LG Chocolate VX8550 Review

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Last time, we took a quick look at the LG Shine phone. This time, let’s take a look the LG Chocolate launched last 2006. Yeah, I know it’s an old phone, but its still one of the best handset that LG has manufactured.

The chocolate colored, candy-bar phone, hence the nickname Chocolate, was considered one of the most popular phone that year. The new version of the phone, the LG Chocolate VX8550, looks just as sweet and packs more functionality into its minimalist slider design. You will find this phone to be a lot slimmer and lighter than its predecessor while enjoying many of the same features, like the 1.3 megapixel camera and camcorder, Bluetooth capability and fast 3G connections. What’s new however is the added speakerphone and the user-friendly scroll wheel for easier navigation as well as a vibrating touch keypad.

First of all, let’s take a quick look at the Chocolate’s design. The sleek and sexy phone is back and comes in with its rounded contours and a streamlined form. The phone fits perfectly and feels really good when users hold it. The new version, the VX8550, has some new features too. As mentioned, its problematic touch-sensitive navigation wheel has been replaced with a mechanical scroll wheel that makes it easy in controlling and navigating the phone.

On the left side of the phone, you will see the volume control while a voice activation key and charger port can be seen at the bottom. On the right side is the microSD slot, a lock function and a music shortcut key.

The Chocolate also comes in with an 800 mAh Li-Ion Battery, AC Charger, Headset Adapter, and User Manual.

The new phone weighs only around 3.2 ounces, compared to its original weight of 3.5 ounces, you can see that its a lot lighter. Add to this the support for a standard 2.55mm audio jack and Bluetooth headset capability, then you have a beautiful multimedia phone in your hands.

This brings us to the phone’s multimedia capabilities. The phone includes a standard mp3 player with a dedicated Music launch key. Pressing the key brings you directly to you song lists. One of the best feature for this music playlist is the ability to search within these menus by entering the first few letters of what you’re looking for. The smart software on the latest Chocolate narrows the results with each click.

Transferring music to your phone is also easy with the LG Chocolate. You can do this via its 3G connection (from your carrier), via Bluetooth, or through its memory card (you have to use a memory card reader).

The Chocolate’s sound quality is crisp and loud, whether you are using the 2.55mm audio jack or stereo Bluetooth headsets. It even has an equalizer with 12 presets already built-in.

The camera for the LG Chocolate is however, the most disappointing aspect for this phone. The 1.3-MP camera still lacks a flash, and some pictures in daylight appeared washed out. These pictures however can suffice for emailing and MMS. The 176 x 144-pixel videos, on the other hand, are too tiny for YouTube or for enjoying on your PC.

All in all, the LG VX8550 is only a slight upgrade from the original LG Chocolate phone. However, the additional features and updates for this phone may be enough to attract those people who have been planning on getting one but changed their minds because of its flaws. It is a great multimedia phone, its music player is fast; searching for songs is easy; and you can do a lot with tunes playing in the background.

Sources:
http://www.pcworld.com
http://reviews.cnet.com
http://www.letstalk.com