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
Not what I was expecting....
Let me preface this review by saying that I was with Sprint for 5 years before switching to Verizon. I worked for them so... I always thought that Verizon had better phones and service because they were number one and all of my friends were on the "V". After leaving the company, I switched to V because of the afore-mentioned reason of all my friends and family were on it and I would use less billing-minutes. I was using 3,000-4000 minutes a month.
Let me say I couldn't be more disappointed. I got the Chocolate 3 as it was very close to my Muziq.
The phone is such a disappointed as far as features and menu.
When I am on a call it sounds like I am in a tube and I can kinda hear myself in my ear-piece.
The sweet spot for the ear-piece is very small. If you move it around, even a little, you can't hear.
People I am talking to sound like they are drunk or there is a "drawl" in their voice.
The headset jack is a 3.5 mm. I don't use my phone as an mp3 player that much. I want to use it as a phone. I also don't use Blue-tooth so I have no idea how I am supposed to hook an ear-piece, that you can talk through, up to it. Even the people at the store have no clue what ear-piece I can use with it.
Reception is no better than what I had with Sprint.
My Muziq showed finger prints, but this one is ridiculous....
I am still within my 30 days, but I have no idea what to do. I don't know what other phone to try. I would like to stay with a flip, but other than the Alias. The others are all a step down...
I wish manufactures would focus first and foremost on making a good PHONE. If I want to talk to my family and friends while I am not at home or send them a text, I'll use my cell PHONE. Not my cell-camera or my cell-mp3 player.
Boy was I mistaken. Verizon is NOT better than Sprint.
Not much different than the 8600... good phone though!
Pros:
Supports up to 8GB card
Stylish
Good sized screens
FM tuner!
Cons:
Not a big fan of the wheel on the front
Soft vibrate
Blah ringtones
Honestly, there aren't a lot of bells and whistles when it comes to this phone--it's a cell phone! The nice thing is the FM tuner is easy to use and sounds ok. I'm used to the "gadget phones" where they do everything but cook lol (ie Voyager, Palm, Blackberry...) I had the LG8600 a few phones back and honestly liked the design of that phone better. However, the front screen is bigger on this phone.
The one thing that took some getting used to was the sub menu. When you hit the right arrow (the circle around the OK button when phone is open) it takes you to an additional 4 options to choose from. --If you get the phone you'll understand better. I was really used to that key being the shortcut to my text messaging inbox!
The one thing I wish at least ONE of these sleek new stylish phones would inherit is a trait from the LG8300--the ability to add text tones for contacts. The 8300 is the only phone that I know of that has this feature on the Verizon network, and I would personally LOVE to have this added to something soon!
Best Phone Ever
Previous review said you cant change the default text to Word...um sorry yes you can. It was one of the first things I did when I got mine.
Anyway...Overall, this is one of the best phones I have owned. It does not power off/on like some other models do. The battery life is good, not great but its ok. The coolest thing is the FM transmitter. Comes in handy when I drive into areas where the radio sucks.
Also, one of the best changes from LG is putting the memory card access on the side, and not under that battery like other models.
I do agree that it is hard to open with one hand.
Grea phone from LG
I bought this phone about a week ago and so far it has been great! It's a great phone, decent camera, and great music player.
Soooooooo sweeeeet!!
This phone is one of the best phones I've ever owned. The whole design of it is very well-done. The sound/speaker is very loud which is a plus in my eyes. The image clarity and LCD screen look amazing. The music player is nice, and plays loud as well. The call quality is good and I get good reception. This phone can be used a modem as well which is a very big plus!! The spinning wheel on the front is a bit loose but still works. I wish there was one on the inside as well, it makes searching thru things a lot faster. I love that you can view texts/pictures from the outside, as well as music, calendar and camera. This phone is a very nice phone, one of the better LG's. Great display themes and easy to read fonts. The keys are good enough for me to text, I can still do it without looking or with one hand. I can flip this phone open with ease with only one hand, don't need two all the time. I'd recommend this phone to anyone!!
Good Phone
Excellent call quality, good reception, clear/loud speaker, great screen clarity, functional size keyboard and finally a phone with adjustable fonts that you can actually read without reading glasses. Only annoying feature is the lock for the front screen, but easy to get used to. Highly recommend.
Not as good as I wanted it to be
Overall okay...I will be keeping my eyes out for a different phone come the holidays.
Pros: look, feel, reception
Cons: vibrate is very weak, speaker phone volume not so good, re-sets itself every so often, glare on screens when in sun, no flash
Very good, but still needs work
Upgrading from the excellent VX8300, here is my list:
Pros (compared to 8300):
- 999 Speed dials (up from 99)
- Beautiful high-res screens
- Keys well backlit â unlike 8300
- Better camera, video recording res is up to 320x240 (but still at 15fps)
- 3.5mm audio jack
- Speaker automatically goes off after a call, or after a minute not in use
- Over the air software upgrade
- Some nice graphics, especially tip calculator & world clock
- Can do other tasks while music still playing
- Nice selection of clocks (still not as Samsung, but light years ahead than 8300)
- You can view thumbnails of recorded videos
Cons:
- Flat (flush) keypad, which make the keys hard to find w/out looking & makes texting very difficult. It will never come close to the ease of use of the raised âpopped-outâ keys on 8300
- Speaker position is OK when phone is closed, but not when itâs open (during phone conversation) sound is moving away from you
- The "LOCK" for the external keys is annoying.
- You cannot open the phone w/ 1 hand. The 8300 was a pleasure to flip open w/ your fingers
- Picture ID on front LCD is nice & big, but getting blocked by CALLER ID text
- "Send" & "End" buttons white backlit â not red/green
- Themes not as nice, nor as big selection as on 8300
- Graphics is much better than 8300, but far not as attractive as Samsungâs & a few features from Motorola also missing
- No way to stop music w/flip closed
- Cannot talk on speaker w/flip closed
- Battery not as good as 8300
- Interface very slow
- Camera is still far from perfect. Y not offer same camera as LG DARE? & Y NO FLASH?
Some Suggestions:
- In Word mode, enable to access the remembered words, & add/remove words from own dictionary
- In calculator, add commas for the 1,000âs
- When I get a reminder, give the option to ERASE it immediately
- When scheduling a reminder, âON TIMEâ should be default
- Enable PICS to be sorted by name, date
- Record video at 25 fps, in MPG format
- Groups should contain more than maximum of 10 contacts
great phone...really...BUT
PROS:
-The UI is pretty good for VW. Graphically it's pleasing to the eye.
-Size & form factor
-Great external display w/ dial pad interface
-FM Transmitter(WTF...cool)
-Camera Phone works very well
-MP3 player is good, even w/ large files
-Battery life is better than the vx8550 even w/ MP3 & bluetooth going on
-1 gig of memory
CONS:
-Ringer volume is too loud even at the lowest setting.
-No options for the front dial pad interface, ie speed or choosing a different sound for it.
-No options for choosing the items available on the external display.
-No option for turning off the LOCK feature when the phone is closed.
-Can't use the side volume buttons to adjust ring volume unless phone is open
-Speaker phone only works w/ phone open(like the vx8700)
The cons out way the pros by far b/c of annoyance at almost every use. I want this phone to be good so bad. SO FRUSTRATING cause this one was close. It's like LG/VW know how to make it better, but they just hold back to keep you wanting more. I returned this phone after 1 week. I'm still using the vx8550.
Good phone / So so Jutebox
As a phone, I'd give it a solid 4. The incoming voice is clear and easy to understand. I use the Verizon network in San Francisco, and haven't had any trouble finding a connection, even in Yosemite. People receiving my call say it sounds as good as a home phone. It sounds better than the other 4 top rated phones I've owned. I prefer a clam shell so the microphone is down by my mouth, not the center of my cheek. The screens are bright and contrast is good, and the body of the phone is wide and long enough so a decent keypad is possible. The vibrate feature is decent, and the ear-piece volume goes way loud. The menu is better looking than on previous phones but the function is the same. The battery holds a charge for a long time, even when I'm using the music feature.
As a music player, results are mixed. I'm fussy about my sound and it doesn't sound as good as my iPod. I only wanted to use it to time shift some NPR and talk radio, and it works perfectly well for that. The problem is the controls. As others have said, having to first hit the unlock button on the right side of the phone to access the controls on the front of the phone is a complete pain in in the butt! Even if your listening to something and you close the lid, it will default to the locked position, so you might have to scroll through 3 or 4 things just to get to the pause button. Funky! If you leave the phone open, you can hit the center OK button and then the pause control. I suspect most people will be happy with the sound. So I give it a solid 4 for it's main purpose, a phone, and a weak 3 for a music box. Elimination of that stupid lock feature would go a long way to improve the score on that.
Pro:
Great Phone
Good looking (black)
Battery life
Large easy to see keypad
Con:
Unlock button
Music feature not terribly user friendly
