It's odd how I ended up with this phone. I had thought about getting a Versa @ $29.99, but my lazy arse puts off buying it and Verizon decides to raise the price to $79.99 the very next day. Oh well. I figured I might as well buy the chocolate touch, so here I am with a review:
LG Chocolate Touch w/ V.05 Firmware already installed… Foreword: I use this phone for voice, text, and music, but not for mobile web. That will be up to another reviewer to share…
Form Factor:
Everybody likes a pretty phone. This one ain’t the prettiest by a longshot. Lg stuck a bunch of weird and random geometric shapes on the back cover that provides a nice grip to the phone; it’s alright, but on the verge of being tacky. What really makes the phone a bit unattractive is the shape and placement of the three physical buttons on the front face; they ruin the visual balance of the phone and is just plain unusual. I’m not saying that it’s an ugly phone, though you would need to see this phone in person to realize that.
Lg kept with the “shiny chrome stuff is nice” theme, and it seems to be the redeeming factor for Chocolate Touch in terms of looks.
The overall physical form is the tried and true candybar style. The Chocolate Touch has a very thin profile. It’s the one of thinnest touchscreen phone that I have ever handled, and is apparently just a tad thinner than an iPhone 3Gs (.48mm vs .47mm). It’s definitely good for folks who prefer to pocket their phones. It fits fine in your hands while you are on voice, but is very comfy and roomy while holding it in landscape orientation for texting.
The build quality is ok. There were definitely some corners cut. The back cover is made of a cheap plastic that feels as if it would break if I mishandled it at the slightest. The screen flexes a little. The rest of the phone seems to be built out of a low-grade metal and sturdy plastic material, but it still feels a little cheap. It’s lightweight, but still heavy enough that you won’t forget where it’s in your pocket.
3.5/5: because the shine and thin form will probably distract you from the fugly. =)
The Touch Screen, Functionality, and Interface:
Like I said before, the screen seems to flex a bit; almost blackberry storm-like. This does worry me, though I haven’t seen any odd rainbow distortions on the lcd if pressed on firmly… still, it’s not promising to have such a soft screen. I bought a mirror screen protector that I hope will reduce some of the flexing.
The touch sensitivity is fair when compared to similar phones like the Versa and env Touch, and definitely a significant improvement over the dismal Dare touchscreen. The 3” display sports a decent qwerty software keyboard that responds well while texting. However, the accuracy falls a tad short of the more refined yet smaller Versa soft qwerty. No biggie though, it’s still a breeze to text. The t9/numpad is large and easy to use as well. One real problem though: I do notice that I am pressing a bit harder for keys to register, and scrolling can sometimes be unresponsive and inaccurate. It’s something that I hope Verizon/LG will fix in their next firmware update.
The screen lock is the on-screen slider style taken from the env Touch (and iPhone).
As far as bitpim goes, it seems that following these instructions http://www.lg-vu.com/index.php?topic=4135.0 but setting bitpim 1.07.02 beta to lg vx11000 instead of the vx8700 works just fine. I have been able to access all things in the phone, including replacing ringtones videos and wallpapers. Lovely. Most things are located under brew > mod > “series of random numbers”. No sync with calenders or changing t9 dictionary yet, I’ll assume that it’ll be some time before bitpim supports that in a future beta.
Most programs work very well, though it did freeze with Mobile IM 3.0 the very first time I used it. I’ve had the phone for a whole week and there are no other technical issues to report, minor or major.
The lcd screen itself is ok, but I could tell that it’s just a step below the env Touch. It’s just not quite as bright and the display is slightly pixilated. As always with many feature phones, video is not worth it in my opinion with just 320x136... You will get two thick black bars on the left and right of the screen and poor quality video.
4/5: Non-headache inducing operation, promising bitpim-ability, and a decent screen, but it can be better…
Music Capabilities
There was one big determining factor that drew me to this phone (outside of my lazy blunder, that is), and that’s the 3.5mm headphone jack. I know, what a mundane feature right? Thankfully, we’re seeing more phones that are really geared towards being an all in one device. I don’t enjoy carrying both a phone and iPod. Sometimes I curse myself for forgetting my iPod, but I never forget to bring my phone. This is the solution. The Chocolate has a legacy to live up to as a top notch music player/phone hybrid, and I think it delivers well.
I can finally make and organize my playlists right on my phone. Screw you Apple for not giving me that function. The interface is intuitive and reasonably quick, though it takes a longer-than-usual pause between songs. Still, it’s a very nice player that can run in the background while doing something else (err, well it stops while you read texts for some reason…). Rhapsody syncs just fine with the phone, and the ease of use is on par with iTunes (that’s not saying a whole lot, but it still works.)
I’m not an audiophile, but I think the sound out of my headphones is good enough for me to not notice any difference compared to CD outputs. The speaker is alright, though definitely better than the iPhone or iPod Touch. It does the job.
The visualizer and join the band are goofy and gimmicky rip offs of the iPhone apps, but it’s a fun feature to use if you’re bored with some friends.
4.5/5: It’s a good music phone and it has a real EQ!! FM Radio is great too, though I’m not sure why a headset must be plugged in
Camera:
I don’t expect to use the camera much unless I don’t have my Rebel with me, but the few pictures that I have taken indoors in cfl lighting and outside in the sun have produced some acceptable photos. It does a good job neutralizing the temperatures of the photos and capturing natural colors. However, the camera is a lil on the slow side (~.5-1 sec lag), and it’s missing a flash (though I wonder if it would even help…)
Video capture is a bit blurry and on a low framerate, but I could still recognize faces. Good enough.
3.75/5: Great photos come from the artist, not the equipment. This does the job just fine.
Battery Life:
The Chocolate Touch does well here. I text moderately (a dozen a day) and listen to music about 2 hours a day and occasionally take a few phone calls. The phone has lasted 2 days so far and it’s on half charge. Not bad from a 1000mAh battery.
4.5/5: Good, if you don’t browse the web, I assume.
Conclusions:
The Chocolate Touch is a very good music phone that packs a bunch of cool and neat features that I have yet to dive into yet. I’ll try to keep this thread going with new quirks and features as I get to play with this phone more… Some folks have already given it a bad rep on account of its ugliness and touch screen (Update: v.05 firmware appears to have really fixed the responsiveness of the touchscreen), but I’d recommend it to someone looking for a slim feature phone with good media capabilities.
Final Score: 4.1/5, For what it tries to be, it's great. Good media-centric feature phone that needs slight refinements here and there. Underrated phone that is great for touchscreen newbies like myself.
I hope you don't mind me chiming in with my thoughts on the phone... if you do, let me know and I'll take it down.
I too just got my chocolate touch. Coming from a VX-8350... this is a big change. I'm so sure I like it yet. I don't think I have completed something I wanted to do without first selecting the wrong menu at least 3 times (not getting used to the touch screen yet). The FM radio seems pretty weak. At my house I could only get the station a mile away. Now at work there are a few stations somewhat close (10-20 miles), and they pick up very very weak (although who knows, maybe this is due to me being in the bottom of a 3 floor building). The back of the case was very hard to push on, I was almost thinking I put it on wrong, but it doesn't matter too much as I won't be taking it off that often (only to swap SD cards). Volume seems great though.
One thing I have noticed that kind of irritates me is that while I'm listening to music, and I lock the phone, the volume controls still work. So... with the phone in my pocket I just blasted my ears after the button got pushed. I'm not sure if that is how it is supposed to work, but now I've been leaving the phone on the desk when I'm listening to music with ear phones.
This phone is not ugly at all. It is one of the most coolest phones out there. The back cover is real nice to look at and I just love the way the 3 buttons are positioned. The headset must be used with FM radio because it uses it as an antenna. My screen does not flex at all
This phone is not ugly at all. It is one of the most coolest phones out there. The back cover is real nice to look at and I just love the way the 3 buttons are positioned. The headset must be used with FM radio because it uses it as an antenna. My screen does not flex at all
I concur, the phone isn't ugly. My screen has flex though, more than what I thought there would be (comparing it to a Versa).
How well does your radio work? Can you pick up many stations? Do you think changing to a different style of headphones would work?
I pick up as many radio stations as my car does which is not many, but it works well with them. I live in the mountains here in north east PA and there are not many stations I like to listen to. Maybe 4 or 5. I have not tried different headphones yet.
Stingray: I don't mind at all, we all have differing opinions.
I haven't had the volume rocker go haywire on me.
Touchscreens will take some getting used to. The VX8575's touchscreen is good in my opinion, and I find that I rarely ever make mistakes despite my large thumbs. (Have you calibrated yours yet? It's best if you calibrated the screen with a stylus to really get it accurate.)
I think this phone will have to grow on me in terms of its looks, but it's not ugly, just unusual.
I've picked up at least 20 FM stations with a strong signal on all of them, it's working with a set of 20 dollar sony earbuds in Sacramento, California.
Stingray: I don't mind at all, we all have differing opinions.
I haven't had the volume rocker go haywire on me.
Touchscreens will take some getting used to. The VX8575's touchscreen is good in my opinion, and I find that I rarely ever make mistakes despite my large thumbs. (Have you calibrated yours yet? It's best if you calibrated the screen with a stylus to really get it accurate.)
I think this phone will have to grow on me in terms of its looks, but it's not ugly, just unusual.
I've picked up at least 20 FM stations with a strong signal on all of them, it's working with a set of 20 dollar sony earbuds in Sacramento, California.
Well, my problem more than anything with the volume switch ended up being something in my pocket. I calibrated mine with a stylus, but it is just a problem with me not necessarily the phone.
As for rickwhoo, I'm coming from central PA. I still haven't had a chance to try the radio out of my workplace and house, so I'm hoping I can get the radio to pick up a few stations else where.
lol, I think he tried to copy word for word my post on the vx8575 bugs thread, except with very poor spelling. (sorry if you are serious about this Mobi phonu.)
lol, I think he tried to copy word for word my post on the vx8575 bugs thread, except with very poor spelling. (sorry if you are serious about this Mobi phonu.)
Yeah, seems like we got some sort of a spammer most likely.
Update on Battery Life
it has now been 4 days since I have fully charged the phone for the second time, it's still showing four (full) bars of battery life after some good texting abuse, 15 minutes on the phone, and ~5 hours of music through the headphones. I'm not sure if I should be happy or worried o_O
installed vcast rhapsody verizon and when i connect my phone to pc it says drivers need to be installed. is anyone else not able to connect phone to pc
installed vcast rhapsody verizon and when i connect my phone to pc it says drivers need to be installed. is anyone else not able to connect phone to pc
HTC PPC 6800 (WinMob) - Not activated, only use for WiFi
LG Chocolate Touch
Carriers
Verizon Wireless
Feedback Score
0
Has anyone tested out the web on this phone? I am downgrading from a smart phone to the Chocolate touch. I really hope that I'll still have some decent browsing capabilities. I mainly use the web for facebook and googleing random things when I'm bored. I suppose I'll give up my youtube obsession since I'll only have 25mb per month instead of unlimited like I do now. I just ordered two of the Chocolate Touches today one for myself, one for my husband. I have used bitpim in the past for making my own ringtones which is a big deal for me, so hopefully it will work for me again. Verizon is wanting me to pay $30 per month for an unlimited data plan if I get a new smartphone and I simply refuse. That is robbery considering it's $20 more than I have been paying. I had Alltel before they were bought out by Verizon; I activated my ppc6800 online and added the Connect Pack 1 with unlimited data and had was able to access everything the phone had to offer for only $10 bucks a month, unlimited. But my ppc is getting outdated, it's heavy, big as a brick and the hardware keyboard has stopped working properly, so I'm sure it won't be long before it goes kaput.
I do wish that I would have read on here a little more before buying these phones today... You guys say that the touch screen FLEXES? That is scary. And Some say the screen looks pixilized. Ouch. Thank God for the 30 day return policy, I may be using it.
SO my major question is the above. How is the web browser? Does anyone know if I can use Opera Mini on the Chocolate Touch? When browsing the web, can you save images or download files to the phone? Am I going to be terribly disappointed by switching from a ppc to this phone?
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Originally Posted by rickwhoo
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