Author: Leigh Geary

REIDEA Compact Dehumidifier – Review

Have you got a room with a bit of a damp problem? Perhaps you have an area without much ventilation, a caravan or a window at home that won’t open. This, for £25.99 as I type, will remove up to 300ml of moisture from your room each day. …

Go on. You need a bigger one.

Size. It’s all about size isn’t it? Sure, they’ll tell you it isn’t. But it is. It is really. You can maybe fool yourself into thinking that a little one will do the job. That it’ll fit, but when you try using it properly you’ll soon realise that …

HTC drops U11 and U11+ prices

Right now, if you sign up for the HTC Club (which is basically a newsletter) you can get 10% off the HTC U11 and the HTC U11+. This means that the HTC U11 (64GB) is now down to £323.19 instead of £359.10. It was £399 before that. Meanwhile, …

HTC. The Exodus begins

So, after losing a quarter of their remaining staff, they’ve decided to call their upcoming smartphone the “HTC Exodus”. Hmm.. I’ve got to question the logic on that one. Even their marketing says, “The Exodus Begins”. After losing so many staff it seems a bit .. insensitive. They’re …

giffgaff boost their goodybag data allowances

giffgaff, which sits on the O2 network, have long been the go-to fuss-free solution if you just want a monthly plan with no ties. However, of late other virtual networks have been muscling in, with the likes of Lebara offering 4GB for £8 per month (on the Voda …

5 Android apps you probably never knew about

As Dylan once said, the times they are a-changin’. And with each passing day, our lives are made a little more convenient with the help of gadgets. Almost everyone owns a smartphone and out of those more than 80% phones run on Android. Perhaps one of the biggest …

FreedomPop 15GB deal for £10 per month

This is a network which is slightly different to others. They user the Three masts here in the UK, but calls and texts are actually routed over your data connection. This doesn’t impact the amount of data you’re allocated, but it does mean that you’ll need a decent …

The World Cup – Mobile use on the rise, home broadband use down

Mobile phones, as I’m sure you all know, can be very distracting. Whether you’re watching TV, sat at the bus stop, waiting for a sandwich, ordering coffee or at the park, a quick glance at the screen seems difficult to resist. So what stops us fiddling with our …

I choose to go naked, but there’s consequences

Take a look at these two phones. Do you know who they belong to ? Yes, they belong to me. Apart from the cracks and the smashed rear panels, you’ll probably also notice that I don’t have a cover on either of the phones either. This, I’ll admit, …

One of the best photographs of Birmingham, taken on an iPhone

I’ve been kicking around this planet for a while now and, as I live in Staffordshire, I’ve visited Birmingham quite a bit. Nowadays you’ll find me doing the Birmingham Velo whilst my wife goes shopping in Selfridges. In parts the city still has problems and the issues that …

iKAPZ – Review

If you’ve got a triangular charger then, let’s admit, it can be a bit boring to look at. To add a bit of colour, and possibly to differentiate each charger, you can get one of these. They’re colourful caps which fit on top of your USB charger. You …

Fancy 24GB per month for just £15?

OK. It’s yet another day in the Coolsmartphone office and we’re all in 32 degree heat. Everything is melting, but we’re still on the lookout for hot deals. Today it’s another Virgin Media deal. This network uses the EE masts and you get full-fat 4G, plus you don’t …

HTC Desire 12 available for pre-order

Many months ago, when we used to have clouds here in the UK, the HTC Desire 12 was announced. Today we’re hearing that the device will be available from Amazon on July 14th from this link, but you can pre-order it now for just £149. For your money …

HTC to cut a quarter of all staff

Huawei and Honor remind me a lot of HTC a few years ago. There’s a definite drive, a tenacity, a push to become known and to show the world just how good their phones are. However, some years ago HTC seemed to lose that. It’s hard to pinpoint …

ROIDMI Handheld Cordless Vacuum Cleaner – Review (Part 2)

In my video last week, shown again below, I gave an overview of this new Xiaomi-backed vacuum cleaner. This, the lightweight and easy-to-use ROIDMI F8, is on Indiegogo right now. In my previous video above I gave you a quick tour and there was a look at some …

ROIDMI Handheld Cordless Vacuum Cleaner – Review (Part 1)

Remember when we just used to review phones? Well, not any more people. Now we’re reviewing vacuum cleaners. This, though, isn’t just any vacuum cleaner. You might have heard about Xiaomi, right? Well, they looked into the vacuum cleaner market and decided that they could do better than …

Quick. I need to buy this. The FlowMotion ONE.

I love gadgets. Well, you know that. I’ve been writing about the things for 16 years now so it’s fair to say that I’m slightly obsessed really. Smartphone camera technology in particular has come a long way recently, but despite the stabilization features you’ll no doubt see in …

Fuse Chicken Shield C – Review

Watch out. I’ve got me a cable to review. This one is the Fuse Chicken Shield C. Yes, Fuse Chicken. That’s their name and, well, it’s a bit weird. The company was launched in May 2012 after a Kickstarter campaign and they’re based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was …

Tesco Mobile to dish out free Samsung tech gifts

Operating on the O2 network, Tesco Mobile is offering up the Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, S9, S9+ and Samsung Note 8. If you buy one of those devices then the network will offer up a free tech gift worth up to £279. There’s something to suit everyone including …

The Honor 7S arrives in the UK

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get a hands-on with the Honor 7S. It’s a budget smartphone and we’d been given a privileged early look at it. When we asked about the price we were told that it would sell for “around $110”. If you …

WORLD EXCLUSIVE – Microsoft return to smartphones

Thought that Windows Phone was dead? Was it really the end for Microsoft Smartphone, Pocket PC and Windows Mobile? Nokia phones, after being purchased by Microsoft, re-appear with the Microsoft mobile Operating System, but have now returned yet again with Android. The Windows Phone OS, which was the …

A simple hack to watch FIFA 2018 from anywhere

It’s probably not escaped your knowledge that the Word Cup is currently taking place. Here in the UK we’ve all gone a little crazy, with these massive FIFA 2018 football matches appearing for free on BBC and ITV instead of the usual subscription channels which tend to cost …

Just £10 for a Chromecast when you buy a Google Home Mini

Want to get a diddy little smart speaker which you can talk to ? One where you say, “OK Google, what’s the weather going turned be like today?”, and it’ll tell you? Get a Google Home Mini. It’s £49 and it’ll give you personalized help throughout your day. …

Need emotional support ? Tell a Buddy

I’m one of those people who just didn’t have a phone at school. Even at college, the mobile phones were basic and therefore less distracting than the phones of today. Trouble is, the phones of today can let a lot of the world into your life. With social …

How to choose a Kanban app

Have you heard about a Kanban? In Japanese it translates to a “billboard”. Kanban boards come into play to optimise and streamline workflows. I’ve used one of these in the day job so I’ve been interested to find out more about them. Working remotely isn’t uncommon now, and …

Land Rover Explore coming to Vodafone

As a seasoned Coolsmartphone reader, you’ll already know everything there is to know about the Land Rover Explore Smartphone. You can buy one right now from their website. It’s £599. For your money you get a rough, tough smartphone with a Deca Core 2 CPU, Android Nougat (with …

Tattu Quick Charge 3.0 wall charger – Review

Some people will buy a phone and will probably throw the packaging way. The charger might be in there, or heck – you might find that there’s no charger at all. Some of you out there might be still using the charger you had with the phone you …

Fortnite for Android. Don’t be fooled.

A number of weeks ago we tweeted about the Android version of Fortnite. The game, for the uninitiated, is proving a massive hit with gamers and the console version has seen some huge numbers. Not only that, but the “free” game is also earning a very decent amount …

Syncwire 4-port mains charger – Review

You, my digital friend, look like you need something that will charge four of your things all at the same time. From a wall. This, right here, and for £14.99 as I type from Amazon, is the Syncwire 4-port mains charger. It’s designed to be used in the …

Running low on juice? Strap a brick to your phone!

Good morning you good people. How’s things eh? Good? Great. Now, we’ve had an email from “Joe”. He’s from a company called Brickspower. They do these wireless charging bricks which attach to the back of your phone. Then it’ll wirelessly charge your phone. Magic eh? No need to …

Offline translator now hits the UK. Meet ili

The whole premise of this product, which is £199 from Selfridges, is the fact that you can do quick one-way translations without the need for an internet connection. It’s already proved successful in Japan and the US, with 10,000 orders received in the first three days. It’s a …

Vodafone kicking off 5G trials already

Seven cities will become 5G test areas for Vodafone. Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester will then see deployments beginning in October. Vodafone will be pushing “Gigabit UK”, where customers can enjoy ultra-fast connection speeds of one gigabit per second via 5G. Across those cities, engineers …

A soothing music mask

So, England won the other night. It’s all going well so far, but, after the edge-of-the-seat action, you might need a lie down. This sleep mask could be just the ticket. You can whack it on during a flight or after a long day at work. It’ll not …

Oh, unbridled joy. We did win another thing. Yay.

Following our award for Top 10 UK Mobile Blog from Feedspot, we’ve won another award. Yes. Get in. Again, I’m going to have to suspend my negative attitude towards these awards, which are usually given out to as many sites as possible in the hope that the company …

128GB MicroSD for less than £25

OK, so you know the story by now. You’ve got far too much guff on your phone. you need more space. You’ve totally maxxed out the storage you’ve got and you need more. Get a microSD card. Simple huh? An 8GB one should do it, surely? No, no …