LG Chocolate 3 Cell Phone Review - Tour & Design
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Marianne Schultz Published on September 02, 2008 Comment on this |
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| The form factor of the LG Chocolate 3 makes quite a departure from its predecessor to a plainer and almost nondescript flip format. While it won't turn any heads, it seems to be solidly built for the most part, though it comes with virtually no accessories to take advantage of its full feature set. |
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Front Closed
The predominant feature of the front of the phone when closed is a 1.76" (measured diagonally) screen. Above the screen is the camera lens and below is a wheel controller. The material surrounding the screen, camera, and wheel controller is a glossy plastic, with a chrome lip on the bottom edge that wraps around the sides. There are perforations along the border between the chrome lip and the plastic for the speaker.
Front Open
Inside, the screen is 2.2" diagonally, with the Verizon logo above and the LG logo below. On the bottom portion of the flip are the control pad, send/end and other dedicated keys, and below that is the number pad.
Left
There are three buttons and two ports on the left side. The top-most port is the 3.5 mm headphone jack, which comes with a rubber plug installed out of the box. The two buttons immediately below the headphone jack adjust the volume up and down, and the next button triggers the Voice Command feature. The last port on this side is the port for charging and connection to a PC. This port has a tethered plastic cover to protect it.
Top
The top of the Chocolate is dedicated to the hinge and has no buttons or other features.
Bottom
The bottom of the phone has no buttons or features.
Right
The right side of the phone has 2 buttons and the micro SD card slot. The top-most button is to lock and unlock the front screen so that the wheel controller can be used and the menus accessed. The next button is the dedicated music button which opens the music application and allows access to its entire menu. The Micro SD card slot at the bottom has a tethered plastic cover to protect it.
Back
The back of the phone is made of plastic with a matte and soft-touch finish. The only feature here is the cover for the battery, which slides off with medium pressure.
Battery Out
There is nothing under the battery when removed since the Micro SD card is on the right side of the phone and a SIM card is not used for this phone on Verizon's CDMA network. The battery capacity is 800 mAh.
In the Box (2.0)
The Chocolate 3 comes with very little in the box. The only included accessories are the charging/USB connection cable and AC wall plug. No headphones or Micro SD card in sight.
Handling (7.0)
The Chocolate 3 is narrow enough to feel comfortable in hand for a call or menu navigation. It's relatively easy to slide a finger along the break between the two halves to open the flip, and it snaps open and closed solidly and without too much fuss. The glossy plastic on the front can be quite slippery, but this is somewhat mitigated by the soft-touch matte feel of the back of the phone. When open, the top portion of the number pad and the bottom portion of the navigation are easy to reach with your thumb, but the very top of the former and the very bottom of the latter require minor adjustments of your hand to reach and press easily. The corners are smooth and rounded so there's never any worry of encountering a sharp corner.
It's easy to hold the phone almost anywhere along its edges to your head to talk, and its light weight (3.36 ounces) won't wear you out during long conversations. The length of the phone when open even facilitates holding it between your cheek and shoulder with no hands when you need to in a pinch.
Portability (8.0)The Chocolate 3 weighs 3.36 ounces and is 3.87 inches tall by 1.94 inches wide by .64 inches thick. It's light and is easy to pocket, but its thickness can make it fairly visible in the pocket of normal- to snug-fitting pants. In a jacket pocket or purse/bag, it would be a snap to carry without causing too much of a bulge or adding too much weight. Compared to its predecessor, the LG Chocolate VX8550, the Chocolate 3 weighs .12 ounces more and is slightly thinner by .03 inches, in addition to being .02 inches shorter and wider by .07 inches. Compared to the iPhone 3G, it is shorter and narrower by a good margin and weighs 1.34 ounces less, though it is thicker by .16 inches.
Aesthetics (6.0)
The flip style is a noticeable departure from the slider form factor of its predecessor and is less striking to some as a result. The Chocolate 3 has no features that distinguish it easily from other flip phones, neither in materials, layout, nor general design. It's not flashy or particularly stylish - this is not a phone that will make you stand out in a crowd or cause others to notice it enough to comment on it. And once the glossy plastic on the front gets smudged with fingerprints, any positive impressions start to decline.
Durability (5.0)
The glossy front of the phone collects smudges and fingerprints easily, and also seems as if it would be easily scratched by keys or other hard objects around it in your pocket or bag. The plastic front also gives a little when squeezed firmly, but the phone otherwise feels solid as a whole with no squeaking or other cues of poor fit and finish. The control wheel on the front rotates quite freely and has some play when wiggled - this seems like the only weak spot on the outside of the phone. And, as previously mentioned, the rubber plug that comes inserted in the headphone jack is not tethered and could be very easy to lose. The tethered plastic covers over the charging/sync port and the Micro SD car slots are a little fiddly and could easily break off if you're not careful.
With any flip phone, a key area of concern is the flip hinge. The Chocolate 3's hinge feels sturdy, with nice spring action and no sloppiness or play when open. Excessive pressure beyond the full-open position could cause it to break, but this is the case with all but the most sturdy flip phones built specifically for use in rugged environments.
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