LG VX8700 Review

The most noticeable feature of the VX8700 is the brushed-metal body, which has a modern and sophisticated look. The exterior construction seems well made and does not show fingerprints as much as the VX8600. The phone fits very well in the hand and is easy to hold, but does require both hands to open the flip. In your pocket, the VX8700 is almost not noticeable, but since the weight is 3.77oz, compared to 3.26 on the VX8600, some many notice it more than others.

Model	Dimension (Inches)	Dimension (MM)	Weight (OZ)	Weight (Gramms)
LG VX8700	3.8" x 1.95" x 0.5"	97 x 49.5 x 14	3,77	107
LG VX8600	3.9" x 1.9" x 0.6"	99 x 48.5 x 15	3,3	93
LG Chocolate	3.8" x 1.9" x 0.7"	96.5 x 48 x 17.5	3,5	100
LG enV	4.6" x 2.1" x 0.8"	118 x 53 x 20	4,6	130

On the front flip is a unique vertical display, capable of 65K colors and with a resolution of 160x48 pixels. The phone must be held sideways in order to read it. The display shows the Date & Time, Signal Strength, Battery Level, and any message alerts. Unfortunately, there are no settings to have your own wallpapers assigned to it. We personally liked the larger and more traditional looking external display on the VX8600. The 2MP CMOS Camera is located directly above the display.




On the left side of the phone are the Volume Up/Down buttons, Voice Command button, and Charger/Data port (which uses the same connector as the LG Chocolate, VX8600, VX9400, and enV.) On the right side is the designated Camera button. Removing the battery cover is relatively easy and is done by sliding up the latch on the back. The battery can then be removed. Once the battery is taken out, you can access the MicroSD card slot located underneath it. We were wondering as to why LG designed this phone with the card slot located under the battery, when all other LG models have it accessible from the side of the phone. We can only assume that this was done so that you must turn the phone off first, then add or remove the memory card. Motorola phones also have the memory card slot located under the battery cover, but it is next to the battery and does not require you to remove it. However, we still like the ease of having a card slot located on the side so that it does not require so many steps to access.


The hinge is a new design and is located on the center of the flip.
Opening up the phone will reveal the impressive 262K Color QVGA TFT Display. Images on the display have excellent color representation and sharp contrast, with text being clear and with no jagged edges. The top of the display shows status icons for the signal strength, battery level, GPS, and Bluetooth. The Date & Time is shown at the bottom. Despite the quality of this display, it was still lacking on outside use. In direct sunlight, the display is almost unreadable, and the chrome frame around it is very reflective. A possible solution to this would be if chrome around it was replaced with silver plastic and if there were a brightness adjustment for the screen.

Below the display is the plastic (but metal looking) keypad. The buttons are well spaced and feature a bright white backlight. The 5-way Navigational control at the top is easy to use and provides one-button access to the Main Menu, Mobile Web, VCast, Get it Now, and the Calendar. To the left of it is the Clear button, and to the right is the designated Speakerphone button. The numeric dialing keys have large numbers and letters, making them easy to read for TXT messaging. While the keypad is still flat, it does provide more tactile feel and response than on the previous VX8600 model, but does not come close to the Maxx Ve where you can literally feel the raised letters and numbers.