Author: Leigh Geary
Let’s be honest, Honor and Huawei haven’t had the best time of late. The Trump Trade Termination, as we’re calling it, has caused the likes of Google, ARM and other suppliers to stop dealing with the firms. Honor, for the unaware, are a Huawei brand, and have been …
Be quick on this one but a number of eBay stores have 20% off deals today. envirofone is one, and there’s a list of other retailers taking part here. We’ve spotted the following details… – Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro for £316.99 – The LG G5 (locked to Vodafone) …
Remember my strange Shed Project? I wanted to make use of an old smartphone and thanks to a solar panel and some software, I created a web server which didn’t need external power, then lumped in an API so I could remotely control the camera and check on …
The one minor annoyance about reviewing kit here at Coolsmartphone is the fact that, after you’ve reviewed it, they can sometimes fix problems you pointed out. One example is the 70mai Smart Dash Cam that we reviewed just last week. I loved the thing, but I was a …
There’s a lot to say about the Red Magic 3. It’s a phone with powerhouse specs and some unique gaming features. We’re talking active liquid-cooling with an internal “turbo fan” (an industry first and something we’d love to test), a 5,000mAh battery with a 27W quick charge system, …
The Honor 8S us now official. It’s only £99.99 and is available from Amazon, Carphone Warehouse and Very. It weighs 146 grams and runs Android 9 (Pie). There’s a microUSB charging port, 3020mAh battery and 4G, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Around back a 13 megapixel shooter and, up …
Wait though, because it’s not all about 5G. Three are also boosting their 4G, with 3G spectrum now being refarmed for 4G. They’re upgrading the 4G antenna masts on thousands of sites, with Croydon recently seeing new antennas and a reallocation of 10MHz of 3G spectrum (leaving 5Mhz …
This was going to be a look at a slightly bizarre gadget. However, I’ve lost all concept of the word “bizarre” nowadays. To be honest here in Britain we’re so far down the rabbit hole right now, everything else kinda seems normal. Boris Johnson? Seriously? The guy flat …
Heard about the Video Data Pass? On EE it basically means that you can watch as much video as you like from selected providers without it impacting your allowances. We covered it and the other Smart Plans in detail back in May but now there’s some even better …
There’s plenty of reasons to hide your identity online. Now, we’ve covered VPN’s – they hide your IP, and give you an IP of a datacentre or a local point of presence in a country elsewhere. Providers like Surfshark and others are there for you if you ever …
We’ve taken a look at a couple of sub-£100 phones recently. Both from Nokia – the Nokia 1 Plus for £69.95 and the Nokia 2.2, which will apparently be £99.99. However, if you head to your local Argos you can get a lot more phone for your money. …
The Trump Trade Termination is now having a big impact on Huawei. Donald Trump, who spent much of yesterday tweeting about fake news, has put Huawei on a (very short) list of companies that US and US-connected companies must not deal with. The result is a big loss …
Made by Xiaomi, this is a perhaps one of the best dash cams I’ve ever tested. OK, perhaps I’m not meant to start reviews that way but it’s true. Available from Amazon, there’s a couple of different versions of this one but it starts at £65.99. Yes, that …
We can’t find a way to buy it just yet, but the Nokia website now has the Nokia 2.2 online and is set to cost just €99. The headline features of this one are the AI helpers and the sheer fact that it’s cheap. It’s not quite as …
Over the weekend you may have seen my post about the new Google speedometer. It started me talking about the fact that the speed shown on GPS apps is usually different than the speed reported by your car. The reason? Well, here in the UK at least, cars …
I’m probably going to open up a whole can of worms here, but your car speedometer, some of the time, isn’t right. For the most part, it only needs to be accurate to within plus or minus 5 mph at 50 mph. Here in the UK the law …
I’ve got a savings account. The other day I took a look at it and was pretty shocked at just how much money wasn’t there. The problem? Here in the UK our interest rates are really low. That’s great if you’re getting a loan or a mortgage, but …
A smartphone that costs just £69.99? There’s got to be some shortcomings, right? Well yes. Of course. You’re not going to get a Ferrari when you’re paying Ford Fiesta money, but the Nokia 1 Plus is a great first step for those who are just starting out in …
Given the delightful summer we’re having this year, testing this one has been somewhat tricky. It doubles as a garden / outdoor speaker and has a detachable stake which lets you plonk it into the ground. It’s ideal for the beach, a garden party, a barbeque or on …
We have, for quite some time, covered a lot of the new and interesting ways to enjoy music and other types of media. Over the years we’ve featured the start of internet radio, streaming internet radio in the car and even the Virgin Mobile Lobster TV phone. Remember …
Last year we reviewed the rather cool ROIDMI cordless vacuum cleaner. We did it in two parts, here and here. Put simply, it’s a high-powered lightweight vacuum (available on Amazon UK and Amazon US) with a 2500mAH battery, multiple attachments and Bluetooth connectivity. You can use it as …
If you’ve got yourself an Amazon Echo and you’re a Vodafone customer, this is definitely for you. Customers can now make or receive hands-free calls through Amazon Echo with your existing mobile plan. All you need to do is link your mobile number to your Alexa account. This …
Whilst the Pixel 3 is still fairly new, Google appear to have released information about the Pixel 4 already. The official Google account just added this tweet with an image of the phone.. Well, since there seems to be some interest, here you go! Wait 'til you see …
Last year in the UK we experienced an absolutely stunning summer. This year, however, it’s done nothing but rain. Sky Mobile customers can at least drown their sorrows this weekend (June 15th and 16th) because the network is giving away unlimited mobile data. Sky Mobile customers can stream …
If you haven’t, you probably know someone who has. The game has not only exploded across gaming platforms, but it’s remained “sticky”, with players coming back again and again to play. On your smartphone though, you may be playing a very similar game – PUBG Mobile. This has …
I have a long story which I won’t go into right now, but let me tell you this. In two weeks I will no longer have a car. This will make the Coolsmartphone Podcast, recorded in the car, a little difficult. However, it does at least give me …
A 6.26″ all-view screen with a 2340 x 1080 pixel resolution at 412PPI. A 48 megapixel rear camera and a 16 megapixel wide-angle shooter. A 2 megapixel depth-assist camera, a 2 megaxpixel macro camera and a 32 megapixel selfie shooter. AI camera capabilities, Virtual 9.1 Surround Sound, NFC, …
We’ve seen cars which auto-dial emergency services when they’re in accidents, but now Hyundai is working on a system which will send across details of the injuries sustained in road traffic accident. All within just within seven seconds of a crash happening. They’re working with a company called …
It’s the “Need for speed” according to Three, and they’ve announced that their 5G network will arrive in August. By then there’ll be just London, but things look to be spinning up very quickly, with 25 towns and cities going live by the end of this year. Using …
In this review I’m speaking to a select few. You’re special, because if you want this phone you’ll probably not find it at your local mobile phone store. As I type, you’ll need to pre-order and the Asus website is your best bet. They’re offering the 128GB storage …
I was actually emailed by a number of people after we ran the BT logo story. Some thought it was a joke. No people. It’s very, very real. Costing (apparently) almost £1 million, it’s been ridiculed on social media as you can see above, but – after £50 …
The President of the USA, who thinks that the moon is part of Mars and wants a “Brexit wall” in Ireland, has put the boot into Huawei. The American businessman, just a few weeks after meeting Apple CEO Tim Cook, put Huawei on a list of “foreign adversaries” …
Another new intro, a lot of talk about MOT’s, fishing, caravans and actual smartphone-related chatter too. It’s all here folks, and it’s part of Podcast 249. Recorded in the car, in this episode I also do a manly “pap” on the horn due to the driver in front drifting in …
I write about phones. Have done for 17 years or more. Amazingly, I was only four years old when all this started. Incredible huh? In my overflowing mailbox I recently got an email from Akhilesh, he’s the founder of Protein Kiq. He wanted me to try some of …
Don’t get confused, this isn’t the 7 Pro (that’s the one on the right), so you won’t be getting the flip camera or Warp Charge. The screen is a bit lower resolution and the battery is slightly lower capacity, but it’s £499 for the 6GB model. That’s definitely …
New and existing VOXI customers have now had more data added to their plans. The network runs on (and is part of the) Vodafone network and they’ve boosted the £10 package from 6GB to 8GB, the £15 package has gone up from 15GB to 20GB and let’s not …
There’s no doubt about it, 5G is going to make an amazing difference to your data speeds. The throughput is astonishing and we’ve seen examples of entire movies being downloaded in seconds. There is, though, two very important changes that 5G will cause. The first, rather obviously, is …
In all honesty, if I was to give my personal opinion, I’d admit to you that 4G seems to be enough for me. The increased price of 5G on EE and the speed at which you can pile through it is putting me off. However, today marks the …
The continuing Trump Trade Termination is having a big impact on Huawei globally. Google won’t be able to provide an operating system, ARM won’t licence chip designs and several internal US-sourced components will stop arriving. Huawei have today filed a motion for summary judgment to challenge the decision …
Got yourself a microSD slot? Want some more storage? How’s about 256GB? Well, normally you’d be looking at a card which has a bit less storage because, traditionally, 256GB would cost you quite a bit. However, right now you can get yourself a 256GB card for just £23.99. …
