LG BL40 Chocolate review

The internet browser on the LG BL40 Chocolate was as good as you'd expect it to be, browsing in full HTML swiftly over Wi-Fi and HSDPA connections.

Not only are we treated to some intelligent smart-fit technology, but there's the now standard LG pinch-and-zoom. It might not be quite up to the level of the iPhone 3GS, but it's certainly a lot closer than it was before, with more accurate touch recognition.

HOMESCREEN BOOKMARKS: The LG BL40 Chocolate brings thumbnail bookmarks to the homescreen

Web browsing might be fairly speedy in terms of navigating from one site to another, but the rendering of the heavier sites, particularly those with Flash, caused the LG BL40 Chocolate to slow down quite considerably at times, even to a freeze at one point.

However, pressing links worked better than it has done in the past with other S-Class devices, although it lacked the easy precision of the Android range or the iPhone, which seem to almost instinctively know which element of the page you're after.

One thing we do like is the visual history, with each page laid out as a thumbnail to be scrolled through, meaning it's easy to find the page you were browsing last week or similar.

RSS feeds, so often included in mobile web browsers yet so hard to use most of the time, were much easier to use on the LG BL40 Chocolate, with the phone automatically discerning any present on the page.

BASIC RSS: The LG BL40 Chocolate has an average but functional RSS reader

All you have to do then is choose to add it, and you can view those feeds via a menu item on the browser when you fire up the internet.

Another cool trick the LG BL40 Chocolate brings to the table is the notion of being able to save pages and view them later, like the offline files you can use on your PC at home. This is particularly useful for the common commuter who goes underground and out of signal regularly, as they can set up regular pages to be looking at when in signal.

Overall, we were mostly impressed with the browser. It renders quickly for most sites, is easy to flick around a web page with and generally shows more of the page thanks to the widescreen view.

It's still not the most accurate under the finger though, and if you're zoomed out of any web page, forget about trying to hit any fiddly bits like drop-down menus as it simply isn't happening.

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