LG VX-8500 Chocolate
Phone Scoop Review
Aug 11, 2006 by Eric Lin
An In-Depth review of LG's sleek new VX-8500 Chocolate slider music phone for Verizon Wireless. NEW: Video tour read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
1 day in to it
got mine this am, wow, great phone, it takes a bit to get use to it, but, one of the best, if you want a great phone get the 8300, if you like a fashion phone & all the goodies, get this one,
thanks.
NICE, BUT COULD BE BETTER
OK, I waited for 2 months to get this phone. I was so excited to have a phone with a sleek look.
I love my phone, it has alot to offer. I have read other reviews and they seem to be a bit "harsh". I suppose if you drop your phone every 4 or 5 hours it will break. I suppose if you want a house stereo with surround sound this will disappoint you. The touch buttons are kind of weird to get used to, but they are cool. The tiny keypad for numbers is somewhat difficult. I don't text alot so it really isn't a problem. Most of my calls are to those in my contact list so I can dial them very quickly without the keypad.
I have had no problem with my battery. I am actually amazed at how long such a tiny battery can last. I talk on my phone CONSTANTLY. I am always playing with the features this phone has to offer. The ringer is LOUD! The camera is awesome, and the colors are very vibrant.
All in all, I still love my phone and will keep it for awhile. I'm sure something better will come along, and I will be ready to change. Something better? Wow, that would be great!
Looks over functionality
If the cool factor is your #1 criterion, this is the phone for you. Otherwise, stay away.
Pros:
Looks. It's probably the best looking phone out there at the moment.
MicroSD slot. Can add 2gb on top of the 64mb on the phone for music.
Decent camera even though there's no flash.
Plays MP3s out of the box. No need to enter codes.
Cons:
Requires an adapter for headphones. The adapter is included but it's a major hassle and it uses the same port as the charger so you can't charge and use headphones at the same time without buying another special adapter. The adapter has a 2.5 jack so you need to add another adapter for your 3.5 headphones. They sell a Bluetooth stereo headphone which may be your best bet.
No speakerphone. This is the oddest omission. Why in the world would they not include one?
Doesn't play AAC.
The touchpad, while cool, is annoying. The small "OK" button is located between the other buttons so you have to almost use your fingertip to get to it without touching the other buttons. And when you put the phone to your ear the buttons get touched too! I'm guess that's why they put the end call button on the side. Which brings us to...
The end call button is tiny and located on the side of the phone. Very akward.
PERFECT PHONE
I just got this phone and I love it compared to the 4 other phones that I carry this one has to be the best, it is easy to use and it has an excellent camera. It also is the easiest of all to use. It is the perfect phone to buy.
Sweet Tooth
Ive had the phone for more than a week now, i got to say that i like it, its not only sleek but practical, but with every good thing there must be a bad one. so here are the following pros and cons.
:Pros
- The touch buttons are really cool but it takes a while to get use to them.
-Awesome reception, better than my Q.(LOL)
-Calls come very clear
-Loud ring-tones.
-Love the awesome camera quality.(For those nights with your ladie,lol)
-I was able to format my music onto my micro SD card and the sound quality is awesome.
But haven't been able to make any of my song a ring tone.
:Cons
-I had to set the buttons on the wheel to super sensitive if not it makes it difficult to navigate.
-Finger marks gets on it very easy and are visible.
-Number keys are too close together and sometimes makes it difficult to text and make a call.
In the end its a great phone the pros out weigh the cons by a far, is just one of those phones that you are really going to love or really going to hate. In my opinion i think this phone is going to sale like hot cakes and me being a verizon wireless agent is going to make the next couple of months very interesting. I already sold 3 today with in a two hour period and have appointments set up for the next couple a days to sell about 8 more. Hope you like the chocolate-------
Looks Cheap to Me
It doesn't look that good. Anyone else agree? I feel kinda stupid walking around with what looks to be an ipod knock off. Plus I've had people tell me that it looks brown in the sunlight >.< I also find it's 'gloss' or cheap plastic shell to be annoying as heck. I returned a phone I just got from a VZW upgrade to get the chocolate and man is it a giant disappointment (hooray for 15 day return policies!).
I'm going back to my Nokia
Nokia 6305i which is fairly new and is a slider phone as well. Looks better in my opinion, even though it's got the antenna thingy. And some of the menu buttons are arranged in a circle as well :P Also, being that I vacation in the mountains on some weekends I like the reception on the Nokia a lot better..
The worst part about this phone is the battery life. The official review says it's got good battery life but it doesn't last me an entire day on a full charge and I don't talk much at all (just the 2 min what do you want at the store conversations) and the occasional picture. The person at verizon said it's because the phone is always looking for a better signal and thus sucking my battery life.
The only thing I'll be missing on this phone is the memory card slot, which is admittedly an A+ feature.
Pros:
It's Look....being that it's sorta different (even though there are a thousand other slider phones out there)
Memory Expansion Slot
BlueTooth, which I don't use personally and it's also got limited capability but that's Verizons doing not the phone
Cons:
It's Look, while also a pro I find this thing to be fuggly. (And I've had other people agree)
Battery Life is Poor
Signal Strength/Call Quality
'Glossy Plastic Coating'
BlueTooth is limited but I think it's verizons fault because of their bad UI.
Doesn't use the standard headphone jack size >.<
I want the scroll wheel to scroll like an iPod! To much to ask?
I just can't wait to get my Nokia back...thank god once I echanged it in for the chocolate the 15 day return policy was refreshed.
AWESOME PHONE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
This LG Chocolate happens to be the best phone i have ever had. I have the White Chocolate, i got it about a week or two ago. I love it... The camera is very clear like crystal. I used to have the Verizon V and the LG Chocolate beats it. The slide and touch sensitive pad are very cool. I think like an upgraded Chocolate would be like the Hot Chocolate or The Chocolate Latte' ha-ha this phone is really good on service and nice big screen. Texting and games are awesome. The graphics are pretty far out. hahah well thats pretty much all other than this is an awesome phone.
Battery Life IS Horrible!!
Love the phone, nice features, looks good and it is easy to use. HOWEVER, the battery life is the worst I have ever seen!!!
I expected the battery life on my Treo 700w to be bad but I was pleasantly amazed at how long it lasted. I could go a week or so with out charging it and I used it like crazy. In six months I had it I used the car charger once!
As for this Chocolate I have had it two weeks and it is dead every other day. It has twice left me without a phone during a crucial moment due to the poor battery life. I can have it fully charged, go to "get it now" and watch the battery creep down. Not sure what I will do at this point as I am past my 14 days but I am sure I won't have this phone long....
Quite happy with phone
I have been quite happy with this phone so far. The reception (especially for an internal antenna phone) has been very good - better than I expected. In the last few days I was in an area that had low signal - and my signal strength and ability to make and receive calls was equal to people carrying RAZR's, E815's and 8300's. The call sound quality is very good and will get very loud. The speaker for music is just OK - but I will use a headset most of the time I listen to music on it.
The cons I would list would be battery time. I DO WANT TO SAY YOU NEED TO CHARGE YOUR BATTERY SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE IT WILL LAST A DECENT AMOUNT OF TIME. After my first few charges - the battery went dead much quicker than I expected it to. I have known for several years that a Li-Ion battery can take several charges before it works at it's best and this is the first phone that I have had that really needed it. Now I do wish the battery had more capacity so I could go 4 to 5 days without charging it instead of about 2 days, but there is always the extended battery. I would also list the charging jack as a minor con, I wish it was on the bottom of the phone instead of the side and it is a little hard to get used to - but it seems to do a fine job.
The pro that I haven't heard anyone mention is that this phone actually does have a port to hook an external antenna on to. I almost bought the Samsung a930 earlier, but that does not have the external antenna port. I go camping in poor reception areas - and it is nice to be able to make a call if you need to. I really like the display on this phone - it is very sharp and several people have commented on how nice it is. The camera is very nice - much better than the LG 7000 that I carried before (which I thought was a really good phone also).
I do hope that a quality belt clip comes out for this phone - that would be a really nice accessory to have for this phone.
Overall - I am still quite happy with this phone.
15 days later, she's still in my pocket
I will try not to repeat what many of others have said... and i will also speak to what i know of the phone (and for a fact for that matter) rather than hear-say, or things that i've not tried or tried to figure out as of yet... as several of these reviewers have...
the big things- design/ form and function... how can you complain? it is a truly sweet little phone.
Battery life- mine's been fine- in fact, really good- i talk, play games, text, use the MP3- use the phone daily and no more/no less than others i've owned (moto e85 the most recent) and the chocolate holds it's own for sure. Right now, I charge every 3-4 days or so- and the battery has held up! The other plus is the quick charge- very nice.
Phone interface- yes, a little odd at first (when entering things, i found myself treating the number buttons as touch buttons at times- and getting the sensitivity settings to match my preferences...) but as the days went on- totally not an issue.
Bluetooth- I'll preface this with the fact that my previous phone "learned" my contacts and my voice commands very fast and well- maybe it's the british gal's accent on the chocolate... but we're still having a few communication errors... it's getting better, but it seems that there is still a ways to go with the voice command recognition... that is- learning my speech and what i am requesting...
Only other gripe is the lack of "vibrate/ring" mode... but i'll just have to learn to keep track of my settings myself (3 button pushes to change feature with phone closed- so accessible enough)
All in all- stylish little phone that can perform- oh- reception- great so far! You are able to get your own mp3 ringtones- i have, they work fine- gripes about accessories and carrier services should be directed towards VERIZON- not LG or the chocolate
