LG Chocolate BL40

The LG Chocolate BL40 features a display with true cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio, a 5-megapixel camera, FM transmitter and DivX support. Designed in a slim and neat piano-black chassis the handset features a 102 mm (4-inch) capacitive tempered glass LCD touchscreen that is tall and narrow with 21:9 aspect ratio. This means that movies can be viewed in full without being cropped off the edges. With 800 x 345 pixels resolution support, the display also features split-screen view in the messaging applications where contacts are listed on the left-hand side, with messages appearing on the right, just like with standard PC applications. Web pages can also fit across the screen without having to scroll back and forth. It must be noted though, that 21:9 is far from the most popular format for videos, so users will have to either encode all movies appropriately or suffer black edges. The 21:9 aspect ratio also gives users the ability to see the whole width of a web page but there is a consistant need to scroll up and down to view the entire page. The Chocolate runs the company’s S-Class user interface that features icons and animations, including a rotating 3D cube that users can use to swap between different menu screens. Powered by a Qualcomm processor, the Chocolate features a full QWERTY keyboard layout that supports predictive text, One Touch Copy and Paste function, Gesture shortcut, multi-touch zooming in the Web browser and picture viewer, that lets users double tap on an picture or column of text in the Web browser to automatically zoom in on it; Cover Flow-style mode in the photo and video browser that provides users with views of the thumbnails as they browse through files. The phone utilizes the quad-band support, as well as HSDPA and Wi-Fi for Internet access. There’s on-board GPS, which helps users find their position, Bluetooth with A2DP support for wireless audio streaming to stereo headsets, and an FM transmitter to beam music to a car stereo or home hi-fi. The handset is equipped with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack to connect a wired headphone to listen to music or make handsfree calls, audio playback from the music player and the video player that supports both the DivX and Xvid formats (video can also be fed to a TV if the optional TV output lead is used). The LG Chocolate BL40 supports a Dolby Mobile audio buffer that provides user with dynamic sound from the music player. It also supports a 5-megapixel resolution, Face Tracking, autofocus and an LED flash camera. The camera on the LG Chocolate BL40 features panoramic mode in which the phone tells the user where to point the lens for each shot in the panorama before automatically stitching the pictures together. The camera can also shoot video (30 frames per second at VGA resolution), and there’s a video editor on-board. The handset is powered by a lithium ion battery that provide sup to 6 hours of talk time (on GSM – 5 hours of 3G network).

Specifications
Form factor
The LG Chocolate BL40 is a mobile phone designed in a black colored candy-bar form factor that measures 51 x 128 x 11 mm and weighs 129 g. The phone supports a virtual QWERTY keyboard for users to input data and information, an integrated camera that also doubles as a video camera, a 3.5 mm headphone jack for audio output and a tempered glass LCD touch screen display.

Network
The LG Chocolate BL40 utilizes the GSM 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz frequencies, and supports GPRS as well as HDSPA 3G connectivity.

Features
The LG Chocolate BL40 supports real music ringtones, personal information management functions such as a 1000 entry phonebook, calendar and alarm clock, speakerphone, and voice recording.

Display
It features a 4 inch high definition WVGA TFT touch screen with tempered glass LCD, 16 million color support, 345 x 800 pixels resolution and Dual Screen UI.

Multimedia
The LG Chocolate BL40 supports a 5 megapixels camera with 4x digital zoom, LED photo light, Flash , video recording capabilities, Music/radio playback, MP3, AAC, AAC+, eACC+ and WMA 9 playback support and FM radio. It also supports a document viewer, 7 built-in games, Java 2.0 and 64 MIDI polyphonic ringtones.

Messaging and data
The LG Chocolate BL40 supports Short Messaging Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Internet browser, E-mail client and video messaging.

Memory and connectivity
It supports a 1.1 MB on-board memory with expandability via microSD (up to 32 GB). The phone also supports Bluetooth®, WiFi, USB and a GPS receiver.

Power and Battery
The Chocolate BL40 is powered by a lithium ion battery that provides up to 400 hours (GSM) / 370 hours (3G) of standby time and up to 6 hours (GSM) / 5 hours (3G) of talk time.

Reviews:

“It may be jam-packed with really great features, but the LG Chocolate BL40′s disappointing user interface means it’s not as satisfying a handset to use as the iPhone or HTC Hero” – (CNET UK, 2009)

“So that’s the LG Chocolate BL40, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag. One the one hand it looks great, has a good array of features and the camera is pretty good, but equally the UI is annoying and the battery life is relatively poor, and for the same sort of price you could be looking at much better phones form the likes of Blackberry, HTC and even Apple.” – (Zath UK, 2009)

“The LG BL40 Chocolate is a great and bold step to be admired. There are some gripes to be had, mostly with the OS and battery life, but they’re minor in the grand scheme of things.” – (TechRadar, 2009)