Orange SPV C550 Review by CoolSmartPhone.com

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.coolsmartphone.com/article451.html' target='_blank'>http://www.coolsmartphone.com/article451.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The latest in the SPV range, the C550 is pretty similar to the C500 which was released a few months ago. This time however the joystick has made a come-back, Windows Media Player 10 is on-board, there's dedicated music buttons on the front, funky headphones, a massive 128Mb MiniSD card in the phone ready to go, the camera is now a hi-res mega-pixel jobby and the screen resolution has swelled too! As a user of Windows Mobile phones, I've written this review from the "existing owner" perspective. However, it does contain useful information on what the phone can do. My earlier review of the Orange SPV C500 here will give you a good idea on what these Windows Mobile phone can do too. The C500 is pictured below on the left. So we've heard the rumours. What's the truth behind this ? Is the Smartphone growing up? Does this handset deliver ? There's only one way to see.."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-aug05-SPVC550.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />Gears over at CoolSmartPhone.com has done a nice review on the Orange SPV C550. If you are wondering if the C550 is a worthwhile upgrade or not, check out what Gears has to say about this Smartphone.

[Jason Dunn]

Nice review! That looks like a pretty impressive phone - 320 x 240 on a Smartphone? Tasty. :D

[Jerry Raia]

Still WM2003 though :(

[cortez]

i agree that introducing a new device with a dated OS is not good from a techie-user perspective. those who want the phone with the WM05 OS can do that today. there are several users who've flashed their new 550's with WM05. it's not a difficult process, but if done incorrectly, you can brick that puppy really quick!

[Jerry Raia]

So we have users out there flashing their phones but the manufacturer doesn't offer it? Does anyone else find that absurd? :roll:

btw I like that avie cortez :way to go:

[Mike Temporale]

there are several users who've flashed their new 550's with WM05. it's not a difficult process, but if done incorrectly, you can brick that puppy really quick!

And if done correctly, it will void your warrenty. So it's a no win situation. :?

[Jerry Raia]

Quite right but if a user CAN do it, the company SHOULD be doing it! This kind of thing just fries me! Maybe its time for phones to come out that have a phone side that we can't touch and an OS side that we can do whatever we want with but that's a rant for another thread I suppose.

[cortez]

i agree with jerry! we can pay to upgrade our PC's/laptops with new a OS' why can't we do this with our phones? hummmmmm??? profit margins must be low for upgrades. unless i'm forgetting something, all new OS versions for smartphones were introduced with new devices. sooooooooo...using this simple analogy, a new smartphone OS+new device+new sales to current/new users=mo' money, mo' money, mo' money!!!

it's sorta like the owners of sports teams - they'll pay huge salaries to win championships and BMW* about exhorbatant salaries later. likewise, some of us want the latest devices with the latest OS' and we'll fork over the money to own them now then BMW* about the next OS later. we are our own worst enemy...

*Bit%%/Moan/Whine

(the geek in me ignores warranty stuff if i know i can tweak my toys! i'm sure my wife would pimpslap me if she new that i'm spending money on expensive geek toys only to brick them later...:))

[Mike Temporale]

Oh, don't get me wrong. I just wanted to make sure that the average Joe reading this understands that there are repercussions for doing this - if it works or not.

[cortez]

i certainly understand! :D

[bitbank]

Just got my C550 from ebay.co.uk and am happily using it on T-Mobile. The screen is incredible. I'm updating all of my software to support 240x320 smartphone.

Any higher resolution on a 2.2" screen would be a waste. I don't think the average persons eyes can resolve dots smaller than these.

Observations after a few days:

The battery life seems to be excellent even when playing games.
The joystick works extremely well for playing games.
The multi-button press problem has been solved.
The speakerphone works better than the C500.
The camera is slight improvement over the C500 in terms of quality.
The rubber cover on the bottom is kind of annoying.
The batter cover is very difficult to open.
The keypad has a nice non-slip texture to it that works well.

More later

Larry B.

[Mark Larson]

Nice to see that the phone doesn't disappoint. How much would it cost to have one imported to the US?