Windows Mobile Smartphones offer the familiar look of Windows coupled with the ability to sync your contacts, to dos and calendar, access email on the move and run third-party software. When operators take these handsets, they add their own specialities, which in Orange's case means over-the-air backup, ringtones and access to Orange's Web-based services.
Although Orange has jumped on the music phone bandwagon with the SPV C550, it also has other things we've not seen in a Windows Mobile Smartphone before. The main draw of this handset is that it updates a platform that's been around for a while.
The SPV C550 is only available from Orange and prices start from free with a £25-per-month contract.
Design
The SPV C550 is a small and light handset. It feels very comfortable in the hand and fits nicely into a pocket. Its silver front and back are bisected by a black stripe all around the edge.
About half of the front of the casing is occupied by the screen, and a third by the numberpad area. In-between is a section containing no less than eight buttons, four of which are dedicated to music management.
The other four buttons in this section sit immediately beneath the screen and are absolutely tiny. The outer two are softkeys; the inner two take you to the Today screen and act as a back button. Though very small, we found these buttons remarkably easy to hit.
The numberpad itself is also fairly small, but each of the buttons is bevelled, again making them easy to find. Above the top row sit the Call and End buttons with, between them, a mini joystick. You use this for directional movement and, by pressing it, to select. It feels comfortable under the thumb.
The right side has a button which activates the built-in camera -- the lens and self-portrait mirror are on the back of the casing. The left side houses a button whose function users can set, and a rocker with several jobs. When you are on a call, it adjusts volume, while a long press of its top end launches the built-in Voice Notes software, and a long press of its bottom end launches the built-in Voice Tag software. You can use this to set up voice-activated shortcuts to phone numbers, email addresses or Web pages that are saved in the built in Contacts software.
On the top edge of the SPV C550 are the power switch and infrared ports. The bottom edge provides the headphones connector and synchronisation/mains power socket -- a mini-USB type. Both are protected by a single rubber cover.
All in all, the ergonomics of this handset are about neat, tidy usability. If you are currently a user of the SPV C550's predecessor, the SPV C500, then the joystick will be a particular plus-point over that handset's lozenge-shaped navigate-and-select key.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters
User reviews2
Add your review
Simon Scott 26 February 2007
Good: The screen and sound quality
Bad: Everything else
Comment: I got this phone as part of my monthly contract exactly 12 months ago and I'm about to get a new phone and all I can say is, thank god.
I had originally looked at this phone because a friend had recommended it, and because I'm into I.T. I liked the idea of having a hugely functional phone.
I checked all the reviews and compared the phones, and I actually went in to get a Sony or Samsung one at the Orange store. But while I was there, the lad in the shop showed me this one and I was intrigued and his sales pitch was good enough to persuade me.
I went home quite happy and expecting great things. Now I have to admit I was very impressed at first, the screen size and quality is astounding. The best I've seen on any phone. The sound quality is good too, I have no complaints about that.
Even playing back music is easy enough to do using the knocked-down version of media player.
But that's kinda of where the fun ends....
If you're not an IT expert or experienced in using Windows then you will hate this phone. The menu system is intended to be as similar to Windows as it can be. With the use of a start menu, and lists of programs to select. This works fine to an extent, until you find yourself absolutely confused and unsure of what menu system your in.
There is also the issue of transfering information to and from the phone. Sharing contacts between a PC and the mobile phone is easy, but sharing music and videos and anything else is complicated.
You have to understand directories and files. There is no automatic system, its all manual copy and paste.
This really is intended for IT experts.
But that aside, the phone has other, even more annoying issues...
When you recieve an SMS update about your message, telling you whether it has been sent. You will recieve a message stating "The SMS message was sent..." but it doesnt include the mobile phone number which it was sent to.
If you have sent an SMS to around 10 people in a short time and you get 5 back saying it worked and 5 back saying it failed, you have way of knowing which are which.
There is also the response time from the joystick and the system.
There are times when you can tell that the phone is trying to handle far more then it can. The entire phone will freeze for a good 30-60 seconds. You can be moving down a list of contacts, or words and it just stops. Then wakes up and continues.
There are times when the joystick simply doesn't respond, no matter how hard you move it.
Then you have the menu system again. It doesn't matter what menu you are on, or action you're doing. If you jump back to the main menu and then go to do anything, it will take you directly back to the last action you were doing.
For instance, if you were composing a new SMS and you want to cancel and just exit that. On most phones you just jump back to the main menu. If you do that on this phone, and then go to read your SMS texts again, it will take you back to the half complete SMS message you were writing.
Plus the inbox and outbox menus for the SMS message is meant to mimic Outlook on the PC. But the menu system doesn't work very well, because you're continually moving in and out of menus to the point that you end up lost.
There was also a point where the desktop of the phone broke and I had to resort to using a different one. I've not been able to retrieve that original one back as it seems to have deleted itself.
The bottom line is......
1) This phone is intended for heavily IT-literate people.
2) The menu system is awful, and tries to mimic Windows badly.
3) The response times from the joystick and the system is awful at times and the phone clearly can't handle half the stuff it's trying to do.
4) Adding media to the phone is far more complicated than it should be.
5) There isn't anything more special on this phone, then you can get on a normal mobile phone.
6) Its size is just cumbersome compared to all these slim line ones which exist now.
Paul Lanyon 26 January 2007
Good: Expandable memory, sound quality, screen
Bad: Vulnerable large screen, no FM radio, glitchy software
Comment: A good all round smartphone running Windows Mobile with impressive battery life. Easy to link to a PC and swap files/install new software. Good as a music player if you stick a 512MB SD card in it. The only problem is the screen; it breaks as soon as look at it, but if you can live with that it is a useful, well built phone. It isn't the best signal receiver I have had if you live in a weak strength area. Also, the software can lock up occasionally, particularly when using Bluetooth search/sync functions.
See all 2 user reviews