LG Chocolate 3 VX-8560
Phone Scoop Review
Jul 23, 2008 by Eric M. Zeman
LG takes its Chocolate music phone in a whole new direction with the new Chocolate 3. See why it managed to stay on course and get lost at the same time. With video tour. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Best Flip I have ever had
I picked this up last week and this is a top flight phone.
Pros:
Fast - It has an incredibly fast processor with 140 MB of ram... more than triple of any other non-smart phone I've seen.
RF - EVDO is about 50% faster than my ENV and the voice codecs are crystal clear, even in only 1 bar areas, like my living room.
Rhapsody To Go support - Subscription service to the Rhapsody library for 14.95 a month.
Size - Its a long, wide phone but fairly thin. Because of this the keypad is great for bigger fingers. In fact the tactile feel of the keypad is the best I've used.
Screens - Both screens are very big, bright and clear. Because both screens are backlit, you don't have to look at it at the right angle, like the Alias aka Samsung u740. The exterior screen is larger than some interior screens.
Battery life - charged it the first night, 5 days ago. I'm still at 2 bars and I've been using the C3 as my dedicated mp3 player with the FM Transmitter.
Cons
FM Transmitter is adjustable, its only preset to 88.1, 96.1, and 106.1 but it's incredibly weak. My car is an 05 M45 and if there is any type of other signal, the transmitter washes out. It needs to be more powerful, which is something I expect they will fix in an update sooner rather than later because this will be a selling point for alot of people.
The Wheel navigation is a bit quirky. Sometimes you rotate it, sometimes you move it up and down. I personally think the wheel spins a bit too freely.
Memory and Rhapsody needs to be fixed. It cannot detect the internal memory and my 4 GB card at the same time. I have to pop out the memory card and authorize the device a second time to use the internal. Not that big of a deal but it is irksome and I'm expecting that to be fixed in an update as well.
Conclusion
I really like this phone. Its incredibly fast, with a very good feature set. It does need a couple of updates which I'm fully expecting them to fix within the next couple of weeks.
all n all, its a good phone.
After having the same phone for 2 years and seeing my friends all get new stuff I was glad to finally get a new phone. one that none of them had. The C3.
There are a lot of features I absolutely love and then yet there are some things I despise greatly.
My Pro's-
-the 3.5mm headphone jack, this is a godsend. having this normal size jack allows you to use the phone like an Ipod or any other mp3 player in vehicles that have an AUX input or where mp3 players are used.
-the screens are MASSIVE and easy to see, nice n bright as well.
-the 2.0MP camera takes good shots.
-The battery lasts quite a while.
-signal quality is outstanding, never any dropped calls or errors during calls.
-the mp3 side of it, its just as good if not better than an Ipod and I love it.
It was cheap to buy and it's no different than an Ipod only better in my opinion. If you like music but don't want to lug around a phone AND an mp3 player, this thing is what you need.
My Con's-
-Its hard to flip open with one hand.
-the rotary wheel on the front is loose and jittery feeling.
-having to un-lock the front display is not only annoying beyond words but just plain retarded in my opinion.
-the battery bar indicator is deceiving at times. one minute you will have 3 bars and the next it will be beeping at you that you have a low battery.
-the 'low battery' mode lasts all of about 2 idle minutes, where as i think it should last about 30 idle minutes- my previous LG phones did this without a problem.
-the # turns on the vibrate mode, not the * like other phones.
-the front clock display output could stand to be a tad larger. why have a huge screen if you cannot utilize it?
-the camera takes the picture nice and close up and large on the screen but when you go to look at the picture in your memory it displays it further away and small.
My biggest con of it would have to be having to un-lock the front screen. What really irritates me the most is there is absolutely no option to turn it OFF.
The "2nd" Flip Chocolate!
I've owned the VX8600 for 2 years now. Love love love that phone... and I've always called it a flip Chocolate. But the screen is dying, and the hinge is loose... it's been showing it's age lately, so I was very very happy to see the new Chocolate 3 on the menu of Verizon phones!
Pros:
- 3.5mm jack
- fm transmitter
- It's a flip.. I love flips.
- The micro SD slot picked up the photos, vids, songs on my old card. (except for the songs I bought on VCast... grrrr...)
- Camera and vids have higher resolution options than the 8600... yum!
- The charger also doubles as a USB data cable
Cons:
- the 3.5mm jack plug is just a detached plug (garranz I'm going to lose it... it's a dumb plug...)
- The reason I love flips is cause it protect the keys from being accidentally engaged. But now, with the spin wheel on the front, the phone needs an unlock key... That defeats the purpose of a flip, imho.
- Operating the music player from the spin wheel... the song order changes to alphabetical... quirky...
- Did I already mention my bought VCast music doesn't work? Grrrrrrr... again. grrrr...
- Why did they force me to change from AC to NW plan? That really wasn't necessary...
Honestly... I loved my 8600... RIP old friend... But the new features on this phone makes me love it even more, despite my numerous Cons. LG's are da Bomb!
Excellent and Sweet as ever!!
The new LG Chocolate 3 is by far the best clamshell phone by Verizon. This phone has it all:
Pros:
~Bright big screens on both outside and inside
~Reception is crisp and clear---everyone thinks I am on a landline phone when I am talking to them
~The volume of the ringtones are very loud and you can hear them from a mile away
~Pre-loaded ringtones are surprisingly good :) nice for a change
~Easy navigation through the menu and the keypad is awesome with texting and dialing
~Web is fast and can pretty much go to every site you might need
Cons:
~If you don't get a case for the phone or something to protect it you will scratch the screen and the face of the phone
~The hinges could be made a little better they remind me of the razor phone but they are a lot sturdier and not as flimsy
Overall this phone is great and I would receommend it to anyone looking for a great clamshell phone. Great job LG and Verizon.
LG Chocolate 3 review...
As mentioned in my previos posts, I have owned just about every LG cell phone by Verizon. The LG 8560 (chocolate 3) is my latest purchase. I was quite impressed with the phone. Below are the pros and cons of the phone...
PROS
- Great Battery Life. Battery lasts a long time. Just about as good as the ENV2 battery.
-Scroll wheel on front is cool...does feel loose alittle, but works great, and the menu is pretty neat if you dont feel like opening the phone.
-New Verizon Menu's (not the same standard one anymore)...has 4 to choose from.
-Reception is great, never drops calls.
-Sturdy Phone. A bit bulkier than the LG8600, but I like that bc it feels sturdier in hand. Nice solid feel to it.
CONS
-Fingerprints appear alot (but i guess thats not a big deal, just wipe it off)
-Wish they had more colors
Overall, its the best flip phone out right now by verizon (hands down). The big thing for me is call clarity and battery, and in those departments, this phone is superb. This phone is alot better than the previous chocolates too, and its cool how they put the scroll wheel on the front, to remind you of the older models.
Hope this review helps. Definitely buy the phone, you wont be let down!
FANTASTIC
PROS:
RF is fantastic
Music player works wonderfully
Build quality is awesome
inside/outside screens are awesome
Battery life is very good for all the features
CONS:NONE...
This a fantastic clamshell phone from verizon and probably their best to date.. I have the black one and it is amazing. Dashboard feature is really cool and a nice addition for verizon. If you like clamshell phones this one is a must!!!
Not Sure Yet
This phone went into service on 8/22; it has a nice design. The display is great; my old phone a Moto RAZR maxx Ve that I like very much but I received a good deal on an upgrade and could not pass up. Moreover I like Motorola phones but there were no Moto phones from Verizon in NY that I liked, Iâm not a big txt person, I carry a blackberry, or hot on the latest music players, so I donât like toys like the phones on the market today.
Pros:
The Chocolate is very lightweight.
Great dual displays
FM transmitter
Good music player
Thin design
Good Battery
Unique dual controls when closed
Seems to have better security features
One touch vibrate on the # key a LG feature
Great size smaller, than the Razr2 V9m, bigger than maxx Ve, good ear to mouth range.
Cons:
3.5mm Head phone Jack has a full detachable cover, why this is not contacted to phone is of very poor design.
Speaker phone is weak, typical of LG phones.
Could use a Thumb Slot to open more quickly.
Vibrate is poor.
No camera flash.
New micro usb plug (another new power cord, my Ve has mini usb) most new phones have this new power plug like the Motorola RAZR2 V9m. Whatâs to come of Bluetooth headsets that use mini usb?
FM transmitter is weak
Re-cap:
I hate having multiple power adapters in my car for phones and headsets. Speaker volume could be better but that can be said about lot of phones, SD card slot in nice since most Moto phones do not have that feature. Smooth case may cause you to lose grip & you will leave hand prints, no big deal itâs a phone not a mirror, other materials could make this more secure in hand for better control but not a deal breaker. I most likely will return this phone just because I like the maxx better & see no real benefits for me to have a great music player when the one on my maxx works fine for me & has a camera flash plus one less power cord I need to have in my car, I will see if I can break away from old phone because the deal was that good.
Good phone but not as good as it could be!
I just upgraded my phone from the lg 8100. I had that phone for 2 years and loved it. Only reason I got a new phone is because the key pad cracked.Over the years I have had a ton of phones and have always loved LG phones. I decided that if I was going to upgrade, again it would be to an lg phone. While the phone is OK, I think they dropped the ball on a few things.
Pros:
-Battery life is great. I have had the phone for 5 days and only had to charge it once.
-Can hold a ton of text messages
-Picture quality is pretty good - as long as you are standing completely still when you take the pic (otherwise it comes out a bit blurry)
-I have not played around with the fm transmitter, but it seems like a cool feature
-Front screen is large and the front wheel is useful.
-They have an "in case of emergency" in the contacts.
-Easy to use phone.
-Good signal strength
Cons:
-Vibrate is really weak. I had the phone on vibrate next to me, and I barely heard it with it being on a table.
-Speaker phone is pretty bad. Not nearly as loud as it could and should be. Very hard to hear people and for them to hear you while driving or moving around at all. Def con!
-No flash on the camera. They have something called night mode - which does nothing. If you take a pic in the evening or not in bright lights, the picture is so dark or blurry that you can't see anything. Not cool!
-This is not major- but in my other phone, I could set a different tone for text messages from certain people as you can for ringers. This phone you can't.
-Phone shows finger prints pretty bad. Again nothing major.
Overall - I have not decided if I am going to keep the phone. I am debating returning it. The speaker phone is a pretty big deal to me. I use it a ton so it may break the deal. That and the weak vibrate. The other stuff is pretty minor but I def think they could have made this phone better. It seems like they may have rushed this new model since the original chocolate was having a bunch of problems.
The Chocolate, only BETTER.
Great overall phone. The sound quality of this phone has been significantly made better. The feel of the phone is great, and will be very confortable to hold for those long conversations. Music player options are great as usual. The flip style is a little different, and it stiands out as a Chocolate. Very unique styling.
Pros:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Great feel, very comfortable.
Awesome sound quality.
Camera is alright, considering it is a Chocolate.
Battery life is great.
Cons:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Honestly, none that I have found.
I would definitely recommend this buy. Very pleased with this LG.
Nice phone, but....
....you CAN NOT search and phone Contacts using front wheel and display with headset/bluetooth connected, including returning a missed call without opening the phone.
....you CAN NOT view many non-English internet sites Openwave Browser configuration on C3 can not interpret non Western Encoding of web pages
....you CAN NOT rely on number of bars to indicate signal strength wherever you are
...you will loose the stupid rubber plug covering the headset jack the first time you take it out
