Design
Before we ponder LG's "Chocolate" moniker, it's the novel design of the KG800 that sets the it apart from anything we've seen before. It has an innovative touch-sensitive navigation keypad, which is inactive when the phone is closed and locked, but glows vibrantly red when you slide the screen up. Alternatively you can access these keys by unlocking the phone with two presses of the volume key when slid shut.
There are nine touch-sensitive buttons in total: two customisable shortcut keys below the screen, call and cancel keys, four-way navigation and a selection button. It's a shame the screen isn't touch-sensitive as well, but we still applaud LG for their fresh approach with the Chocolate's design.
So why Chocolate? We simply have no idea, really. LG tells us "Chocolate" is their pet name for the phone and that they thought it was about time a mobile phone came out with a name that's easy for people to remember. Before seeing the phone we thought it might be due to its colour, but there's no hint of brown on this phone. The high-gloss, black case with silver detail, while smooth, is prone to smudges and fingerprints. LG provides a small polishing wad in the case that you can attach to the upper right corner of the phone but we found it easier just to give the case a quick rub on our jeans or shirt every once in a while for a buff.
Most people we gave the Chocolate to seemed very impressed with its design and surprised to see the the quirky operation of the keypad. Others commented that it looked quite plasticky compared to what they thought it would look like. Each to their own when it comes to fashion phones, we guess.
Other characteristics of the phone include a black-and-grey checkered keypad, MP3 player and camera shortcuts on the side, and a USB port that doubles as the headset and power connection -- you can't listen to music while charging the phone. It's a rather petitie phone, too, measuring 95 x 48 x 15mm and weighing 83 grams.
Features
It's certainly a case of style over substance with the LG Chocolate phone, although there are some average mid-range features onboard.
Multimedia highlights are a 1.3-megapixel camera, video recorder, MP3/AAC player and a reasonably bright 2-inch 256K-colour TFT display (176 x 220 pixels).
MP3 files can be set as ring tones and LG pre-installs a range of polyphonic tones. Travellers will benefit from the Chocolates tri-bad connectivity, but real globetrotters will benifit more from the Motorola RAZR V3i's quad-band.
The KG800 is limited by its 128MB of internal memory, with no expansion slot for external memory cards. Still, with Bluetooth onboard and LG bundling a USB cable in the box, it's easy to download your photos and video clips before running out of memory.
Performance
Looks aside, the glowing red navigation keys are a little awkward due to their sensitivity. Training yourself out of the habit of pushing clickable buttons feels a little bizarre at first, although LG includes a couple of sound schemes so that everytime you press a key, the Chocolate produces an audible typewriter or piano sound, a chime or a blip. You can switch this off but we like the variation in pitch different keys produce.
The touch keys also de-activate when the display's backlight times out, which can be set for 10, 20, 30 or 60 seconds. You then need to hit a numerical button or a side key to illuminate the screen and use the navigation again. Or you can just shut and re-open the slider.
LG states the Chocolate KG800 is good for 2 hours of talk time or 200 hours of standby. With Bluetooth switched on and average use of the phone for voice calls and SMS, we found the Chocolate's battery to last around two or three days. Turning the phone's power save function on and killing Bluetooth generally secured us a full three days but we struggled to push past four.
The KG800 Chocolate is the first handset in LG's premium Black Label Series of mobile phones. While no release dates have been specified for future models, LG hinted there might be a 3G Chocolate in the works, among others.
If your thumbs aren't too large, you don't mind fingerprints and can live without cutting-edge geeky features, we wouldn't hesitate recommending the Chocolate KG800.
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lecm1
08/10/2008, 09:04 PM
rating
1/10
got this phone about a year and a half ago, its stuffed up and i can't ring people anymore. it's also covered in scratches .A load of **** dont waste your money
Pros: design - which is not very exicting
Cons: stuffs up a lot
battery doesn't last long
photos turn out ****
and screen scratches easily
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matt
07/10/2008, 09:49 AM
rating
1/10
this phone is the biggest piece of crap I have ever owned. I find this phone to be overall EXTREMELY disappointing. If your considering buying this phone... DON'T DO IT!
Pros: NOTHING! has red lights and i like red thats about it ha!
Cons: the touchscreen goes crazy on a hot day here in Australia. The sensor I believe is heat activated. Alot of the time you will find its unresponsive or has a mind of its own.
The battery life is crap.
Its difficult to write a text message on compared to phones on the market. The keys are quite hard to press (for a guy).
The text messaging dictionary is rubbish.
terrible battery life
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jimspiva
04/10/2008, 04:22 PM
rating
8/10
I have an iPhone 3g and my one of my mates has one I of these I can tell you now if I didn't have an iPhone and couldn't get an iPhone I would have one of these you can pick them up for about $150 and there great and also I never noticed finger prints in my mates black one
Pros: amazing design, sturdy slider
Cons: Memory
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soufien
29/09/2008, 05:13 AM
rating
10/10
I Have an LG KG800 Cocolate and im locking for a driver for it ...
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WOW
25/09/2008, 05:45 PM
rating
10/10
ITS THE BEST PHONE EVER !!!!!
I RECOMEND IT FOR EVERYONE
Pros: EVERYTHINGG
Cons: NOTHING;.
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Troy
11/09/2008, 10:42 AM
rating
1/10
Phone is pathetic as is the service from LG
Had to send it away twice already first time camera and keypad lights wouldn't work then got it back and it would hold battery for a day sent it back battery fixed lights and camera dont work again now its out of warranty and LG are being pains...
NEVER BUYING AN LG PHONE AGAIN
Pros: Nothing
Cons: Everything
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vinoth
09/09/2008, 08:25 AM
rating
8/10
very cute looking
Pros: happy about this becoz it helped me for my love
Cons: nothing to say everything fine
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;Marosephine
28/08/2008, 04:59 PM
rating
4/10
i honestly regret buying this phone.
Pros: **** easy to use
alright-ish memory
Cons: -covered in scratches. the silver rectangle on the touch part is pretty much all gone.
-quiet
-only holds 150 messages, meaning i have to constantly delete them
-limited note-holding etc.
-camera is GAY
-touch screen always takes itself into optus zoo. its wasted about $20 of credit on me
-even when i put it on touchpad lock, it still takes me into optus zoo
-limited message tones
-freezes
-going through contact list takes forever
-there isnt even a frickin stopwatch
-only holds 250 numbers
-bluetooth takes AGES
-its like fingerprint city
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mcdougaj
20/08/2008, 02:20 PM
rating
1/10
Absolute rubbish. The main problem is that it keeps turning off, no matter how much the battery is charged. Mine has been sent away twice for repairs and still has the same problem. Now it is out of warranty and no-one wants to know about it. Terrible follow-up service from LG.
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disgruntled-lg-chocolate-owner
12/08/2008, 05:00 PM
rating
1/10
"RRP: AU$799.00"
WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
IF ANYBODY IS STUPID ENOUGH TO PAY THAT MUCH MONEY FOR THIS PIECE OF RUBBISH, I SUGGEST U GO SMASHH UR HEAD AGAINST A BRICK WALL A FEW THOUSAND TIMES, ANDD HOPEFULLY U WIL GET SOME SENSE KNOCKED INTO UR HEAD AND THEN REALISE HOW BADLYY U JUST WASTED $800 OF UR HARD EARNED CASH ON THIS PILE OF GARBAGE.....
ur insane
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