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Chances are you've already seen dozens of ads for the Chocolate, the most hyped phone since the RAZR. Not coincidentally both are offered by Verizon Wireless, which has been outrageously successful at creating a must-have buzz around its phones. The Chocolate is pitched as the ultimate music phone, but its music features are really no big deal. While it looks gorgeous in those ubiquitous magazine ads, it's no pleasure to use.

It's odd how the cell phone market has evolved, or refused to evolve. (Or maybe it's just odd that consumers allow it to happen.) Imagine if the iPod only held slightly more songs that it did when first introduced, only played songs purchased from Apple (at twice the price), and didn't come with headphones (an extra charge). It wouldn't be the hot gadget. Yet cell phone providers routinely gouge their customers in the same way.

The Chocolate features a cool Flash interface to match its glossy exterior, but once you start using the phone you'll discover it's lousy with restrictions. The phone's 62 MB of storage holds only about 30 songs. To store more, you'll need to spring for a microSD card (not included). Plan to spend about $90 for a 2GB card.


microSD Card Slot

You can load MP3 and WMA tracks from your PC, but only if you buy the $30 Music Essentials Kit, which contains a USB cable and the transfer software. LG, the vendor that manufacturs the handsets, has actually modified the USB cable with a proprietary end, so that it only works with the Chocolate. So if a friend has the Music Essentials Kit for a different Verizon phone, you can't use it.

Verizon would prefer that you load music from its online V CAST store, which you can access through the phone wirelessly. The store has a scant 1.3 million tracks, well below the iTunes Store. Songs cost $1.99 when bought through the phone, which is twice the price at other stores, and tracks are a mere 54 kbps. After buying a song through the phone, you're allowed to download a 192kbps track of the same song to your PC, however.


V CAST Music Menu

The Chocolate's speaker is located on the rear, and its sound is surprisingly thin for a music phone. You could listen through the mono corded earpiece that comes with the phone, but your music will sound better through the stereo headphones included in the Music Essentials Kit. The phone has Bluetooth and supports Bluetooth stereo headphones (although not Bluetooth file transfers, sadly).

Its physical design is lovely to look at, but a chore to use. The round dial resembles that of the iPod, but doesn't work the same way. You don't scroll your finger around it, but simply press the buttons located on each side. The dial is far too sensitive, and we found ourselves hitting wrong buttons often, even after a week of testing.

The front offers a start call button in the usual place on the left, but the end call button is located on the right side, making it awkward to use. In the place where it should be, you'll find a button for going back one screen. The keypad is slides out from below the screen and music controls.

Chocolate also includes a 1.3 megapixel camera and the phone works with the new VZ Navigator, a downloadable GPS turn-by-turn direction app. VZ Navigator costs $9.99 per month and performed poorly in our testing.

While there aren't many great music phones out yet, any of them are better than the Chocolate. Ignore the hype on this one and look elsewhere for a phone that rocks.