Vodafone 555 blue review – Facebook phone from Vodafone.
In last 4 years, facebook have changed the face of globe and social networking. Today you will not find even a kid who does not have facebook account. Today, facebook population is more than world’s population. Also facebook played an important role in revolution in Libya, Syria and other Middle East nations. Facebook helped these revolutions to spread like a rapid fire. So it was quite expected that soon mobiles and applications will be launched in the market which are dedicated for facebook only. Recently HTC had introduced its facebook phone as HTC CHACHA.
Now Vodafone has launched its first facebook phone – Vodafone 555 blue.
Here I am writing review of Vodafone 555 facebook phone which I had experienced recently. I am based in India so my review will be based on Vodafone 555 launched in India. However, except prizes, rest of the things should be similar in my review.
Less expensive connectivity –
In India, Vodafone 555 costs only Rs. 4950. This phone is kept purposefully cheaper to attract students. Students and young people will definitely be surprised after looking at the price of Vodafone facebook phone. Vodafone 555 blue is not launched for people who use smartphones. There is lot of differences in smart phone and facebook phone. So the question arises what is there provided in facebook phone?
The main advantage of Vodafone 555 blue is it provides you connectivity at very low prize. Obviously facebook is the heart of Vodafone 555 blue phone. I felt that, Vodafone 555 blue is mainly manufactured for people of age 12 to 25 who are addicted to facebook but not very technology savvy.
Smart Look –
Vodafone 555 blue is very attractive. It looks is very similar to smartphones. Its outside construct is very attractive. The front color is silver. Keypad is of type QWERTY keypad. The keypad of Vodafone 555 blue has a special key named as “facebook”. The screen is black in color. It is very light weight mobile having only 12mm thickness. It has 2 mega pixel camera and a slot for micro SD card. The earphone jack is present at the top and below screen 5 navigation keys are available.
The navigation pad provided in the middle is also very good. The left hadn side of Vodafone 555 blue has volume key. Along with camera, LED flash is also provided on back side. Screen is of 2.4 inces size and pixel resolution is 320x240 pixels.
EDGE and 2G –
Vodafone 555 blue operates on EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) and 2G technology. Please note that, this phone does have facility of Wi-Fi. The processor of Vodafone 555 blue is just of 200 MHz. So if you are planning to run fast running applications then this phone is a bad choice.
Once you turn on, the first information is asked about facebook account only. You can use this phone after login to facebook account. Vodafone 555 blue is completely based on java technology.
Like most of the mobiles, Vodafone 555 blue also provides shortcut creation facility. There is scroll bar below screen where you can find frequently used shortcuts.
No auto Update –
When you press facebook key, you directly reach to facebook application. However, many times you will observe that, phone is not showing updates of facebook. Most of the time, phone displays old updates only. Vodafone should have provided on-air auto update. When you click on Internet Apps, I had expected that, it will display some new applications whereas it displays calculator and notes editor. In short, it is not a smart phone so don’t keep high expectations.
Enriched User Interface –
The user interface of Vodafone 555 blue is very similar to facebook. Vodafone achieved this very elegantly. So Vodafone 555 blue will be more popular in facebook lovers. The part which everyone will like most is Contact Book. Once you login to your facebook account, you will be able to see profile pictures in your contact book. This is really a nice feature which everyone will like the most. Especially for collegians. Till today still some smart phone has problem of merging SIM card contacts and phone contacts. However Vodafone has solved this problem in much better way. Many smart phone companies have failed in phone contact and SIM card contacts merging. To provide such a high end feature in such a low cost phone is really appreciable thing provided by Vodafone.
When facebook opens in this phone, the upper part has options like info, wall, likes, and photos. When you click for seeing photos, it takes lot of time and user gets frustrated.
Integrated Messaging - The speakers of Vodafone 555 blue are of good quality. You will not hear any interruption while calling or listening at other end during call. Also calling is made easy with some specific arrangements. Call log is present on only one key which makes it more users friendly.
The fantastic feature in Vodafone 555 blue is “Integrated Messaging”. Vodafone has provided excellent integration in messaging. Options of SMS, MMS, facebook and email are available in only one scroll. This helps to find all these features at one place. Special thing about the user interface of messaging is that, it is kept exactly similar as facebook.
At first while using qwerty key pad user will find it difficult to press the particular key as the distance between two keys is very less. However, once you get used to, it will be not be a big problem.
Vodafone 555 blue has 2 mega pixel camera. Although photo colors matches with real colors while capturing, the captured photo colors becomes blackinsh. So users will not be able to upload the captured photographs on facebook as it is. Vodafone should have provided any photo editing tool in Vodafone 555 blue. Also you shoot video but you can’t upload it to facebook from Vodafone 555 blue phone. This could be the big disappointment for all facebook phone lovers.
Music Player and FM Radio –
Everyone loves music. Music player and FM radio facility is an integral part of any mobile. So it is also present in Vodafone 555 blue. Both music player and radio facility in Vodafone 555 blue works great; however, songs cannot be transferred from USB. Users will have to depend on Bluetooth only. The internal memory is about 400MB and you can extend it to 16GB by using SD cards.
Battery Life -
Battery of Vodafone 555 blue works great. Company officials say that, it can work till 3 hrs of talk time and has 324 hrs of standby time. The battery is of lithium iron type.
Palringo instance messaging –
People who have their Gmail and facebook contacts different, for them palringo instant messenger is provided in Vodafone 555 blue. For internet browsing Opera mini browser has been provided.
Features liked most -
1. Integration done with respect to contacts and messging.
2. Facebook like user interface
3. Battery Life
Features missing –
3G connectivity, Wi-Fi, USB missing. This phone is going to be compared with HTC CHACHA.
Let’s have a comparison between Vodafone 555 blue and HTC CHACHA.
Difference between HTC CHACHA and Vodafone 555 blue is as follows -
Vodafone 555 blue Vs HTC CHACHA -
Vodafone 555 blue
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HTC CHACHA
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2.4 inch screen
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2.6 inch screen
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2 mega pixel camera
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5 mega pixel camera
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No front camera for video conferencing
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VGA camera at front for video conferencing
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LED flash
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LED flash
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Expandable memory up to 16GB
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Expandable memory up to 32GB
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3G, Wi-Fi, USB missing
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3G, Wi-Fi, USB support provided
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Java based OS
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Android OS
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It is not a smart phone
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It is a smart phone
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Priced very low – around 6000 in India.
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High price – around 15500 in India
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However, Both are exceptionally good in accessing facebook.
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Conclusion –
If you are looking for facebook connectivity with minimum expenditure and low cost then this Vodafone 555 blue is for you. Smart Look and better user interface are the selling points.
Cheers…
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