LG Chocolate 3 User Reviews

I am on my second LG Chocolate 3 and will be taking it back tonight. Haven't decided what to try instead. I was very upset that I had to leave Nokia phones behind when I came to Verizon (the 6205 for Verizon got very bad reviews, the phone doesn't play nice with the Verizon software and it is rumored that it wasn't even made by Nokia, so it is not an option). I was especially upset when I found out that Verizon puts their own software on ALL of there phones. So no more Nokia OS!! BOOO Verizon!!!
Anyway...I was looking forward to being able to use the phone calendar and having the ability to change the themes (choice of only four colors) and I had heard the battery life was excellent and the call quality was great. What a Disappointment!!! The first phone's battery didn't even last eight hours and the call quality sucked! Add to that, the software had major glitches. The phone never died on me but it still had major issues.
This second phone has improved software, or so it seems for now, and the battery life lasts about a day if I don't talk on it much. But the call quality still sucks!! It is improved over the first phone, but many people have told me that they can't hear me and I definately can't catch all of their words. This will never do!!! I am so disappointed in the choices of the other verizon phones and upset that I may leave Verizon altogether...because right now it isn't the "BEST" wireless service you can get for the money!!!

It seems like I'm in the minority here but I had this phone for a few weeks before I returned it.  I had several of my friends/family say they could not understand me over the phone and I had a few times where the person on the other end sounded garbled (sounded like an electronics issue, not in the same way as it does with a bad connection).  Maybe I just got a bad phone but I returned it and have since gone back to my old phone (LG VX8300) and it's even more noticeable how calls sounded more muffled on the Chocolate 3.  My other complaint is that the front screen had several scratches after just carrying it around in my pocket for a few weeks.  I may not handle my phones with kid gloves but it seemed to get scratched way too easily.
I'm still eligible for my "new every two" phone but I'm not sure what I'll try next.

Overall I like the new Chocolate. My Chocolate never switches off as I have heard other people say. There are a few other issues though, most of them minor but annoying none the less. For whatever reason, this phone has no reminder beep or vibrate if you miss a call. (If you get a voice mail or text message the phone will beep/vibrate every couple of minutes.) Also the vibrator on this phone is fairly weak. I put my phone in the pocket of my jeans usually, and if I am walking I don't feel the vibration.
The option to use the front screen for music, pics, texts etc is nice, but I rarely use it do to the fact that the turn wheel is too sensitive, and also you must unlock the keys. I understand the necessity of locking the keys, but you have to press a small button on the side (even if you get a new text), and its ultimately easier to just open the phone.
My final complaint is that the phone runs slow. When you get a call and open the phone, its easy to start talking before the phone clicks on. Also the music takes a few seconds to load.
Other than that I love the phone. The camera is decent, battery usually lasts me 3 days or so, and of course it has a GB of memory. It also has the regular size of jack for headphones. Not the best phone, but pretty good.

I got the new Chocolate 3 (8560), but my wife got previous generation Chocolate (8550). I am struggling to find the reason why I paid $100 for it (after rebates) and my wife got hers free after rebates. The only difference is 8560 is a flip and 8550 is a slide.  Comparing the two yielded few advantages.
Sound quality and reception of 8260 is excellent. It feels solid and the keys have a good feel. They are large and easy to press. The wheel is relatively easy to operate.  The previous generation Chocolate also has excellent sound and reception, but the keys are smaller and the wheel is a pain to use.  Advantage: 8560
I got this phone mostly with an idea that I can use it with Bluetooth via my car's system and also be able to play MP3s.  The 8560 pairs with my car fine, but has a flaw - it would not sync up the phone book.  Interestingly enough the 8550 does sync up the phone book without any problems.  Why did LG mess with the good system?  The old Chocolate also sounds a little better via my cars Bluetooth.  Advantage: 8550
Main idea was to be able to play MP3s through car's audio (my car has auxiliary jack).  The MP3s do play fine, but the moment you plug anything in the output jack, your Bluetooth turns off automatically.  This is the major flaw and should have been able to have a setting override.  Basically now I have to choose if I want to listen to MP3s from my phone or have the phone connected via Bluetooth to my car and be able to receive and make phone calls.  Tech support was of no help.  The old Chocolate also has this major flaw.  Advantage: neither phone - both are not well thought.  So if you are planning to use your phone as MP3s player in your car, you should be prepared to lose Bluetooth functionality.
I am kind of disappointed due to that, but I realize that many people won't care for it.  Most folks buy phones only because they look good anyway.

this device is just like the lg-vx8600 with some great updates. the fm transmitter is awesome. nothing like the other chocolates. camera is good. menue is new and cool. plays music and still can use the phone with out stoping.

Since August 7, I have owned two new chocolate 3s one black one blue both with version 4 firmware and they both have had the same four identical issues.1) During a call the phone will restart, soft reboot, power cycle; by this I mean the phone will actually power down to the black screen with the Verizon trademark logo and then power back up, of course dropping the call. This can happen within 30 seconds of the call being connected or it may happen 20 minutes into the call. It has happened while on the go or stationary, in town or out of town, it may not happen for two days then can happen for three calls back to back. So far I have been unable to find the cause or trigger for this and is happening now usually 3 to 4 times a day. BTW I previously had two LG VX8700 phones that did this exact same thing in addition they would power cycle during an email, text or instant message and sometimes during a V Cast session.2) Usually two to three times a day the key pad tones will stop working even though the volume level for the key pad tone is set at the maximum setting. Powering the phone off and back on will restore the tones for several hours.3) When using the VZ Navigator the key pad tones become muted and will not function till exiting VZ Navigator.4) About 20% of the time the phone will display �This cable is not recommended for this phone� when plugging in the supplied AC charger. This message has never been displayed when using the cable plugged into a USB port or using an automotive charger.I use my phone more as a phone than anything else, typically 3000+ minutes a month on the nationwide premium plan, email and text messages. No ring tones, music or third party software downloaded and all pictures are stored on a 1G or 2G SD card. Verizon's cure so far is to keep throwing phones at the problem rather than to try and diagnose the actual cause. LG does not have any customer service worth mentioning.

This phone is awsome! the sound quality is crystal clear even when you are using the FM transmitter. I have used other external FM transmitters for ipod's and phone's, and this one was by far the best! The features are perfect for people that love to have tons of different options: like the videos, music, email...etc.
Oh, and to the fool that said "THIS PHONE IS HUGE, it reminds me of how the old phones used to look..." Ok...the phone that you had previously (LG 8300) is a nice phone, however in total size its BIGGER than the chocolate! So you must be saying that the Razr's are huge, the w755's are huge, and the v750....Obviously you just have no clue about phones and and didn't like this phone because there was too much on it for you...but other people like having those features alot, if you don't need them then stick to your...tiny...LG 8300..

I've had this phone since DAY ONE and love it. I only have two MINOR issues with it....The lock button on the side should be able to be disabled. Everytime you close the phone, it locks. I would like to be able to unlock it when I know I'm going to be using the phone for a period of time. AND when I add items into the calendar, it automatically defaults to ABC mode (instead of Word) with no way to change that. Kinda ANNOYING when you are in mentally in WORD mode for everything else and then have to switch.
The sound quality is excellent. I've never had an issue with that at all.
Pictures great. Music mulittasking feature great.
OVERALL EXCELLENT PHONE!
 

This is a good phone! The front is actually a blue/black color. The FM Transmitter works pretty good. If you want to see the FM transmitter working go onto Youtube. I posted a quick video of me using it in the car.
I havn't had any problems with this phone one bit.

I had this phone for about a month. I'm a heavy user and the keypad got hot after only 20 minutes of use. The sound quality is not that great, I can hear my echo. It's a good size phone, larger than I thought. It has great features but, is not a phone for a heavy user. I switched back to the second generation Chocolate VX8550 and I'm very happy with that phone.

I initially upgraded to the Venus and after 4 days that phone stopped working, they say manufacturers defect. So I ordered this phone and I have had it for 2 days and I am sending this one back. I read alot of good reviews but I personally think the phone is horrible.

Where to begin, first it is not a very attractive phone. It looks better online then in person. What they call the color black is actually a navy blue on the front and black on the back, it is ugly! I was actually told by a Verizon employee that there were 3 colors, Navy, Black, and Light Blue, that is not true, it is just Black/Navy or Light Blue.

Next, I wish you could customize the menu on the front of the phone as I am a basic person and the choices when using the scroll wheel are not anything that I will use often, except my Inbox.

The sound quality is very weird. When having the volume all the way up, the people sounded somewhat robotic and when I was making a call, the ring would fade in and out. I tried to turn the volume down which took care of the robotic sound, however, it was now difficult to hear. The speaker isn't the best either, I had to hold the phone and put the front of the phone (which is where the speaker is located) almost to my ear to hear the other person, in which case, if I am holding it like this, what is the point of the speakerphone??

Lastly, the phone itself is huge! It reminds me of the cells phones from the early days, just big! It is thin but it's plastic inside is very cheap looking. I honestly feel as though the phone would snap in half very easily. I am coming from a LG VX8300 and this phone was very good so to go from good quality to something so cheap is a disappointment. I wouldn't even bother to upgrade but after over 2 yrs on the 8300, the sound fades at times. I don't know what LG has done, but I had bad luck with the Venus and now disappointment with this new Chocolate. Back to the drawing board.

If you read the official phonearena review, they say that this phone replaces the Motorola v9m for voice quality and reception. I had a chance to buy this phone and the v9m for a week and use them almost side by side. I also had the LG 8350.

This phone is indeed an excellent phone. It had excellent reception - and since I live and work in fringe reception areas, I've had plenty of chances to test it out. It's not a miracle - in the really bad places (like the interior bathroom in my apartment, where I tested it side by side with the 8350 and v9m) I would have small dropouts in the conversation if I was moving around. My testing and usage suggested that it had equal reception to the v9m. They both had better reception than the 8350 - places where these 2 phones would drop out little parts of words, the 8450 would lose entire words. Again, I tested it several times, often with the phones side by side.

When I got my 8350, I thought that it's voice quality was excellent. Finally - a phone that I could hear what people were saying! I've been using cell phones for 5 years, so although I was used to the fact that you can't always hear all the detail in someone's voice. I figured it was just the limit of what cell phones were capable of - all my other phones had had the same thing. Then I got this phone (the chocolate 3) and the v9m. Holy cow. These 2 phones finally have that detail back in peoples voices that's been missing. As long as I have a signal, I never had to go "What?" because I couldn't really tell what they were actually saying. It's amazing - I didn't think cell phones were even capable of that kind of voice quality. Heck, seriously, I can't even think of any landline phones I've used that had this kind of detail in the voice. Or headsets.

I would say that the Blackberry Pearl had perfect sound quality when I tried it in the store (I called my voicemail and listened to messages). But you have to sign up for a data plan to have it - erg. It was amazing, though.

Next in order would be the v9m - excellent detail and very pleasant sounding voices. It wasn't as good as the Pearl because the volume didn't go quite as loud, and my ears find something in the sound occasionally irritating. It's like some frequency is overly loud compared to the rest of the sound. To for comparison, I've had the same thing happen with lots of full size headphones, and every cell phone I've ever used (except the Pearl).

Next in order would be the Chocolate 3. It also had excellent detail in the voice. It was a little louder than the v9m, and my ears also found something in the sound occasionally irritating. But it wasn't that bad, and had excellent detail in the voices. The reason I'd rate it lower than the v9m is that the sound on the v9m sounded amazingly natural, and while the sound on the Chocolate 3 is incredibly understandable, it always sounded a little more...electronic or something and not as smooth and natural. However, it did have better volume. I should also mention that I sometime had problems accidentally breathing into the microphone on the Chocolate 3 - I'd just be having a conversation sitting in a chair, and the microphone would pick up the sound of my breath hitting the microphone (like blowing into a microphone). I had to hold the microphone a little lower to avoid this, but I felt like if it was to low the other people wouldn't be able to hear me.

The 8350's sound quality was good, but it was way below any of the other 3 phones I've mentioned so far. The volume was good, and the sound clarity was good compared to other phones I've used, but it (like every other cell phone I've used before) just didn't have that extra detail in the voice that made the conversation always understandable, every time (well...except for my friend who seems to have trouble actually talking into the microphone on *his* phone). It was a little worse than your average land line phone for voice detail. But still - pretty good. I would mention that the speakerphone on the 8350 was way louder and better than the other phones - it was nice to be able to easily hear driving directions.

Lastly, I'll mention that I had a Samsung Gleam before these other phones, and all these phones blow the Gleam out of the water for voice clarity. And, funny enough, I always though the Gleam had better voice quality than my e815 before it...

So onto other features. In "the Chocolate 3 vs the v9m" -

The Chocolate is way better for texting. It's not as wide, so it's *much* easier to text with one hand (I'm a 6" guy). And it *actually* remembers words with the t9 or whatever it's called. I can't get my v9m to remember the smiley face, so I always have to go into symbols to put in the ")" on the smiley face. And the v9m doesn't do "first letter capital" right - there's a mode for it, but unless it's the 1st word of the sentence it just doesn't work. You have to put it in "all caps" mode, hit the letter, than put it back into lowercase mode for the rest of the words. And the keys on the v9m are non-standard - "flip to next possible word" is down, not 0 like it usually is. Sometimes it like to try to autocomplete the rest of the word, and I accidentally hit the right button and it fills it in and I have to go back and delete it...eeeeerg.

The chocolate also had a better form factor. Though slightly thicker than the v9m, it's less wide which makes it way easier to hold onto. And it's *much* lighter, which makes it easier to carry in your pocket. I almost chose the Chocolate 3 based just on it's form factor (well...since it was close on reception and sound quality).

The menus on the Chocolate 3 are also better, although I had to change the default theme to get a less dark colors on dark colors scheme. They just seemed much more polished and consistent on the Chocolate than on the v9m. Not to mention prettier. :-) It appears that you could also set VZNavigator to be one of the shortcut keys on the chocolate - sweet!

Both phones had an annoying beep at the end when you missed a call, even if you hit the side buttons to silence it. All verizon phones seem to have this now - it's !@#!@# annoying. I mean, I hit the side button to tell my phone to be quite - does it have to beep *again* and annoy people a 2nd time? I'd like to be able to strip the 1st 4 seconds out of my ringtones and have "vibrate, then start ringing" on my phone, but this beep makes it next to impossible for that to work.

Both phones had good screens. I found the Chocolate 3's a little dim in sunlight sometimes - I read that the brightness is automatically set by a sensor, so a future firmware update might correct this.

The internal screen resolution on both phones is the same, though the v9m screen is slightly physically larger. I really didn't notice the difference, though.

One area that the v9m actually beats the Chocolate in is the camera - the Chocolate camera is ok, but the v9m camera is amazing. It could not only take pictures inside in the dark, it could take video inside when it's half dark, which no other camera phone I've ever used has been able to do. Fantastic.

But the v9m is way worse when it comes to battery life. I never had any issues with battery life with the Chocolate 3. I don't know that I made over 2 hours of calls in a day, but the battery just always seemed fine. With the v9m on the other hand, even after a week of use it was crappy. (I've seen the battery life get better on a phone after a couple of days of use. Sometimes dramatically, as when I first got my e815). On the v9m it seemed like I'd make 2 hours of phone calls throughout the day, and by the time I'd go to battery meter was down to "low battery". I never actually ran out of battery, though, so it's possible that the battery meter was just overly paranoid. And I was keeping it in my pocket, so it was possible the side buttons were getting pushed and I walked around. But still - not real promising.

So in the end, I had to make a decision about which phone to keep. There's a lot to like about the Chocolate 3, and the v9m has some annoying flaws. But I spend most of my phone time using my phone as a phone. In the end, I kept the v9m (and ordered an extended battery) and returned the Chocolate 3. Though the volume isn't always as good, I just felt that the v9m had more pleasant quality to it's sound. When I talked to someone, they just sounded more natural and lifelike, whereas while they were just as understandable on the Chocolate 3, they sounded more electronic. To bad though - I really preferred the form factory, weight, and texting ability of the Chocolate 3. I would highly recommend either of them to anyone else.

...and this is it!! So my New Every Two was up in June. I started off with the Voyager, which I really did like. However, I knew the Dare was coming out, so I got the Voyager with the knowledge that I'd be trading in within a couple of weeks (my old VX8100 was on its last legs, hence the reason I didn't just wait for the Dare to come out). I traded up for the Dare, and the first unit I received had a broken lock button that messed with all of the phone's other functions. So I traded it in for another unit. After a couple of days of using it, I realized that the touch screen just was not good enough for a touch-screen-only unit. I hate to compare it to the iPhone, but unfortunately in this arena, their touch screen is still the best and makes it actually worth going to touch-screen-only. However, since AT&T sucks in my area, switching carriers to get the iPhone was out of the question. So I was planning on just sending the Dare back and getting the Voyager again, but I knew I would get annoyed with the touch screen after awhile. Then I jumped on the internets and found out this little gem had finally dropped. Wow, I am in love with this phone. It has a very solid feel to it, which I didn't feel the Dare had - I always felt like I could break it if I accidentally leaned on it while it was in my pocket or something - and the design is quite aesthetically pleasing. I also really enjoy the scroll wheel on the front as it reminds me of my old 4th gen iPod. The camera is pretty good, the reception is great, the speaker phone is very good (whereas the Dare's speaker phone was a joke, no one could ever hear me talking unless I yelled!!), and the fact that I can drag music to the phone via bluetooth on my Mac and listen to it through standard headphones is a major bonus. All in all, I'm finally happy with my phone and I imagine I will be for some time...

Upgraded to this phone on my 2 year renewal and also received an online discount. For the price, it's a great phone so far. Some consider it large in size but I find that it's perfect with the larger screen size. I spent quite a bit of time going back and forth between this phone and the DARE but wanted something that had more features than my old phone but also an actual keypad.

Set up was easy and I had no problems customizing options, pairng with bluetooth, etc. However, the USB cable drivers (VCAST Music-Rapsody) are not yet avaialbe for download and I was able to resolve this with downloading the LG DECOY drivers (they're the same). Customer service was very helpful and spent quite a bit of time trying to resolve this problem.

Overall, I would rate this as a great entry level phone and pictures don't do it justice. Once Verizon updates its website to include downloads for drivers, wallpapers, and a few other add-ons, it should have everything I want and need until my next contract renewal.

I too was the first to buy the new Chocolate in my Verizon store.
Due to the fact that I'm no youngster anymore, I use reading glasses.
So a large screen was very important to me as I don't alway have my glasses near-by. This screen is amazing and the ability to adjust the font size is perfect.
Also, I live out in the country. Although Verizon has a really good coverage area, certain cell phones don't have a very good signal out here. Especially inside my house. This phone is GREAT. Even inside.
And on top of all that it came in this beautiful shade of blue.
Couldn't be happier.

I just got this phone in my store and have spent a couple hours playing around with it. I am very picky about my phones but this phone seems to have it all...
Very nice looking and great design.
The buttons aren't too small and have a nice solid feel to them.
2.0 MP Camera (not a 3 but still not bad)
FM Transmitter
Bluetooth transfers
3.5 headset jack
Internal Memory and Expandable memory up to 8gb card
I'm coming from a Chocolate 2 and I like it but it definately has it's annoyances (small buttons, small navigation wheel, occational unresponsiveness to touch buttons) This phone is excellent and definately needed for Verizon. Better than any other flip phone around!

The only cons I can think of are...
not very customizable UI (a couple options, but not many)
large (not for me, I like the size, but it is a large phone)

I was the first to purchase the LG 8560 from my local Verizon Wireless store on Sunday, July 13th. Having now used it for the past 48 hours or so, I'm happy to offer a preliminary report that this is an excellent phone, as I have come to expect from all my LGs.

This phone replaced my LG 8300. I've waited six months for another flip phone of the quality of my 8300, and this is the one. Phone is solidly built, slim and fits very nicely in my hand. Pictures of the black version of this phone do not do it justice -- go see it in person. The finish is a mirrored, smokey black hue that is very attractive. Finger prints abound, but I'm happy to wipe them off with a soft cloth to keep this phone looking beautiful!

Call quality is excellent and battery life is comparable to my 8300. Speaker on this phone is truly amazing. New Verizon UI is very intuitive. I especially like the In Case of Emergency feature, including personal information notes, now available.

This is a mid-level phone. If you're in the market for a great flip phone and don't want or need the added functionality of the LG Dare and other touch phones, this is the phone for you!

This by far is the best music phone made by LG for Verizon. It has all the same features as the previous Chocolate phones with a cool new look.

It has more on board memory, which not many use, but is nice to have. The outside screen is phenominal. The phone has better reception than my previous Motorola Z6c World Phone, which I returned for this. Just like most new phones, it is a finger print magnet. I have the black version, maybe the blue will show less finger prints. I am just speculating. I really like Verizon's menus on this phone, they look a lot like the new LG Dare menus. It is capable of using 8gb of micro SD memory. I just ordered mine for 39.99 from Merit Line. Overall, the build quality is as good or better than most phones on the market. It is not a small phone. The size is larger than I thought it would be, but very manageable.

Pros....

Call Quality
Call Reception
Music Player
External Screen
External Wheel.....very nice
Feels very well made
3.5 headphone jack
List goes on, this is for now.
Got it for 29.99 with new every two credit.

Cons....

Finger Prints
Only two colors....for now, so I got the black one, would like something a little more masculine than baby blue in a color besides black, but that is just me....

Overall....I would give this phone