The LG KG800 is so called because it’s shaped like a bar of chocolate. We have to say that the design is really sleek, impeccable and deserves all the awards it can get. I have to add though that it didn’t remind me of chocolate the first time I saw it but another famous music player from another brand. It didn’t help that the unit sent to us for review was in white. Those who saw the phone couldn’t help but ask: "Is that an (fill in the blanks)?" and I had to say: "No! It’s the LG Chocolate Phone."

LG’s Chocolate Phone weighs a light and sexy 83 grams. The front cover shows the vibrant 256K color screen. With a size of 31 x 39 mm, it proved just right for viewing photos or composing text messages. Below the screen are the touch-sensitive call keys, shortcut button and a squarish five-way navigation panel for accessing the different items in the menu. The "touch-sensitive" controls are really high-tech though people who use the phone will probably say that it poses problems like needlessly dialing certain numbers. The hyperactive controls are deactivated though when then the phone is closed or when the Touch Button Lock is on. We read the manual and we wonder how durable the phone is considering that the sensors can be damaged in case of drops or severe impact. If so, what then? The touch controls cannot also work properly if you’re using a glove or plastic protection cover, as is commonly used with most mobile phones these days.

LG’s KG800 is a slider phone and pushing it up reveals the alphanumeric keypad in alternating gray and white. Flanking the sides are the shortcut buttons like the increase/decrease volume on the left side as well as the end call key, the camera, MP3 and multi-media hot keys to the right. The Chocolate Phone has a good-performing 1.3 megapixel camera with decent digicam functions. Accessing these was easy with just one click on the pop-up menu which adjusts for brightness, white balance, quality and zoom (up to 4x). Same goes for the video camera. There’s also a decent flash, a timer, self-portrait mirror at the back and album of the images taken. The size of the still photos can be set up to a resolution of 1280 x 960.

Sound and voice quality on the Chocolate Phone proved to be very good. It would have been appreciated if the KG800 had built-in music files already. The phone came with a USB cable and a CD which transferred the so-called LG Contents Bank and LG Internet Cube to my desktop. However I had trouble uploading MP3/MP4 files and synchronizing data from the PC to the mobile. Silently I prayed for technical support on this one.

As for the other features, LG’s Chocolate Phone has room for 1000 contacts and boasts of the usual add-ons like a voice recorder, calculator, alarm clock, world time and memo pad. There’s one Java game installed (ZooZooClub) and I had fun trying out the unit converter for determining clothes and shoes sizes according to American, European and Asian standards. Connectivity for the phone can be either through GPRS, modem (via

USB/LG PC Sync), Network selection and Bluetooth which I had trouble again pairing with other devices. Hmm, I wonder if all these kinks were due to the fact that the phone sent to use for review was just a test/demo unit?

The other disadvantages of this phone were its lack of a speakerphone and card expansion slot. Depending on your usage, you’d wonder if the 128 MB internal memory is sufficient, though for somebody like me who doesn’t resort to storing so much music and videos, it’s already enough.

All things considered, the LG Chocolate Phone is something I’d want to have and am sure your loved ones would want to get this Christmas. Its slim dimensions and smooth surface is something I’d want to get my hands on, again and again. The form factor is impeccable and it’s certainly one of the best-looking things to grace our hands this year. Just remember to have the number of LG Technical Support.