Lightning Review: LG Chocolate 3 Mobile Phone

The Gadget: The Chocolate 3 from LG, it replaces the old slider with a new thin flip form and adds an extra screen, 1GB of memory, a better camera, FM transmitter and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Price: US$130 with 2-year Verizon Wireless contract, $300 retail.

The Verdict: For a phone that will be in millions of people’s hands no matter what I say, I think the Chocolate 3 has decent specs but isn’t worth the money. The browser sucks and it doesn’t have nearly as many features as other phones just outside its price range. It’s good for making calls, taking pictures and playing music, but not much else. The haptic feedback is much better than the first two chocos, however. Not as twitchy and much easier to use.

Still, it’s noticeably better than the last version, and supports 8GB microSDHC cards so you can get a decent amount of music on it. The new front screen is very useful and gives access to the bare essentials like music, camera, and text messages when the phone is closed. The wheel controller is responsive, and not as twitchy as old Chocolates. It also takes good pictures, and calls and music sound clear.

Since they got rid of the haptic feedback and turned the slider into a clamshell, I don’t see how they can still call it a Chocolate, but this isn’t a bad phone. It’s just not worth the price tag. [Verizon Wireless]