The LG Chocolate VX8550 Cell Phone is an update of the earlier VX8500 model. While this model still has some of the design limitations mentioned in the 8500 reviews, there have been some improvements, particularly to the touchy navigation wheel and the four adjacent touch controls. These improvements have made the Chocolate a good looking phone and music player that provides adequate controls and very good phone service.
The phone is small; about the thickness and length of a deck of cards, but more narrow. The dimensions are 3.85” long X 1.87”wide X 0.67”deep (thick). The small size of the phone is a plus, and when you slide it open it is large enough to use it comfortably.
After the user slides open the phone, the keypad is revealed and the phone is unlocked. The keypad is not large, by any means; I would compare it to any other small cell phone keypad in both size and layout. In this open position, the keypad takes up the lower one-fourth of the total face; the navagation wheel is the next 25%, and the screen and ear hole take up the top half of the unit.
Once the phone is open the features can be accessed. Phone calls are easily placed and the voice and listening quality are very good. Sensitivity (how many bars are there?) is very good; this phone is able to get service in the middle of my reinforced-concrete job site, where other phones on this provider can not. That said, the sensitivity is not excellent; other phones do better in this challenging location. The contact list handles 500 contacts, which is certainly adequate; each contact has a spot for a home phone, two cell numbers, a work number, two email addresses, and a fax number; they can be associated in a group of your choosing, and you can assign different ringtones and a picture for each. It seems to me that this is plenty of information for a contact list, and if I wanted more I would save memos to myself using the external memory card (purchased for $4). Texting is fine; I'm a man with large hands and my thumbs handle the task easily. The predictive text mode works well, with the only odd prediction that I have found being "non" before "mom".
The camera is adequate for what it is designed for. It is easily accessed using a small key above the number 2 on the keypad: one tap turns it on (it takes about 2 seconds), another tap snaps the picture. Zooming is easy using the navigation wheel, and many photo features can be accessed through a menu such as resolution (quality), special effects (black and white, negative, sepia, solari) shutter sounds (which delay the photo being captured), and the self-timer. Movies are made by holding the same button.
Much has been written about the Chocolate's over-sensitive navigation wheel and the four touch buttons around it. I have to concur with many of those frustrations that applied to the VX8500. On my 8550 I have set the sensitivity of these controls to the lowest setting, and I still have occasional problems when my thumb passes over one of the "touch" controls. I rarely use the wheel function, instead using the four directions (up, down, left, right) most of the time. I feel that I have the hang of it now, but it did take a little getting used to. I also set my wheel for quick access to the alarm and calendar functions; I find this very handy. Users can set any four functions for this quick access; the other two that I use are my photo album and my ringtones.
The music player is very good, capable of many functions such as shuffle, lists, and repeat play. The earbuds that came with the phone (a free accessory pack) are not the best, so I would suggest an upgrade there. Music can be played with the unit locked, and also can be played using the external speaker. This speaker is very minimal in both volume and sound quality, both of which should be expected since the speaker is on the back of a small cell phone.
In terms of durability, I have no complaints. I have used the phone for the past six months, and it doesn't have a scratch on it yet. I left the film shield over the screen when I took the phone out of the box, so my screen is still completely perfect; I expect to have to remove the film shield within the next six months. I believe that, given the large size of the screen, it is likely to be exposed to damage pretty easily as it rubs up agains coins and keys in my pocket.
The battery is adequate, but must be charged daily. The standby time is fine, and the talk time at about 3-3.5 hours should be enough for any reasonable use unless you are combining business and personal use and you are on the phone all day. The biggest problem with this topic is that the battery life indicator on the screen shows a full battery most of the day, but then the drop at the end is VERY fast. This means that although the indicator shows 75% of your battery remaining, you may only have 10% of the time before your phone goes completely dead.
Overall, I am very happy with this phone. It's not going to replace my computer or my digital SLR camera, but it does well enough as a phone that I cut my land line and it also backs up my music player when I am on the go.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1 Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
LG Chocolate VX8550 Dual-Band Verizon Phone: The Chocolate is sweeter than ever. It s slimmer and lighter with an improved navigation wheel using trac...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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