Up close and personal with the LG VX8550

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Filed under: Handsets, Features, LG, Verizon Wireless, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA

Now that the successor to LG's Chocolate line has been available to Verizon Wireless customers, we thought it would only be fitting to put the latest addition through the paces and see if the VX8550 is a worthy successor. From a quick glimpse, both the LG VX8500 and the VX8550 both share the slide up form factor both sporting a hidden keypad. LG has moved the camera from the back of the phone on the VX8500 to the back of the slide on the VX8550. This allows for safe storage of the camera when not being used while also decreasing the amount of fingerprints, smudges, and scratches on the lens.

There have also been improvements in the keypad including dedicated Send / End keys and a camera button. Like its predecessor, the keys are still mashed together making text messaging somewhat difficult for those with moderately sized fingers. Our sausage-shaped pointers often misspelled words with the cramped styling.

Next, the center navigation button has been replaced with an iPod-like click wheel that rotates both forward and reverse along with doubling as a 5-way navigation. We noticed very few accidental key presses while the phone was up to our face. This could be the single greatest improvement on the VX8550 which makes navigation and phone use a breeze. The slide mechanism seems as strong as the previous model with solid open and close motions. LG seems to have one of the best slide mechanisms on a mobile phone (Samsung, you're a close second). Overall, the VX8550 has a better feeling than it's predecessor but leaves something to be desired for the power user.