LG Chocolate 3 or VX8560 for Verizon Wireless

LG Chocolates in the past have been known for their slick finish and design as well as flashy touch sensitive buttons. However, the company has gone away from the traditional design and no longer features the touch sensitive buttons or the slider form factor. In fact, it is now a clam shell like flip phone with Chocolate 2 like dial and confirmation key in the front. Somewhat boring if you ask me compared to previous designs but I DO prefer this to super sensitive and annoying touch sensitive keys.

Following is my take/review of the phone.

Design (7/10) - I've had flip phones before and nothing really new about it here. I like the shiny reflective finish in front and rubber like finish in back. I especially like the large outer LCD that can display your family picture or album design without squinting your eyes too much. Inside LCD is bright and clear and does not get in your way. I am not the biggest fan of touch screens for typical inputs so I really appreciate the typical tactile keys the phone has. That said, nothing special about the keys other than the fact that the keys are flat with hard to feel rubber dividers. Key layout is typical with volume rockers on the side with couple of additional buttons to access the music feature instantly and lock/unlock button for dial and buttons while the phone is closed.

Music Player (8/10) - This is where this phone really comes in handy for me and does the best job replacing my MP3 player for everyday commute to work. First, let me point out the fact that you DO NOT have to get one of those stupid adapters in order to use your own headphones. It already has a 3.5mm plug like a real MP3 player so feel free to use your favorite pair headphones to enjoy your music. It has just over 880MB of free built in memory designated for your music or you can use your micro SD up to 8GB. The player's features include repeat function, shuffle, and limited equalizer settings. I find "Flat" equalizer setting most pleasing as other options can either distort or make your music sound worse period. The music player sounds GREAT with plenty of fidelity with my V-moda headphones.
One interesting built in feature of the music player is "FM Transmitter." Just like many crappy after market FM transmitters I've tried, this one to me isn't any better. I've tried many different frequency settings for my car stereo and couldn't get really get clear reception to take advantage of this feature.

Camera (5/10) - It works. It does not have auto focus setting or anything like that so it will not replace your real camera for serious work. I don't spend too much time with it since I use real digital camera for taking pictures of family and/or scenes.

Phone (9/10) - Then again, this IS a phone so it's meaningless if this part doesn't work, right? If you are used to other Verizon phones, you will not have problems navigating through menus or core functionality of the device. The signal reception is very good, in fact, it's as good as my previous phone, LG enV, which I've never had a problem with signal reception. While on the phone, the conversation is loud and clear and same for the person on the other line. The phone also has a speaker phone feature and simply works if you need it.

I know there are so many different fancier phones out there with even more features but if you are looking for 2 core elements, a music player and a good functional phone, I think this will do for next contract extension and a new phone.