The LG Chocolate: Terrible?

With technology changing everyday, it's hard to keep up to date with the latest and greatest phones. Today, I will be reviewing the Chocolate from LG.

I purchased a Chocolate about a month ago because I was in need of a new phone, and it seemed to be a stylish alternative to a traditional phone. At first glance, the Chocolate seems to be a phone packed with features, but when I got a chance to use one, my thoughts changed.

The Chocolate comes in multiple colors including black, white, pink, and green. Aside from a change of color, no model has better features than another.

From a design standpoint, the creators did an excellent job. The Chocolate sports a stylish glossy finish, sleek button design, and a concealed antenna. If I had to rate the design of this phone, I would give it an 8 out of 10.

From a tech standpoint, I'd have to say that this is one of the worst phones I've ever gotten my hands on. The touch screen buttons are terrible. They are too sensitive, and they initiate too many errors. I cannot tell you how many times my phone has accidentally called someone automatically from my pocket. This is caused by the touch screen rubbing up against my pants' pockets.

Text messaging on this phone is also terrible. The buttons are very small and take a lot of time to get use to. Sometimes, if you aren't careful, you will end up sending a half-complete message because your finger accidentally touched the send button (which is inconveniently a sensitive touch-screen feature).

The battery life will last you a slim 3 hours (regardless of the fact that the advertising says 18). There are ways of increasing this, but they are hard to perform, and some of them cost money. Any additional features running in the background such as Bluetooth or camera will just eat more battery life.

The Bluetooth integration included in the Chocolate is bad as well. The signal strength is weak, and it drains the battery life more than any other feature. Sending pictures, video, and sounds with Bluetooth on this phone is impossible. The only files you can send to a corresponding Bluetooth device are "Name Cards", which are basically just information about contacts in your phonebook - Worthless.

However, there are a few good features I have found on the Chocolate. For one, the camera is amazing. Aside from the fact that it takes the battery life down about 50% in order to operate it, the picture quality is amazing. There is more than enough storage space included with the phone for photos, video, and sounds.

Overall, I would say that the Chocolate by LG is "less than satisfactory", and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. If you're looking for features, I recommend a Blackberry. If you're looking for style, I recommend a Palm Treo. Save your money, and do not buy the LG Chocolate.