I’ve had a LG Chocolate BL40 on my desk for a few weeks that LG asked me to review. I hadn’t heard of the model before but my old boss seemed quite excited that I had one, so I knew it must be something special.
Build & Design
When I opened the LG Chocolate BL40 box I was stunned to see the form factor of the phone. It is much longer than any modern handset. It might be as long as handsets from days gone by, but no handset has ever been this long and thin at the same time before. Below is a picture of the LG Chocolate BL40 next to my iPhone 3GS which will give you a much better idea of its dimensions:
At first I thought the LG Chocolate would be too long to pass the ‘trousers’ test, but surpisingly it does because I think it is so narrow. However, it doesn’t ‘feel’ comfortable in my pocket and I think I would be worried about it falling out or getting my pocket picked if I owned one. The narrow form factor of the LG Chocoate does it more comfortabe to hold than my iPhone 3GS, but it does come with drawbacks which I will highlight later.
The build quality of the LG Chocolate is excellent and probably the best I’ve seen on a mobile phone. The phone has a black glossy finish that seems to handle fingerprints well, with a red flourish at the top and bottom.
Screen & UI
The Chocolate BL40 comes with a 4 inch screen that works great in all lighting conditions. However, the narrow screen on the BL40 really started to bother me after a while. It was really hard to get a lot of content on the screen which made browsing painful, and even reading SMS messages wasn’t a great experience as only a few words can be fitted on each row.
Using LG’s S Class UI on a narrow screen is very painful. The S Class UI has a lot of icons, which means that on the LG a lot of panning is required to reach options, and the screen is too sensitive e.g. sometimes I wanted to scroll through the options but instead the phone would select the item. For me, the S Class interface doesn’t suit the LG Chocolate, which I feel needs a more upmarket interface rather than one with cute icons and action sounds.
The LG Chocolate is a great looking phone and if you’re looking for something that looks great then this phone could be for you. However, if you’re looking for a phone that does a little bit more with a great UI, then this phone isn’t for you.
