LG Chocolate (BL40)

LG's Black Label series has come full circle with the latest Chocolate BL40 following the Secret (2008), Shine (2007) and original Chocolate (2006). Aside from its unusual form factor and uncanny resemblance to a TV remote, the BL40 also packs a gorgeous 21:9 panoramic display.

Design

Our biggest misgivings about the tall and thin profile of the LG Chocolate BL40 turned out to be moot when we got our mitts on the handset. The new Chocolate is a headturner and if there's one phone that would score you curious (and envious) looks, this Chocolate fits the bill. It even sits nicely in our jeans pocket (fortunately) and didn't jab us when we sat down. Although the Chocolate is evidently longer than most handsets, it's still comfortable for regular use with little or no negative impact on the user experience.

The piano-black chassis and seamless tempered glass front are a fingerprint nightmare. Aside from the earpiece, video call camera and ambient light sensor which are inconspicuous until you look closely, the only physical buttons are on the sides. Even then, these are minimal, keeping the profile of the phone simple, which we are totally fine with since this Chocolate is more of a showpiece anyway. There's only a music player key, volume controls and camera shutter, and a latch for the micro-USB port.

Overall, we find the build quality very solid and will say that the production of the Chocolate is flawless. It feels and looks every part the well-made and stylish handset.

Features

The wide 4-inch 800 x 345-pixel capacitive touchscreen is simply stunning. Playing games and watching videos on the panel were top-notch experiences. The display offered vivid colors and there was sufficient contrast for legibility under the sun. Web pages also fitted nicely across the wide panel and there's a split screen for calendar and messaging applications.

While we were mostly convinced of the potential of the 21:9 widescreen, it's not without its misses. In order to make full use of the generous screen, videos have to be formatted in the correct aspect ratio. The landscape QWERTY keypad had ample spacing for each key, which was great, but the entire keyboard area took up two-thirds of the screen estate. So you get only two lines of letters that span across the text box. Web browsing was generally OK and the widescreen didn't make it any more difficult or easy to surf the Internet. Our beef with it was that rendered text was too small to read easily. Clicking on Web links was also wildly inaccurate.

The S-Class user interface was generally responsive, though not uniformly so. There were some areas where the software was noticeably more sluggish, although it didn't kill the experience entirely. Menu icons now have a 3D look and there's a new colorful unlock screen which looks like a curtain you swipe up in order to access the phone functions. Like the few LG devices that run on the same user interface, the Chocolate BL40 also supports widgets. The choice, however, was limited to very basic functions and there's no option to download more mini apps. Compared with Samsung's TouchWiz software, LG's solution was less robust in this aspect.

Scrolling on the menus was fluid, although we noticed occasional jerkiness. Multitouch is supported, so you can pinch and stretch to zoom in/out of pictures and Web pages. The Gallery application also received some updates in this iteration and resembled even more closely Apple's Cover Flow. Thumbnails loaded quickly when we were "swiping" through our snaps and we thought LG did an awesome implementation for browsing photos here.

Smart dialing is available, too, so you can get to your contacts quickly to make a call. There's also an option to view your history log which shows the calls and messages you've made or sent to a contact from the address book. To be honest, we found the S-Class user interface gimmicky and weren't entirely enthusiastic about it, but at least it didn't fail us. It may not be as robust as a smartphone that lets users download third-party applications, but it supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync so business users are not left out if they want to access their corporate emails, contacts and calendars.

Ten games/fun apps are preinstalled, so that should keep users entertained for some time. As for GPS navigation, there's Google Maps, or the more feature-packed Wisepilot. The Chocolate BL40 has Assisted-GPS and we were able to get a lock on our position fairly quickly. The software also provides weather updates, trip reports and layers that show you where speed cameras or road works are located on the roads. What left us baffled was the Social Networking application which didn't manage to start on our review unit. All we could see were Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, which we reckoned could be mini Java apps.

Camera And Picture Quality

The Chocolate BL40 has a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, but that turned out to be a disappointment. Shutter lag was 0.6 second, which means you'll have to hold the device steady for a longer time. White balance was also spotty and our pictures consistently exhibited a red cast. While these looked all right on the phone's screen, they certainly weren't as pleasing to the eye when viewed on a PC monitor. Video capture was supposed to be at VGA resolution at 30fps, but the camera recorded motion clips at only 22fps, shortchanging us in the process. Full-resolution images can be downloaded when you click on the pictures below.

Performance

Audio quality was pretty decent though it lacked bass. Otherwise, the onboard speakers were loud enough to watch a movie or play a game outdoors.

The 1,000mAh lithium-ion battery is rated for 6 hours of talktime and approximately 16 days on standby. On average use that comprised making calls, sending text messages, browsing the Web and taking pictures/videos, the cell lasted all of one day before the low battery warning sign came on.

Conclusion

LG's latest iteration of its Black Label series ranks tops in terms of appeal. If the design of a phone is important to you, then the Chocolate BL40 is worth considering. The unique form factor may not catch on with you at first, but it definitely has an excellent design with superb build quality. The phone doesn't do everything. It obviously has its limitations and the camera fell short of our expectations. But overall, the device is well-specced for most users. The only catch is its retail price of S$988, which places it in the premium category of fashion handsets.