Last night was the global launch of LG’s next installment in their Black Label series of sleek, shiny, sexy mobile phones: the new LG Chocolate BL40.
Complete with swanky beats, champagne, funky lighting and quail eggs topped with mayonnaise and caviar, LG want you to know how bloody cool this phone is. In fact, they believe it’s so cool, that they held their launch at The Design Museum, and paid five models to swagger and strike their fiercest poses whilst holding and showing off the Chocolate BL40, as if it were this season’s must have accessory.
It may sound over the top. It may even sound wanky . However, for once, a brand managed to put on an event that embodied what they stand for - cutting edge technology, innovative design and, of course, fashion darling – and actually manged to get a room of cynical, half-drunk journalists and bloggers psyched about their product. And that’s not just the mini-ice cream cones stuffed with cream talking.
The Chocolate BL40 really is an exciting phone.
Its main drool-worthy feature is its four-inch, multi-touch, HD LCD screen . A four-inch screen may make this phone seem unnaturally long, but it definitely serves its purpose. Not only is it wide enough so that when browsing the web you only have to scroll up and down - not side to side - but gives enough room for “dual-screen functionality”. Dual-screen functionality, in normal folk talk, means that when writing an email or SMS message, it displays your contact list on the left side of the screen, and text field on the right. See? Dual-screen.
LG had Wayne Hemmingway (fashion designer and co-founder or Red or Dead) give an excellent presentation on the importance of innovative design, and thus the importance of fashion, to help us realize how fabulous the look and design of the Chocolate BL40 is. And while the Chocolate is most certainly sleek and well designed - weighing in at 129 grams, being only 10.9mm thick, and sporting a glossy black finish with red detailing, its tech specs are pretty impressive, too.
While the Curve 8520 and iPhone can only boast a 2mpx camera, the Chocolate BL40’s camera has 5mpx. Plus, when taking a panoramic shot, the BL40 does all the hard work for you, as with the touch of the shutter button, it guides you through a succession of 10 shots going around 360 degrees. It even lines up each of the 10 shots for you, using an indicator box reminiscent of face recognition on your point-and –shoot digi-cam.
You can browse the web and download email quickly with its 7.2 HSDPA connection, and even play the music on your BL40 through your hi-fi system as it has an FM transmitter. (Goodbye iTrip!) Plus, watching videos on that magnificent four inch, 21:9 HD LCD screen is a real treat. Especially if you’re used to screen that’s barely two-by-two inches.
Above all else, if you like touch-screens, use your phone to browse the web and to watch videos a lot– the LG Chocolate BL40 just might be the phone for you. It’s a gadget that just feels nice to the touch. It feels sturdy, but sleek, and is fashionable without being fluffy.
Personally, I’d have to test it out properly for a week or so before giving it the 100% thumbs up – but from having a play around with it last night, and having the different features demonstrated to me by an LG “Trainer”, I’d say the LG Chocolate BL40 is one damn fine mobile.