LG Chocolate VX8600 Review

The LG VX8600 by Verizon Wireless is considered to be the “flip version” of the popular Chocolate phone that was introduced this past summer.  Both phones look to be in the same family, due to the shiny black plastic, chrome trim, and touch-sensitive music control buttons.  The VX8600 features dual color displays, 1.3MP CMOS camera, Bluetooth, music player, and MicroSD card slot.  Included in the retail package is the phone, 800mAh battery, charger, and manual.

 

Design:

The major difference between the two is that the Chocolate is a slider phone and the VX8600 is a flip phone.  The VX8600's dimensions of 3.89”H x 1.93”W x 0.58”D makes it thinner than the Chocolate's size of 3.80”H x 1.88”W x 0.69”D, and closer to size of the RAZR's 3.86”H x 2”W, x 0.57”D.  Not to mention the weight is 3.26oz, compared to 3.53oz on the Chocolate, and 3.49oz on the RAZR.  We are also glad to see that the VX8600 sports an internal antenna, something we would have liked to see on the VX8300.  The phone fits more comfortably in the hand than the Chocolate and does not feels as bulky when placed in your pants pocket.  The flip opens and closes smoothly, but we can slightly hear the plastic parts in the hinge rubbing agents each other.

	VX8500, Jabra BT250, VX8600	VX8500, VX8600	VX8500, VX8600
From top: VX8600, VX8500	VX8500, VX8600

The front flip of the phone houses the 1.3MP camera, external display, and music control buttons.  The External display is 65K color TFT 160x128 pixels and is the best external display we've seen on an LG phone since the VX8000 that was introduced in 2005.  Due to it being TFT and not OLED like on the VX8300, wallpapers look better with more color, detail, and contrast.  There are status icons at the top that show signal strength, battery level, Bluetooth and GPS (if turned on).  Located on the right side of the phone is the Camera and Voice Command buttons and MicroSD card slot.  Located on the left side is the charger/data port, with the volume up/down buttons located on the flip next to the display.  We feel that this is a bad placement for the volume buttons.  When the phone is open and up at your ear, it would be easier to access the volume buttons if they were located on the side next to the keypad instead of the side next to the display.  This was one improvement that Motorola made between the RAZR and KRZR.

Opening the phone will reveal the 262K color 220x176 pixel Internal display.  Despite its large size, we were disappointed that LG chose not to use the same high quality 320X240 QVGA display that is in the Chocolate.  Even though this phone's display is not QVGA, it does have excellent color and contrast when viewing pictures, but they will look slightly pixilated.  Below the display is the keypad, which is all black with white lettering and white backlight.  The keypad has only one thing going for it, the buttons are larger and spaced out better than on the Chocolate.  However, the keypad is entirely flat and smooth with no texture to “feel” what button you are pressing.  This makes trying to dial a number without looking at the keypad next to impossible and makes TXT messaging more difficult.  At the top of the keypad is the standard 5-way navigational buttons that provide access to various menu options, including Mobile Web, Vcast, Get it Now, and the Calendar.  Even though there is no tactile feel on the keypad, we do prefer it over the tiny and slippery keypad that is on the Chocolate.

VX8500, VX8600	VX8500, VX8600

LG VX-8600 Video Review

Interface:

There are three FlashUI Menu Themes that are included: VZW, Arch, and Cross.  The Arch and Cross themes are very graphical, but have slower than average response time.  Because of this, we prefer using the VZW theme.  It is still colorful, but lacks the animated graphics that slow the menus down.  As with all Verizon phones, there are 5 Main Menu categories (Get it Now, Messaging, Contacts, Recent Calls, and Settings & Tools).  It is easy to access the menus and to go from one category to another.  We hope that the next software update for the phone will increase the response of the Arch and Cross menus.

Phonebook:

The VX8600 and Chocolate has the same phonebook features that allow you to store up to 500 contacts.  With each one you can enter the Name, Mobile 1 #, Home #, Work #, E-Mail 1, Group, Picture, Ringtone, Mobile 2 #, Fax #, and E-Mail 2.  An easy and fun way to tell who is calling is to enter in a Picture and Ringtone for your contact. When that person calls, the phone will play the ringtone and display their picture.  RingerID and PictureID features are standard on most cell phones.  After a contacted is saved, you can access the list in alphabetical order by pressing the Contacts button (right soft key).  You can scroll through the list or go to the Search field and type in their name.  There are 98 assignable Speed-Dial slots that you can choose from and assign to people in the contacts list.  Once a speed-dial is saved, you only need to press the one or two digit number that is assigned to them and press send (such as 2 Send).  That will dial the number that is saved under speed-dial location 2.

The VoiceCommand feature is now becoming commonplace on most new cell phone, and is also on the VX8600.  There are several voice command options to choose from:  Call (name or number), Send Message (name or number), Go to Menu, Check Item, Lookup Contact Name, and My Account.  The most useful of these is the Call feature.  You can say “Call Home” and the phone will call the number in your contacts list that is saved as “Home”, or you can just say “Call” and speak the digits for the phone to dial.  The VoiceCommand is most useful when in a car and you don't want to be looking at the keypad to dial a number, and can also be used in conjunction with a Bluetooth earpiece.

Organizer:

Pressing the bottom (down arrow) button on the 5-way navigational pad will open up the built in calendar.  From here you can view any day, week, or year that you wish to see.  By adding Events to the days, you can keep track of appointments.  You can enter in the subject, start time, end time, repeat, and alert tone.  The phone will then notify you of the event by playing the alert tone and showing the information on the screen. There are other Tools that are built into the phone.  They are Calculator, Alarm Clock with 3 independent alarms, World Clock, Notepad, and EZ Tip Calculator.

There is only 23MB of internal memory on the phone, of which half is already used by the phone's software.  Because of this, we highly recommend using the MicroSD card feature.  This will enable you to expand the memory up to 2GB and allow you to store pictures, videos, and music files that can easily be transferred between the phone and computer.

Messaging:

Text and Picture Messaging has become one of the most used features of cell phones, besides placing and receiving voice calls. Pressing the Message button (left soft key) will open up the messaging menu. From there you can compose a new message, go to the inbox and sent message folders. Sending a TXT message is done by entering in cell phone # or E-Mail address of the recipient, then typing in the body of the message. This is done by T9 entry, where the software tries to predict the word that you are typing in. Sending a Picture or Video message is done in similar fashion except that you attach a picture or video file from the phone. Typing on the VX8600 is not as difficult as on the Chocolate, since the keys are better spaced, not slippery, and have larger lettering. However, the keypad is flat and smooth, so you will need to be careful of what keys are pressed.

Connectivity:

Bluetooth version 1.1 allows up to 20 pairing and supports the following profiles: headset, hands-free, A2DP advanced audio distribution, serial port, dial-up networking, file transfer, audio/video remote control, and object push profiles for vCard. When used with out Jabra v250 headset, we were able to get 20 feet of static free connection. We were also able to pair to the LG HBS-110 stereo Bluetooth earbuds, which provides stereo music static free up to 30 feet. We are were glad to see stereo Bluetooth being supported by this phone, considering the music playback on the phone's speaker is less than satisfactory.

There is only limited Internet connectivity, which is provided by the WAP 2.0 browser and Verizon's Mobile Web service. This provides you with categories for Sports, News, Weather, and Entertainment. You can also enter in other WAP and HTTP address to be connected to. Most WAP sites will load in under 5 seconds when in an EVDO coverage area, and 15 seconds when in a 1x area. However, HTTP sites can take much longer to load and will not be displayed properly. Because of this, we do not recommend this phone for people that need to view HTTP sites on a wireless device on a daily basis; a Smartphone would be a better choice.

Camera:

Both the VX8600 and Chocolate seem to incorporate the same 1.3MP CMOS camera.  Pictures taken outside during the day have better than average color saturation, but have soft edges and lack detail.  Pictures taken indoors are more challenging unless there is a sufficient amount of light.  There is also no flash, which makes night time pictures nearly impossible to take.  Pressing the Camera button on the right side of the phone will initialize the camera in under 3 seconds.  Pressing the OK button will capture the image in less than 1 second.  You can then choose to Erase the image or Save it, which takes an additional 4 seconds.  This means the time to take one picture, save it, and take another picture is about 6 seconds.  Because of this, it can be difficult to take pictures one right after the other.

The available Camera Options include:

• Resolution: 1280x960, 640x480, 320x240, 176x144, 160x120
• Self Timer: 3sec, 5sec, 10sec
• Brightness: -9 to +9
• White Balance: Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent
• Shutter Sound: Shutter, Silent, Say Cheeze, Ready 123
• Color Effects: Normal, Sepia, B&W, Negative, Solari, Vivid
• Night Mode: On, Off (this slows down the shutter speed)
• Front Display: On, Off (this turns on the front display for self portraits)

Pressing the camera button a second time will open up the video recorder.  You can start and stop recording by pressing the OK button.  The only options available for videos are Brightness, White Balance, Time limit (15sec or full memory), and Front display.  Videos are only recorded in 176x144 resolution, which means playback on a computer will show off the low resolution, low frame rate, and blotchy colors.  This feature is only a novelty that is designed for “fun” more than “quality”.  The pictures and videos recorded with the VX8600 nowhere compare to the higher quality that is achieved by the A990 and ENV.  If you are looking for a phone that has the best camera on Verizon's line-up, then we would recommend those two phones.

Audio:

Both MP3 and WMA music files can be played back on the VX8600 with the use of a memory card.  Place the MicroSD card in the phone and go to Menu, Settings & Tools, Memory, Card Memory, Options, and Format.  Then connect the card to your computer and transfer your music files to the “my_music” directory on the memory card.  After the files are transferred, place the card back into the phone and access the music player.  It lists music by Genre, Artists, Album, Song, and Playlist.

Once the song is selected and begins playback, you can close the flip and the font music control buttons will be illuminated bright red.  These are touch-sensitive, just like on the Chocolate, and allow you to Rewind/Skip-Back, Play/Pause, and FastForward/Skip-Ahead.

However, you cannot use other features of the phone, like sending a txt msg, while listening to the music.  Currently this is something only the Chocolate can do.  The overall quality of the music playback is limited by quality of the speaker that is built into the phone.  Unlike the chocolate that has the speaker on the back, the VX8600 has it on the front.  Despite this, the music has a “tin can” sound to it and lacks any bass and mid-range.  It is unfortunate that these “music phones” have cheap speakers.  The only solution is to use either a wired stereo earbuds or Bluetooth Stereo device.  This is the only way to achieve better quality music playback.  If you are looking for a phone that has better built-in speakers for music playback, we would suggest the A990, VX8300, KRZR, and ENV.

Software:

The VX8600 uses Qualcomm's BREW format for applications.  There are no preloaded games or applications on the phone, and must be downloaded from Get it Now.  Games range from Action, Sports, TV/Movie, Classic, Puzzle, Casino, Strategy, and 3D V Cast.  Out of all the application, the VZNavigator is the most useful.  Once it is downloaded, it will provide you with the ability to have turn-by-turn direction to any destination in the US.

Performance:

Even though the phone has an internal antenna, we were quite pleased with the reception that the phone got. When using the phone in fringe areas, it had problems picking up a signal and would occasionally drop a call.
The earpiece sound is clear, as long as the volume is not turned up past medium. Call quality is good and sounded like we were using a landline phone. The VX8600, Chocolate, and VX8300 all excel in this area, but it still does not sound as good as the A990.

The quality of the speakerphone on the VX8600 is as bad as the one on the Chocolate and is almost unusable. First you must dial the number and then press the Voice Command button (located next to the camera button) to activate the speakerphone. The flip must remain open, because closing it will end the call. Volume can be adjusted between 8 levels, but level 1-3 are the only usable settings. Raising the volume any louder produces so much distortion in the speaker that it is next to impossible to understand what the person is saying. Once the call is ended, the speakerphone turns must be reactivated to be used again. Because of the poor quality of the speakerphone, we don't see anyone using it on a daily basis. LG should of used a better quality speaker in this phone. The speakerphone on the A990, VX8300, and KRZR are much better.

The battery provided us with 2hr 45min of Talk time, or 4 days of Standby time. This is far less than the claim that LG makes of 3hr 40min talk time and 16 days of Standby time. We have never seen any phone get 16 days of standby time and feel that this is an extreme exaggeration on LGs part. Charging time took 3 hours.

Conclusion:

The VX8600 is a combination of all the good the Chocolate had to bring, yet is in a slim flip phone that is the size of the RAZR. The body construction and looks of the phone are very stylish, the music player works well, camera is adequate, and call quality is good. However, the speaker that is located on the front flip is the major caveat of this phone. As a speakerphone it can sound distorted, and for music playback it sounds thin and “tin can” like. We believe that since the VX8600 is so thin, that LG had to use a lower quality speaker that could fit in the space provided. We were also disappointed that the VX8600 does not use the same higher quality QVGA display that is on the Chocolate. The FlashUI Menus are a welcome change from the standardized VerizonUI that we've all become accustom with, and the stereo Bluetooth is an added bonus. Since the VX8600 and Chocolate are practically the same phones, it basically comes down to if you prefer a flip phone or a slider phone.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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