Everyone wants to be an insider, and you can be one too! Choose your poison: sign-up for our Newsletter, join us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter. Do all three and you'll be swimming in the the latest news, reviews, videos and more gadget goodness!
DT Newsletter Sign-Up
Sign-up for the Digital Trends newsletter and find out about the latest contests, the hottest content, and the most popular videos. Let us keep you up-to-date!
Our Facebook
Become a DT soldier! Join us on Facebook and share the best news, guides, videos and other cool information directly with all your friends. Some might even thank you for it!
Join the thousands and follow the best of us on Facebook.
That’s Right, Sign-up For Our Monthly Random Prize Drawings and You Could Be That Winner.
I miss you!
By: Miguel
December 21, 2007 @ 5:14 PM
It was an amazing phone, I miss it so much, I had to change it by a Motorola V551 which is not as intuitive, as fast, as reliable than this NEC cellphone. Very appealing too.
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
I'd rather wed my sister
By: absinthe
October 1, 2006 @ 3:55 PM
this phone has been such a nightmare. Never have I used a piece of equipment with so many problems. They had to replace it twice or three times initially. There have been intermittent periods of the phone shutting off when several buttons are pushed in a row (i.e. making a call). This thing is soo big and bulky. It was a good idea; too bad they couldn’t execute.
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Fact: batteries don't last forever
By: NECiscool
January 19, 2006 @ 7:11 AM
I really like the NEC525. After my 2 year contract expired, I went to the Cingular store looking to upgrade my phone, and I didn’t find one that looked as appealing as my old NEC. My battery has lasted 2 years, and only now I’m going to have to buy a new one. Did you people out there know that even rechargeable batteries don’t last forever? You also have to establish good habits when charging – let your battery run out completely before charging it again for the first several charge cycles – otherwise this will cut down on your battery lifetime. Hope these tips help you people out there with battery problems.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Worst cell phone
By: Henry
October 22, 2005 @ 12:05 AM
This is my second replacement in 11 months and now it died again even though battery is fully charged. Each phone lasted only 5 months and then died. I called the Cingular customer service and was told that they have never hearred this and I just had bad luck. After reading all the reviews here, I realized that Cingular lied to me. Aparently, this phone has the same kind of problem to many people. My contract will expire in a couple of months and my wife and I have decided to switch to another company. Cingular company is a big lier. NEC 525 phone sucks.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Best Phone Ever
By: ilovemyNEC
October 11, 2005 @ 10:04 AM
I’ve had my phone for 2 years and it has been wonderful! It has been through a lot- getting dropped numerous times- being stepped on- but it has never failed. Our contract is almost up and I would really just rather get a new NEC than to get any other phone.
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Not holding charge
By: Rick Beck
July 26, 2005 @ 9:07 AM
Never holds a charge. This is my second replacement. The phone eats the power for some reason, but they blame the battery. How can so many people have the same problem and they still ignore it?
Rating: 3 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
I Thought Dead Again Was a Movie
By: wherzdaluv
June 21, 2005 @ 3:53 AM
Since the beginning i have disliked this 300+$ piece. 1 year ago. now i pay for insurance they send me new one and 3 weeks ago have the same power down issues. Faded calls have always been an issue. and cingulars service is not too good but they will tell me to keep my battery OK understandable. thru a meter on my batter today as it has been dead all day. voltage = 3.48 VDC for a bat to hold 3.7 there is nothing wrong with the battery its the phone and every phone companies scam to keep you re changing your plan to be locked down for another year if you switch to this better phone. oh and when they sent me a new phone was probably one of yours you sent back and they just pollished the display and put it in a box to send to another sucker. i charged my old star tac from a diff company the other day which is around 9 years old and never a new battery and it has sat with no service and still has charge after a week. course that was with sprint who got too big for their britches on customer satisfaction, looks like ATT(sell outs 2 C_ing_U_bendover) who is coming in to take the race by a nose. T- mobile may be next, C.Zeta looks good but dont do no good if my phone dies to talk to her. it costs alot of money to place the towers, but when i loose reception right down inside of a town called hollywood, CA where seems like everyone has a phone growing out of their ear. is almost worse then the BIG3 paying off transportation here. they just want to pay the poor Just over Min wage people to take our calls because they wont stand for more pay, even tho i get annoyed with them they are just working to pay the rent. but dealing with the polotics of creating a phone to break to keep us with the same company is bull. if the brick phone wasnt so bulky i would go back to it because i never had a problem with it. thats just my opinion i could be wrong.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
My Cell just turned DEAD (NEC 525)
By: victor
May 22, 2005 @ 8:38 PM
I have this phone for 1.5 years, I can said that it was an OK cell phone, but for some reason it died last week and now I don;t have cellphoner either AT&T Service, People from Cingular just keep tell me that I need to buy new phone and new plan….
Will never buy a NEC again
Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Horrible phone
By: timmy
May 7, 2005 @ 2:37 AM
Not that you can anymore, but in case you are able to, stab yourself in the eye before you even consider buying this phone. Seriously, the worst phone I have EVER used.
Rating: 3 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
worst phone EVER
By: chris, yo
April 24, 2005 @ 3:58 PM
yo, do NOT purchase this phone. you dont get service ANYWHERE. it just shuts off for no aparent reason. people will call u, but u will not receive these calls. it just sucks, terrrrrribly! worst phone yo, i swear…sucks sucks sucks
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Fade out calls a BIG problem
By: Stefystef
April 20, 2005 @ 12:57 PM
I’m glad to see that I’m not losing my mind. I have the same problem with my NEC525 as many people have, the fading out of phonecalls in the middle of a conversation. I can have a full signal and all of a sudden the phone fades out. Just dead. I am very confused. Why is the phone doing that? I have an old Nokia that I’m about to go back to because it never gave me any trouble.
I got te NEC when it free (so much for free stuff) and it is International and I do travel.
When my contract is up, I don’t know if i’ll stay with Cingular. I’ll stay with the phone for now.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Horrible
By: Jeremy
April 20, 2005 @ 11:54 AM
I am currently on 4th NEC 525. The last three all failed within a 3mos period. Even when I went to the AT&T store they shook their head and told me it is a junk phone. Whatever you dont buy this phone.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
What does this phone do?
By: Heather
April 1, 2005 @ 7:50 PM
Paid $300 for it to turn off during phone calls, and “freeze” like someone else mentioned, and can also not be able to receive pictures after speaking with AT&T numerous times.
Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
very good
By: racekart
March 29, 2005 @ 3:43 PM
The ring tone is week on some settings. The screen is hard to see in bright light. It refuses to get reception at times indoors. But I love this phone. Its large size is great. I haven’t had any problems with it except that the games stopped working after about a month (trial versions) and I am too lazy to download. It would be nice if this phone were preloaded with full game software.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Very good
By: Ally
March 10, 2005 @ 9:40 AM
It was difficult to start off with,but once you have got the hang of it. It is excellent when you understand.The camera is very good, and is very easy to use .If you’re happy to spend a bit of time trying to understand hot to use it, then its wellworth it.Its not the smallest of handsets but it isn’t too big.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
battery standby bad
By: marco
February 23, 2005 @ 3:52 PM
I just bought this phone about 30 days ago and I notice that battery juice will run out within 24 hours even after making less than an hour on calls, DON’T BUY THIS PHONE.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
International coverage is good, but
By: Dean
February 18, 2005 @ 6:08 PM
Sound quality is bad, battery life is poor. Camera takes poor pictures. This phone has worked in numerous countries, so that is a plus. But, I would not buy this phone again.
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
not the worst, not the best
By: Jennifer
February 9, 2005 @ 7:37 PM
Outside, the signal is crystal clear. Inside buildings the signal is terrible. Also, this phone is by far the largest phone i’ve seen since the 90s. It is VERY large and scratches very easily. The camera is not that bad in natural light, but when using electrical lighting it causes a yellow/orange/red tint on the picture. Also, the volume on the phone is EXTREMELY quiet. I am a healthy, active, bascially physically sound high school student, but with this phone i need the other person to be SHOUTING at me to hear them. Finally, when you close the phone and reopen it sometimes the screen will go white or black and stay like that for awhile unless you close it and reopen it.
In summary, not the best, not the worst, but for the money, GET ANOTHER PHONE
Rating: 6 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Good but
By: Mel Dahlgr
January 28, 2005 @ 10:35 PM
I have an echo that others hear about 1/3rd of the time.
Does anybody else have this and know why?
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Worse phone I ever had
By: Nadine
January 8, 2005 @ 8:16 PM
I have owned this phone for 6 months. After 1 month it died on me and was replaced. After 3 months the new one died (battery would not keep a charge nor would a new battery. Replaced again. Five mohts died again and replaced. It has worked now for 3 weeks and is dead (no charge and just before it died reception was teririble, calls cut off, inability to punch in phone numbers). Two other people have told m e they had same problem. So now after 6 months I am without a functioning phone and short $290.00.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
"not what ya expected"
By: Nick
December 14, 2004 @ 4:12 PM
This phone first off is too large for todays norms. I had the phone for 5 months, currently my service provider is having to send a new one, it totally craped out on me. The signal it provides is weak, consistently getting dropped. If you like to talk while is crowed area. like bars, don’t even think about it with this phone.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
If you like returning phones go NEC
By: Mike
December 7, 2004 @ 2:11 PM
I hav had the NEC 525 for quite some time now, and I’m now on my 3rd phone. These phones are terrible, after about a few months of decent working they start to freeze and eventually die. The AT&T people say it’s very common with this particular phone. The camera is terrible, but that’s irrelevant since you should nevr buy this phone, you’ll only have problems with it and you’ll have to keep returning it.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Never Buy This Or Any Other NEC
By: Jason
December 4, 2004 @ 10:58 AM
My wife and I both have had this model phone for one yr. now and we have had the same problems with our phones. Dropped calls, turns off and on by itself, charging ports got messed up wont take charge, freezes up and the sound quality is really no good. I’m on my 7th phone now and all of them had same problems. Talked with ATT numerous times no help, they say return return return and we’ll send another one. I’m on 7 now don’t ya think there’s a problem?? NEC warranty says it’s ATT’s problem and ATT says it’s up to NEC so I’m stuck in the middle with neither side taking responsibility for faulty equipment. Never will purchase any NEC mobile phone or sign with ATT again.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Not bad...
By: Downster
December 1, 2004 @ 5:16 PM
The phone works well, The outlook feature is great, however the text should have the ability to adjust the font size for my old eyes and the screen resolution is poor in sunlight. The phone does not sit well in a holster due to the size. If you do not hold it to your ear properly you can not hear the caller….
Rating: 6 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
This phone is horrible
By: Kay
November 20, 2004 @ 4:28 PM
I paid $250 from AT&T just to have the screen go black. When I called (during this whol merger with Cingular) they said this phone has had many many problems, then after saying that wanted $15 to send the phone back for something that was wrong with the phone and not my fault. This was horrible. Finally after complaining to a supervisor they waived the fee. Don’t ever buy this phone if you can avoid it.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
cool, but kinda sucks.
By: scott
October 26, 2004 @ 6:15 PM
I’ve had this phone for about 9 months. I like the big screen, the ability to take and send pictures and is overall pretty handy and a cool phone definitely, if it weren’t for the problems. The ear-volume is very poor, i always have the volume at the Max setting and can hear fine when it’s quiet, but give up if there’s virtually any background music. I also have NEVER been able to receive pictures on this phone, even after having multiple AT&T wireless support folks try to walk me through the settings and even sending the phone back under warranty and getting a replacement, same problems with the new one. I also get dropped calls all of the time or the phone just freezes and hangs on me, not allowing me to cancel or turn it off. Although nice as a gadget and has some cool features, i think NEC half-assed this phone. Other than dropped calls, it’s a useful neat phone, but don’t expect to receive MMS messages from anyone, at least not on AT&T’s network.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Same probs
By: Beth
October 18, 2004 @ 5:16 PM
My fiancee and I have the same problems with our phones that Shock & Aw and Matt. AT&T is only wanting to replace it and won’t even give us another model b/c it is not in our warranty. The customer service lady at AT&T said that problem is just coincedence and she has never heard of it which is absurd. Not only was the phone turning off on its own, whenever I did get it turned on, the keys were not working. Horrible phone!
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Functions well, but volume is low.
By: Robinson
September 25, 2004 @ 4:24 AM
My wife and I have each had an NEC 525 for 3 months. It’s loaded with features, and is easy to use. Overall, we are happy with this phone. Call clarity has been very good. The color screen is fantastic. One small complaint I have is that the ring and talk volume can’t be adjusted to as loud a setting as I would like. Battery life is okay but not impressive. If you need speakerphone and/or voice dial, you should get a different phone. Those are about the only features this phone does not have.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Extremely Problematic
By: walker
September 24, 2004 @ 2:51 PM
I got this phone in May, and in August it died. Warranty was great and they sent me a new one quick, but less than a month later the replacement died from the same problems. Now, my third one has died on me from the problem with the system in the phone crashing and the phone being inoperable.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
not satisfied
By: ani salaza
September 19, 2004 @ 8:15 PM
I feel that i was suckered and stuck with this phone..the hearing volume sucks..it makes me feel that i am deaf..i’ve had the phone for about 4 mos. and it looks as if i had it for years!..bad wear and tear..no ring tones available
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
This phone is a dog
By: José
September 16, 2004 @ 12:38 PM
I am now on my fourth NEC 525 in less than 5 months. The first failed within a few weeks exactly like Shock & Aw’s. I got a replacement within the 30-day warranty. The next worked better but the headset jack failed after a few weeks, so I could not use the phone “hands free.” Another replaement. The next had the exact same problem, also within a couple of weeks. Even the salepeople at AT&T don’t recommmend this phone. I got this phone because I needed a quad-band phone to travel in Europe. The phone worked OK; the dual time display was handy.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Not So Good
By: Shock & Aw
September 1, 2004 @ 10:30 AM
I purchased the NEC 525 about 5 months ago from AT&T when I switched from Verizon. After two months of use of the NEC 525 I was relatively happy. I was a pretty good Phone and I liked the way the phone functioned. I have to say it wasn’t as user friendly as the other phones I have used. The software for user interface is not as intuitive as some other phones I’ve used. You sort of have to look into many different places to change things on the phone. After using it for two months I had become proficient at using it and then the darn thing just died on me. Litterally the phone would just black out during the middle of a call. It wasn’t because the battery was dead either. It was more like a short circuit was happening in the phone. Then the piece that holds the two main pices of the phone together was missing . I guess it worked its way out . I think this was the source of the problem. At any rate I brought the phone back in and got a replacement from AT&T. I figured it was just a fluke and sometimes things like that happen. I was happy again with the phone and used it for another couple of months. Holy Man the phone started going black screen on me again and this time AT&T woudn’t replace the phone. I had to contact NEC directly. I have to say their customer service people are good. Specifically Randy. She was very nice and dealt with the problem in a pleasant way . They had me send the phone in and then they mailed me back a replacement. The problem with the whole thing is that I had to send the phone in to them first and then they had to send me one several days after recieving the broken phone. This made it so I didn’t have a phone for a about ten days. It seems that they could arrange to send me one over night – which is not how the package was shipped to them or from them to me. They paid for both but it seems like I could have had a replacement phone after no more than three days if things would have been shipped over night.
At any rate I hope this isn’t something that is wrong with the overall structure of the phone.
Rating: 6 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
sucks
By: matt
August 26, 2004 @ 8:14 PM
my 525 is cool but it did this thing where it would fade out and turn off when i was doing something then 15 secs later it would power on and give me this little hourglass and said “please stand by” ive gotten my phone replaced and my 2nd is doing the same thing! whats worng ahhhhhh!
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
england not ready 4 it yet
By: sara
August 14, 2004 @ 5:50 PM
no 1 in england can download any java or anything.very dissappointed about this.
Rating: 6 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Not happy at all
By: Corey
August 7, 2004 @ 5:54 PM
this phone looks nice, but is very difficult to use. You have to push too many buttons to access diffirent features. And the signal is horrible.
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
i just got da mob?
By: heski
August 4, 2004 @ 4:46 PM
i just got it nd it seems ok? i dont agree wid da ring tone etc……
nd i dont kno how 2 put da pic of da person callin me? if u can help me email me
(babyheski@yahoo.co.uk
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
SWEET
By: chew
July 19, 2004 @ 10:06 PM
this fone is amazing i love it the screen is great the only problem ive had is the ringtone is a lil quiet but the vibrate on the fone is very noticable so it makes up 4 it
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
volume/ringtones/scratching
By: john
July 19, 2004 @ 9:13 PM
even tho i own this phone and love it to death the volume for hearing people and the ringing volume sucks!! Barely any good ringtones and this phone scratches like no other
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Very Good
By: Critic
July 19, 2004 @ 4:51 AM
This phone is one of many that I have had over the years and it IS by far better than more expensive phones especially the Nokia 6600 etc. This truly is a good phone
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No