The New Verizon Chocolate Phone Has Some Serious Drawbacks

The new Chocolate Phone from Verizon Wireless and LG Wireless looks undeniably great. It's thin, black, and really a gorgeous fashion accessory. It feels sleek and good in my hand. But after checking it out, I don't think it's for me. I mean, I don't care that the ringer isn't very loud or that it doesn't have a speakerphone. I hate speakerphones, anyway. But for me, this phone does have some major drawbacks.

You see, my main problem is that I don't have a lot of dexterity when it comes to touch-sensitive buttons. And with this phone, you have to tap precisely the right button one, two, or three times depending on what you want to do. To me, that's instant frustration. And the buttons don't look or feel like buttons. They're just spots. I know that's supposed to be part of the appeal, but I like the audio and visual feedback I get from seeing and feeling a button respond when I click it. I found the placement of the buttons confusing as well. They are also close together so that it's very hard for me to hit one without hitting the one next to it. Also, I really had trouble figuring out how to navigate the menu. It's just not intuitive, and from what I'm reading online, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

And then, if I'm paying over $100 for a phone, I like for it to include everything I need. I don't want to have to pay an extra $30 to get the accessory kit just to have the music management software, USB cable, and headphones so I can make use of the music service.In the store, the headphones sounded ok, but the speakers were sort of tinny and indistinct. Also,songs have to be bought from V Cast and they cost $1.99 each, which for a frugal (some might say cheap) person like myself seems a bit excessive.

The 1.3 megapixel camera seems about the same as the camera in my present cellphone. The quality is fair, the color is ok as long as the light is good, but it's no sharper or clearer than the one I already have. I do like the size of the screen, though.

There are things I like about the Chocolate. Number one is the look. For a lot of people, that will make up for a lot of small faults. It is beautiful, and people will notice it. Also, I like the fact that it has Bluetooth technology. And the idea of being able to use it to get Verizon's Navagator location service is very appealing to me. I have little sense of direction and the idea of having my phone tell me step by step how to get from where I am to where I am going in a totally non-judge mental tone of voice is attractive. On the other hand, that would be an extra expense for the subscription service.

I'm sure that with use, most of the things that bother me about Chocolate would become simpler. And there are features of the phone that I did not really explore. But for me, I think I'll wait for the next big thing,stick with my MP3 player and my camera phone, and let this one go to some dexterous young fashion maven who just doesn't have room or time to carry both.