This much is a fact: The arrival of the very dark chocolaty LG Chocolate has created a buzz and rightly so. This phone, officially called LG KG800 but better known by its edible moniker is a triumph of style. It is clearly a bold departure from the standard mobile looks as typified by most of the models from the various manufacturers.
What about functionality? Let’s start on the design. The LG Chocolate is a compact and light. It looks sleek and classy in its standard dark colours with only the LG logo and select (OK) button visible when in standby. The OK button is surrounded by the touch-sensitive control keys which glow red when activated. The idea is excellent but unfortunately this is classic style over substance stuff. The control panel is very temperamental and reliability is erratic.
The phone measures 95 x 48 x 15mm and weighs a lightweight 83g.
The display is a bright 256K colour TFT screen and of real quality.
The main keypad is revealed on sliding the display part. This is standard and works well.
The LG Chocolate also makes bold pretences of being a music player. However, inexplicably, it has a paltry 128Mb with no expandability option. The supplied headset performs well and a wide variety of audio formats are supported including MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA.
There is a 1.3MP camera for what it is worth. The pictures are OK if taken in broad daylight otherwise don’t bother. There is also a video camera but with only 128 Mb to play with, you will need to keep your ambitions in firm check.
Connectivity is decent with both USB and Bluetooth. There is WAP 2.0 and the standard messaging capabilities including SMS, EMS, MMS and email.
The LG Chocolate is not a bad phone; seriously. It is just that, functionality and reliability do not quite match its stunning looks. However, there are many who will be prepared to overlook its few foibles in order to be seen with it. We certainly cannot blame them.
