Nokia 6555 user review

Pros: Seems to get good reception and voice clarity on the phone speaker. Address book is very good and comprehensive. Syncing with Outlook on my computer via bluetooth is great and totally automatic.

Cons: Nowhere near 6.5 hours talk time. More like 1.5. External speaker not great. Need to turn down the volume in order to prevent distortion in speakerphone conversations and ringing. Morally bankrupt service providers (Such as Fido) are able to lock out features such as mp3 ringtones in order to extort extra money from their subscribers.

Summary: I purchased this phone for 3 reasons. 1. Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities for connection to my car hands free and head set. 2. Advertised talk time and battery life. 3. Advertised (On Nokia's web site specifications) ability to play mp3 ringtones and use them as a sort of caller id. Well 1 out of 3 isn't too bad I guess. After purchasing this phone I found it was really easy to transfer my previously purchased mp3 ringtones via bluetooth to either the phone memory or the microSD card. I was really happy about that until I went to use them and got the "Not allowed by activation key" error. After talking with both Nokia and Fido I was basically told that the ringtones have to be drm enabled in order to be played. I was told this is to protect the Artists rights. I have a couple of problems with that explanation. 1. Why are only the ringtones protected and not the actual music player? 2. Why should I have to pay $3.00 or more for a 30 second clip of a song when the whole song can normally be purchased for $0.99. Obviously this is simply the service provider distorting the intended use of DRM and trying to create some extra revenue. Personally when my contract with Fido expires I will be moving to a service provider that has higher ethical standards than this. I quite like the phone and would even be willing to put up with the mythical battery life. But I like my ringtones. and since the manufacturer (Nokia) is complicit in this scheme by allowing Fido and other service providers to alter their phone in this manner i will be given this phone a lower score than I might otherwise have given it.