It’s common to hear some phones described as 'candy bar' shaped but the latest offering from LG takes the concept a little too seriously. Clocking in at 128mm in length, it’s practically the size of a Dairy Milk - for once, the name Chocolate is incredibly apt.
The Korean manufacturer has become famous for its luxury mobile phones and the BL40 gleefully continues that trend. It’s an elegant device, boasting a shiny finish, stylish black and red colouring and an understated design, with only a handful of physical controls to break the phone’s graceful curves.
The biggest sticking point in terms of aesthetics is undoubtedly the length. At 10.9mm it’s thin, but the designers seem to have spread the BL40’s mass to create one of the longest handsets we’ve seen since the dark old days of the late ’90s.
With rival companies attempting to make their products as dinky as possible it’s a curious choice on LG’s part, but once you power up the phone the reason is glaringly apparent - the phone’s size is a direct result of the gorgeous 4” 345x800 pixel screen.
The display on the BL40 is fantastic. Not only is it vibrant and colourful, but it’s also easy to view from almost any angle - the downside being that you can no longer text in secret when you’re on the bus.
Its 21:9 aspect ratio means you can watch movies in the way they were supposed to be seen: this is true cinema-quality playback on a mobile phone. Like so many of LG’s handsets, the BL40 supports DivX movies so it’s relatively easy to get films from your computer onto the phone.
Another upshot of the BL40’s unusual dimensions is how comfortably it sits in the hand. Too often we've experienced moments of horror as child-sized mobile phones have slipped from our ape-like fingers due to their near-microscopic proportions, but once you’ve got your digits around the BL40’s tall yet slender body, you know it’s staying put.
We’re also happy that phone showcases a 3.5mm headphone jack, something that will hopefully become standard on all of LG’s mobiles from this point onwards. Music playback is decent enough, although in terms of functionality and ease of use the BL40’s media player is predictably overshadowed by the one on the iPhone.
Given the rather unusual size of the display, one might expect the BL40 to be pretty lacklustre as a gaming device. Surprisingly the opposite is true.
It comes pre-loaded with a raft of entertainment options, including a whopping seven different titles from LG alone. These games - most of which make use of the phone’s capacitive touchscreen display - are supported by trial versions of titles such as Asphalt 4, Monopoly, and Tetris. What’s really refreshing is that all of these games have been especially adapted to fit the BL40’s display.
So far, so good. The BL40 is unquestionably a fine handset, and we’ve not yet touched upon its capable 5 megapixel camera, wi-fi support, and innovative touchscreen gesture controls.
Sadly, while it clearly does a lot of things right, there are a few niggles which prevent LG’s latest from being the iPhone-killer its creator so badly wants it to be.
Firstly, the 21:9 screen creates some unfortunate problems. When holding the phone horizontally, the phone uses its accelerometer to automatically rotate the display, but tapping some of the menu choices clumsily forces the display back into portrait mode.
Surfing the net is also a little on the iffy side, too. Although the phone’s internet browser proudly supports the iPhone-style “pinch-zoom” command, text is hard to read, navigation is clunky and the speed of access leaves a lot to be desired.
The S-Class interface - which felt so fresh only a few short months ago - is already getting a bit stale. Maybe it’s because we’ve already experienced it on other handsets such as the Viewty Smart and Arena, or maybe it’s simply because LG has so far failed to get it running at an acceptable speed on any of its flagship phones.
Despite boasting a more powerful CPU, the BL40 struggles to keep up with your commands and moving between screens can sometimes be a arduous task.
LG has updated this version of the S-Class interface to take advantage of the increased real estate the BL40’s screen provides - for example, you can choose to split the display in two for some tasks, which is the mobile phone equivalent of having two monitors on a PC - but one can’t help but feel that we won’t see the potential of the operating system until LG can come up with a device powerful enough to run it at a satisfactory speed.
LG is clearly hoping that it can carve up a bit of the global mobile phone market by releasing ever more alluring handsets and we don’t doubt for a second that this strategy will work. As we’ve already established, the firm has garnered a reputation for truly desirable products and the BL40 fits comfortably into that category.
If you’re unmoved by the current crop of overly confusing smart phones and you can live with the its rather unorthodox dimensions then it’s well worth considering the BL40 as a potential purchase. It’s not likely to trouble Apple’s world-beating device, but it should ensure that LG’s current run of good form continues for a while yet.
LG BL40 Chocolate
Another gorgeous phone from LG that is likely to turn heads whenever its extracted from your pocket, but don’t go expecting it to challenge the current crop of smart phones when it comes to usability
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.