LG has fattened up its Chocolate handset range with the creation of a third model.

LG's BL20: the latest newcomer to the Chocolate range

The Chocolate range, just to confuse you, now consists of the original KG800 released back in 2006, the second-generation BL40 – which arrived in July this year — and now the new Chocolate, the BL20.

Opting for a slider rather than candybar format, the BL20’s main draws will surely be its 5Mp rear-mounted camera and touch-sensitive controls that light up with a cool red glow.

An alphanumeric keypad slides out from underneath these controls and LG has positioned yet more touch-sensitive keys – this time for functions including volume and camera zoom – down either side of the phone.

Widget hotkeys allow you to personalise the BL20 with icons for information about the weather updates and news, LG said. For your own jottings, you can use the phone’s Clear Memo Capture which saves text, handwritten notes and drawings as memos.

Clean lines and good looks, yet few killer features

But it’s our sad duty to report that the BL20 is mostly empty calories and little filling. For example, the handset doesn’t support 3G – Edge is the best wireless connection you’ll get – and can only cope with Micro SD memory cards of up 16GB.

Bluetooth is included on the 106.9 x 50.8 x 12.3mm device, though, and LG claimed that the phone’s battery should be good for about five hours of banter.

LG’s BL20 Chocolate will be available later this year through network operator O2. A price hasn’t been unwrapped, yet. ®