LG VX8560 Chocolate 3

This successor to the Chocolate 8550 switches to a clamshell form factor while adding an FM transmitter, 3.5mm headphone jack, and upgrading to a 2 megapixel camera.

The VX9700 is Verizon's Prada-like phone featuring a large WQVGA touchscreen, 3.2MP camera with Schneider Kreuznach lens, on-screen QWERTY keypad, microUSB data port, and microSDHC memory card slot. From the new image we can see that the volume buttons will be on the right side, just below the microUSB port, and there is a third button at the bottom edge, possible a camera or smart button. Located under the touchscreen are the send, clear, and end buttons. There also appears to be a light sensor at the top-left, possibly to control the brightness of the display.

The Chocolate 3 is fairly compact and can fit into most pockets. It is a bit too long when flipped open and will reach past most people’s ears and mouth in both directions. This is the first officially branded Chocolate phone which isn’t a slider, but rather a flip phone. It retains some elements from its ancestors such as the click wheel on the front, unfortunately it isn’t touch sensitive. The front side of the phone also features an unusually large 1.76 inch display which has a beautiful rotating interface. The camera is also on the front and allows taking self portraits using the external screen. The microSD card reader, the Music key, and lock button can be found on the right side of the phone. The left side contains the 3.5mm headphone jack, the volume toggle, voice command key, and the microUSB port. The inside of the phone is quiet basic; it has a standard numeric keypad, four way navigation, two soft keys, and the Send/END buttons. The only real downside I encountered was finger print magnet nature of the shinny metallic finish on the front side. Other than that body of the phone is well built and should last.

The 1.76 inch external display with a 176 x 220 pixel resolution looks excellent, but unfortunately only in doors. Due to the glossy finish, it is quite difficult to view outdoors or when covered with fingerprints. The 2.2 inch internal display is fortunately much better and looks quite sharp with its 320 x 240 pixel resolution. There’s nothing too impressive here, but is just fine for most simple tasks.

Since the VX-8560 is a music phone, you would expect it to do quite an excellent job at playing music. Although this might be the best Chocolate 3, there has not much improvement that has been made in this area over the past couple of years. To start listening to music, you can just hit the Music key on the side, which will quickly launch the player. As always you can browse your library in different by Albums, Artists, Genres, Songs, or Playlists. There were also some preset equalizers which may help some music sound better. The Chocolate 3 supports pushing the music app into the background allowing performing other tasks. The music is also automatically paused and resumed when a call is received. The player flows between the external and internal display smoothly. So if you start playing a song with the phone open, the interface will move over to the external display when closed. Overall it is a fairly decent player for a phone, but once again there was room for a lot of improvement.

Features:

• GPS / Location Type: A-GPS supports LBS / VZNavigator included
• Accessibility Digital TTY/TDD
• Hearing Aid Compatible Rating: M3 (mostly compatible)
• Multiple Languages Languages Supported: English, Spanish
• Alerts
• External Display 262,000-color TFT LCD / 1.75 inches / 220 x 176 pixels / external d-pad with spinning scroll control
• Polyphonic Ringtones
• Vibrate
• Bluetooth Supported Profiles: HSP, HFP 1.5, DUN, OPP, FTP, PBA, A2DP, AVRC, BIP, BPP 1.2 version 2.1+EDR
• USB Version: 2.0
• Hi-speed built-in micro-USB connector
• Contacts
• Multiple Numbers per Name Numbers per entry: 5 plus email addresses
• Picture ID
• Ringer ID
• Voice Dialing Type: Speaker-independent (automatic)
• Custom Graphics
• Custom Ringtones
• Real-Music Ringers Supported Formats: MP3
• Data-Capable
• Flight Mode CEA Standard Icon
• Packet Data Technology: 1xEV-DO r0
• WAP / Web Browser
• Browser Software: Openwave 6.2.3.2
• Input Predictive Text Entry Technology: T9
• Side Keys volume, voice keys on left / camera, music keys on right
• Memory Memory Card Slot Card Type: microSD (TransFlash)
• Messaging MMS
• Text Messaging 2-Way
• Text Messaging Templates
• Music FM Transmitter
• Headphone Jack (3.5mm)
• Music Player Supported Formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+ external d-pad with spinning scroll control
• Photo & Video
• Camera Resolution: 2+ megapixel self-timer, night mode, white balance, spot metering...
• Streaming Video
• Video Capture Max. Length: 1 hour up to QVGA resolution
• Alarm
• Calculator plus tip calculator
• Calendar Voice Memo up to 1 minute each
• Software BREW Version: 3.1.5
• Games
• Voice Speaker Phone dedicated key

What comes in the box

• LG VX8560 Chocolate 3 Handset
• LG VX8560 Chocolate 3 Standard Battery
• LG VX8560 Chocolate 3 Travel Charger
• User Manual