LG BL40 Chocolate Touch reviewed, deemed 'pretty OK'
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted August 25th 2009 10:28AM
posted August 25th 2009 10:28AM
We know you've been saving up your Rubles for the new LG BL40 Chocolate Touch, but in the meantime we thought we'd hep you to this pretty extensive review they conducted over at Mobile Review. And sure, at first blush this thing seems to be extremely noteworthy: that 21:9 display, the S-Class UI, the haughty demeanor -- what's not to love? The real question, of course, isn't how attractive the handset is, but how will it fare in the real world? For the reviewer, a big sticking point was the phone's dimensions. This thing is huge -- at over 5-inches tall, you're going to need a purse (or some sort of rugged man purse) to haul it around. Then again, at 25,000 rubles (about $795) you're probably not the kind of man who feels self-conscious about carrying a purse. And that isn't the only complication this form factor provides -- the extreme width (or really, extreme lack of height) means that, in landscape mode, the QWERTY keyboard takes up pretty much the entire screen, leaving you only one line of text to work with. And the display quality here can't compare to the AMOLED offered by Samsung. It's "pleasant," the reviewer said, "but nothing more." But there is more to this review, which can be found at the read link. And you know what? It's a real page turner.
[Thanks, Vinicius]
[Thanks, Vinicius]
Looks pretty freaking awesome to me
then you need glasses
LG and Samsung have been pushing some very interesting and sexy phones in the last year or so, but the fact is that in my own ( sad) experience both these company offer an abysmal (more like non existent really) after purchare customer support.
That's why I have here 2 HTC: a new Hero (which I managed to get in exchange of the disappointing iPhone 3GS) and my old , beloved TouchHD; I got rid of my old (not beloved) Sammy Omnia 900, and instead of substituting it with the OmniaHD, I got a Nokia N97 .
And I'm very happy I did so, coz while the OmniaHD was probably better than the N97 when they got out of their boxes, the OmniaHD owners are still waiting for the first update to fix its various bugs, while I and the other N97 adopters , while disappointed in the beginning, have been enjoying a continuous stream (about 2 a day for the last 3 weeks) of over the air updates, fixes, and even 2 totally new ROMs in the last 3 weeks.
Last friday all N97 owners in my area have been invited to Nokia fancy regional headquarters/campus for a "N97 Academy" confab , where Nokia gave us food and drinks (pretty good too) , a few Nokia freebies (lanyards, pouches, a swanky alu 4GB memkey, etc) and explained to us how to fix any complaint we had with the N97.
Now thanx to those (and other) fixes , swanky themes, wallpapers, apps and programs, free downloads from the dozensof S60 dedicated web sites + Nokia's own OVI place, my N97 has been transoformed into TEH top notch killer machine which admidtedly was not when I first brought it home; while those who opted for the unmitigated sexyness of the OmniaHD, may have been very satisfied in the beginning (I myself was very much in doubt between the two S60 uberphones) but they never heard from Sammy since it swallowed their cash and I'd be surprised if they ever will. (I had the Omnia 900 for 7 months and never got a single update even though it was in dire need of a few of them).
For all the seductiveness of Samsung's and LG's latest phones, if they don't want to join SE into smartphone oblivion, they must get used to the fact that modern avanced phones and smartphones, just like PCs and their softwares, need constant after sale care updates and renewals, and learn a thing or two about it from HTC and also Nokia, which managed to mend its ways (and its products) in a remarkable short time, otherways I have no doubt that their customers (and I have been one of those) will migrate to better caring environments.
Who cares if we've seen it before? It works good...
You consider a phone released less than a year ago old?
What does Joseph mean by "Then again, at 25,000 rubles (about $795) you're probably not the kind of man who feels self-conscious about carrying a purse."
Is he trying to say that all rich men are gay? Weird stereotype..
"Slide to unlock"
Where have I seen this before? hmmm...
An Apple is more healthy than chocolate..perhaps why people who use Apple iPhone are generally more attractive than the Fat slobs who use LG phones.
AHAHAH!!
shut up troll
it says "slide up to unlock" if you look and what exactly is a touch screen device to do? before apple they had slide to unlock devices, should they have a tap combo you press in to unlock the device instead?
Just because apple did it as well doesn't mean they were the originator, and your myopic view of the world is encapsulating of how ignorant people in the world are.
Good thing it say 'Slide Up to Unlock' huh?
I said the same thing about that ridiculous 21:9 screen when the first shots came out....it might work if you're watching a movie screen but on a handheld touchscreen device, it's just stupid. who wants to read a webpage on that when you'll have to scroll ~3x more often? You'll only have like 3-5 lines of text on the screen at a time. Then push a QWERTY on screen into that....what a mess.
Actually,
doesnt the wide screen (and high res) save you from having to scroll up/down/left/right and enables you to only have to scroll up/down? Sounds nice to me.
Also, the screen is so wide that it would show probably 2 lines of text from a not as wide phone on 1 line.
You cats are forgetting that it still has a better length in pixels than the iPhone, g1, palm pre, and many others. it is 800x345, those phones are all 480x320.
The pictures on the site show a scientific calculator, FM radio, and it looks like you can just draw on the screen to go to something. Like an M for messaging or a C for contacts.
Yeah, that's a part of the new LG GUI, gesture based commands.
It's quite useful, especially on a large touchscreen.
Come, and give me your Chocolate Touch (oh-oooh) I need it right now
Oh your Chocolate Touch (oh-oohhh) you know how
I'm craving your Chocolate Touch (oh-ooooh) in the morning and the afternoon
your Chocolate Touch (oh-oooh) I need soon.
Way to double post nub...
lol nub
Come, and give me your Chocolate Touch (oh-oooh) I need it right now
Oh your Chocolate Touch (oh-oohhh) you know how
I'm craving your Chocolate Touch (oh-ooooh) in the morning and the afternoon
your Chocolate Touch (oh-oooh) I need soon.
Oh baby, give me that Chocolate Touch
Way to double post, nub
The ladies Like them Black And Long
and 5 inches tall
i dunno what ladies you have been talking to, and if you think that's long, i feel sorry for you!
if you think this is long, i feel sorry for you.
this is long, i feel sorry for you.
i feel sorry for you.
sorry for you.
you.
u.
.
Does it have a hard candy shell so it doesn't melt in my hand?
I think your brain has a thick candy shell...
Thank you Triscut! I was hoping for that line!!!
Another failed LG device, LG is not known for quality as it is
Damn, every time i see a photo of this phone the first thing i think is that it's some kind of photoshop. But then i remember this phone actually is so long. What were they thinking?
I don't get it. You people realize the iPhone is 4.5 inches, right? This thing is thin and not very wide, and it's only half an inch longer than the iPhone. The only reason you people thing is insanely long is because of the unusual aspect ratio. Also my front pocket is nearly seven inches deep. Seriously, are you guys okay?
Where does LG get their designers from?
While the concept looked interesting, the product is ridiculous. The UI seems a bit cheesy 1980's...well the whole thing actually. While a bigger screen is nice but who builds a phone around begin able to watch movies? The dimensions are silly. Try sticking that thing in your pocket and everyone might think you're happy to see them.
If I read the review right... Look like you may be able to change the lock to lets say a heart drawing pattern? Now if you could change the unlock....
that's going to be a very long finger path for people to unlock the screen with...
"Chocolate touch" sounds like a blackspoitation porno and will always sound like a blacksploitation porno. I hope they release this on skinamax
It's not a purse, it's a satchel.
engadget you have got to get your hands on one, these Russian reviews are hard to read. I think this review actually refereed to the phone as a HE and a SHE. and it kept switching back and forth between the Arena and Touch and others.
A good ol fashion review on the LG Chocolate Touch and LG Crystal I can not wait for. Please review them :D
When is Verizon launching this phone?
Oct.
.
verizon can have this one no one else needs this so verizon may as well take it its not like they get anything state of the art anyway
meh...
Why call it 21:9 and not just 7:3?
Maybe more are familiar with 16:9 so 21:9 is used so they don't have to do the math?