Samsung x426 or LG4015, but the many excellent features of this phone and the ability to leave the handset in a backpack or briefcase while using Bluetooth more than compensate for the inconvenience.

Also, the handset rings through the speakerphone, which is located on the back of the handset. Thus, if your phone is left face up on a bed or similar surface, the ringer may be muffled and you may miss your call. Just make sure you leave it face down or on its side.

Finally, the handset also uses the Motorola "chip" style port for charging (unlike the V180 and V220), which is notorious for having problems over time if the user is not careful.

Overall, the phone is a real bargain. It looks great and does everything well. If you don't mind the size and heft, you really can't go wrong with this phone. It is fully-loaded and is an excellent value being Bluetooth enabled.

I own several phones including the Motorola v180, Samsung x426, LG4015, and the LG4020, and this is the one I always find myself using.

The V551 for Cingular is essentially the same phone with slightly different exterior styling.

Let me preface this by saying I utilized the answers from other reviewers to finalize my decision. Definitely the correct decision. I ordered through wirefly.com with an online special that required no up front cost for the phone. I did plenty of research before getting this phone and made sure I found the best deals for in-car kits (both charger and headset were free with deal). I have had this phone for approximately one week, love the PC integration features, the reception is spectacular in and outside of buildings in the St. Paul Area, this is also a great car phone, the ear piece volume is great for noisy highway driving (with heavy traffic and cross wind obtrusion). For only having a Nokia before this, the interface is extremely simple to use for anyone who uses a computer on a regular basis. I plan on changing the smart keys to allow checking the message folder with it, that is the only function I wish would have been a default.

PROS: -excellent reception
-voice quality (no one knew I was on a cell until I told them)
-ease of use
-pc sync
-price (if you do your research)
-ring volume levels (more than loud enough in a noisy environment)

CONS: -no data cable included (not an issue as long as you take the time and know this before you get the phone).
-cannot find way to hang up phone with ear piece in w/o flipping clam back open.

Feel free to email me if you want any other information. This is a great phone for people that enjoy the convenience of the technical features but also demand that the phone has superb voice quality and reception as well.

Strengths:
-Excellent reception
-Excellent Picture quality
-Excellent display quality
-Fast Bluetooth transfer speeds

Weaknesses:
-Zoom feature doesnÂ’t increase the picture quality of a phone. ItÂ’s comparative to taking a picture and then cutting off a rectangle and then blowing it up to fit the display.
-Not much MP3 space. Can fit about 5-6 full length MP3s, but that takes up all the memory space. I recommend just saving the first 30 seconds as a ring tone to hold more MP3 ring tones.
-DoesnÂ’t come with any full version games.
-Speakerphone quality leaves a little left to be desired.

The battery life on this phone is moderate. It lasts about 2-3 days for each charge. If you donÂ’t use it at all it may last a bit longer than that. It has a very sturdy and rugged feel to it which makes it pleasant to talk on as itÂ’s flipped open. Bluetooth speed on this phone is about 4 times faster than my nokia 6820. The MP3s I stuck on the phone were 32 kbps and I couldnÂ’t fit 18 or 22 or 44 kbps.
I like this phone a lot… I’ve had it for 2 weeks now and I haven’t discovered any problems. The biggest grip I have is on the demo game it comes with – you only get to play it for about 30 seconds before it ends and says it’s a demo and that you need to buy it. Once you try to buy it from mmode you’ll find that you can’t… This is either because the mot v505 has no e-wallet or because it just can’t download stuff that costs money or who knows what. I also tried to download other games and I couldn’t.

Overall Satisfaction: 4.5 / 5

Overall, I'm very pleased with this phone. This phone reminds me very much of the V600 without all of the problems that many had with the V600.

Pros: Very rugged made, good screen color, blue toothed, uses same travel charger, car charger, etc. as other Motorola models in the past (no need to invest in new accessories), battery life is good without the use of Bluetooth, menus are the same as Motos from the past. AOL, ICQ, and Yahoo IM

Cons: Price may be an issue for some, heavy, Bluetooth drains battery too quick, keys feel cheaply made, ring volume low

i have been with att since 1992 and i have been thru a lot different phones and hands down this is the best phone i ever used i cant find anything to complain about as far as the ring tone its very loud contrary to what the other user said battery life very good

Motorola V505 - just took delivery of it yesterday from Inphonic Inc.. First impression - nice texture and rugged good looks. Next impression - kinda heavy, what is that large silver reflective concave mirror next to the real lens? Having owned other Motorolas, Nokia, Ericssons, Audiovox, and Samsungs... oh, and an old Mitsubishi, I must say that I am liking the features on the current line of Motorolas. The one thing about Motorola phones that I have owned is that the plastic pieces seem to show damage easily and readily. My Nokias and Samsung took beating without showing the wear as easily as these Motorolas. The plastic on this unit seems to be made of the same quality and material as all the other Motos I've owned.
Signal strength in my rural location is adequate (excellent considering my other service could not be picked up out here. I have to say AT&T did good in this area) In town, my old phone and service picks up indoor signals better! What is up with that? Voice quality, ring tones, versatility, internet access, speaker phone are all wonderful. I have yet to try out the blue tooth capabilities so, I cannot comment on that feature. Oh, the ring tones and the motomix function is really fun! As soon as I can, I plan to download some MP3s into this unit.

All in all, the V505 is a full functioning, feature packed unit that is up to the task albeit a little heavy for today's standards and slightly bulkier to. The camera feature is excellent and it takes and stores pics very easily.

Enjoy - I plan on keeping this one!

The 65,000 color screen is a noticeable improvement. Sound quality and volume is good both on the earpiece and speakerphone. Simple to use volume control and easy to use when changing setting from LOUD to VIBRATE. Setting the VOICE activated dialing is simple to use and easy to set...much better then previous handsets with similar features.

Slightly heavier and bigger with other phones in its class. Battery life needs to be improved and drains even faster when using a Bluetooth headset. Bluetooth headset DOES NOT have a range of 30ft...maybe 10 at best. Use of the V525 in the U.S. has not been very stable on the network therefore I've been experiencing more dropped calls. Limited GPRS useage and have not been able to download MP3 or polyphonic ringtones.

Once these minor changes have been made this will be a great phone to have.