Monday, March 7, 2011

Chocolate LG BL20

The BL20 New Chocolate may not have the splendor of the BL40 but is definitely the spiritual successor to the original Chocolate series. Sequels are all over the place but the Chocolate series are somewhat different. LG have been so involved in touchscreen we're just realizing it's been more than a year since we last reviewed a regular phone of theirs. Anyway, the Chocolate series are back and we're about to see if the good old-fashioned recipe still works. he latest BL20 Chocolate comes with a lively screen and handy touchpad navigation to add to the

sliding keypad, meaning it nods to both traditional design and the new trend towards touch functionality. Other improvements include a better camera and fast 3G connectivity. But first and foremost it's a fashion phone, so this here Chocolate is about the icing, not the filling.

Specs:

The new LG Chocolate BL20 phone features a sliding keypad and is the newest addition to the Chocolate series. The BL20 also features a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash in a slim casing measuring just 12.3mm in depth. Widget Hotkeys enable users to personalize the phone to directly access favorite features for weather, new

s or personal updates. A new feature also includes Clear Memo Capture which captures text, handwritten notes and drawings with maximum clarity, offering a different way to record information.

Hidden navigation keys
the handset features an upgraded version of the Hidden Navigation Keys, invisible until the phone is slid open

Clear Memo Capture with TextScan Use the new Chocolate BL20 TextScan function with its 5.0 megapixel camera to scan texts or drawings from hand written notes to communicate with your loved ones more personally. So you can now jot down a map and store it in your phone. Or send to a friend via email or MMS

Widget Hotkeys
Located at the lower right corner of the Hidden Touch Navigation, the Widget Hotkey provides one-touch direct access to four of your most frequently used functions on the BL20 such as Weekly Schedule, Memo, News, Today’s Weather or Alarm

Side Touch Control
like using a laptop’s touch pad, the phone employs touch sensitive sidekeys that support convenient vertical scrolling. When controlling the camera zoom or increasing the volume, side touch control provides ease of se without interrupting the design of the BL20

Slim 3G with 5 megapixel camera
With its 5 megapixel camera the new BL20 combines state of the art technology with beautiful design. The inclusion of AutoFocus and Flash enables it to boast the highest performance in a slim 3G slider

Specification

  • 3G Quad band
  • 106.9 x 50.8 x 12.3 mm
  • 115g
  • 2.4" Touch-sensitive display with hidden navigation keys
  • 60Mb internal memory expandable with microSD upto 16Gb
  • GPRS
  • HSCSD
  • EDGE
  • Bluetooth(with A2DP)
  • 5Mp camera
  • FM radio
  • Multimedia player
  • Organiser
  • Comfortable keypad
  • Stealthy touchpad and classic chocolate looks

Main disadvantages:

  • Way too tall and big for its fashionable status
  • No accelerometer (hence no auto screen rotation)
  • Volume rocker and camera key have absolutely no press feedback
  • Piano black surface is a fingerprint nightmare
  • Memory card slot under the battery cover
  • Poor video recording
  • Slow scrolling in the image gallery
  • No document viewer
  • No sign of any social networking integration

OK, we may have a wee bit longer list of disadvantages here, but that's just because LG have spoiled us lately. They've been churning out better equipped handsets for quite some time and we didn't quite expect that minimalistic approach to a their latest fashionable handset. But then again, the BL20 is not an expensive all-in-one so in a sense, you get what you pay for.

The LG BL20 Chocolate gets a superb 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics and LED flash. You also get QVGA video recording at 15fps. It comes with a monaural FM radio, a speakerphone and the media players for MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA audio files and H.264/MP4/WMV video files for its mu

ltimedia entertainment feature on the road. There’s no 3.5mm audio jack but its A2DP support enables wireless stereo listening.

The phone’s internal storage is capped at 60 MB with up to 1000 phone-book contact entries but you also get microSD memory expansion for up to 16 G. It comes with standard 900 mAh li-ion batters that can deliver up to 5 hours of talk time and 450 hours of standby time on a full charge. SAR EU gets 9.67 watts per kilo.


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