The LG Chocolate 3 is more than a mere upgrade, This time around, LG ditched the slider design for a clamshell one and improved the external music controls. You get a built-in FM transmitter for streaming tunes to a car or home stereo system, whether they’re tracks you’ve ripped from a CD or tunes you’ve purchased from Rhapsody. There’s even a snazzy new Flash interface for instant info and entertainment updates. At $129, the Chocolate 3 is a solid handset that offers good call quality, decent battery life, and a fun multimedia experience.
Chocolate 3 Design
The LG Chocolate 3 looks quite similar to the Motorola RAZR2 V9. Our unit has a black metallic lid (light blue is also available) and a large 1.8-inch, 220 x 176-pixel resolution display on the outside, a 2-megapixel camera on the front cover, and an enhanced navigation wheel that doubles as a 5-way directional pad. The 3.4-ounce phone feels a bit too large when opened, so those with small hands might want to look elsewhere.
The left side of the handset has a 3.5mm headphone jack, replacing the 2.5mm one found in previous models, as well as a micro-USB charging port, volume controls, and a voice-command quick-launch button. On the right side of the unit is a key for locking the front display, a music quick-launch button, and a microSD slot which supports cards with capacities of up to 8GB.
The keypad is spacious and easy to use, but since it’s rather long, it took a few days to get used to sending off SMS texts with one hand. At the top are a 5-way directional pad, two soft buttons, Send, Clear, and End buttons, and two quick-launch buttons for the camera and its speaker. Above the keypad is a large 2.2-inch, 320 x 240-pixel resolution display, which was bright and easy to read during our tests. We were able to view and read text messages easily at arm’s length.
Refreshing User Interface
Unlike the standard Verizon Wireless menu system, the Chocolate 3’s user interface has a bit of pizzazz. Nine icons inside the main menu give access to your Contacts, Games, Media Center, Messages, My Music, Recent Calls, Settings, V CAST Video, and VZ Navigator. Each icon is white, and a selected icon turns red. We appreciated the simplicity and clean look.
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