Author: Garry Clark

Acer Jade Primo – Unboxing and first impressions

Acer’s newest Windows phone is about to hit the prime time, and I have been able to have a bit of a play around with it. First off lets have a look at the unboxing video.. The phone feels good in the hand due to its slightly curved …

Motorola unveil the new Moto G series

The Moto G range has always been a stalwart in the budget Android device segment and with their latest release nothing changes on that front. As is expected from my new phone release the specs have taken a bit of a jump, as have the screen sizes. This …

Acer Predator 8 tablet – Hands on & Gaming demo

The Acer Predator 8 is a device we have seen a few times now, but up until now I have not really had a good chance to have a play with it. That all changes today as I am in Belfast with #acerliveblog2016 and they have let me …

Huawei add the P9 Lite to their portfolio

As you can see in the review we are pretty big fans of the Huawei P9. It now seems that Huawei is going to be making a bigger push into the UK market than we first thought. Coming very soon to a network near you is the P9 …

Xiaomi’s Mi Max launched

I am a fan of big screened phones this is something that I don’t try to hide at all. One of my favourite devices of all time was the Xperia Z Ultra from Sony, I have owned 3 of them in the past. I just really liked the size …

BravoWin 10KT MiniPC – Review

About a week ago I unboxed a new 2-in-1 PC that had a retail value of £150, and I posed the question of ‘can a machine this cheap be any good’? I also mentioned that I was going to be able to compare this to a more standard-priced …

Honor due to release their version of the P9 soon?

Huawei have released their P9 and P9 Plus and we will be seeing them in store very very soon. The phone looks to be a fantastic bit of kit and we are very excited about as you may have been able to see from Leigh’s extensive coverage. However, …

BravoWin 10KT Mini PC unboxing

We live in an amazing age where you can buy a reasonable spec computer for less than £300. However, this price usually gets you a non-touch-screen laptop tloaded with compromises and inferior components. The BravoWin 10KT is looking to challenge that perception and show that you can get a …

Moomin Emojis can now be used on your phone!!

Have you ever wanted to get a weird looking pig thing on your text messages? No, me neither. Then again I am a thirty-something years old. However, if you are one of the cool kids and you like Emojis then listen up. Something called “Moomiji” will now allow …

Huawei announce the P9 and P9 Plus

Today Huawei have just finished their press conference which we covered live with the help of Paul O’Brien from MoDoCo. The event was full of glitz and glamour as their events usually are, and if you wish to relive the blow-by-blow report from the event then take a look …

Got a Smartwatch? Want wood for it?

Smartwatches are starting to become a proper “thing” now and, with more and more people buying into the sector, there will be more and more demand for accessories. As an owner of a Pebble Time for nearing a year now, I have grown a bit bored of the “de …

Testing Feel at Home with Three

When we’re out and about living our jet-set life, covering events such as IFA and MWC, the one thing that is absolutely vital for us is connectivity. When we are in the UK that is not really an issue as there is an abundance of networks offering very …

Moto X Force – Review

Have you ever dropped your phone, and then had that moment of panic before you pick it up when you think “Oh s*!t How much is that going to cost me to fix?” If you have, then this is the review you need to read. The Moto X …

MWC – A tour of the SanDisk stand

I went out to SanDisk earlier today and thought it would be a good plan to check out thread latest wares. Unlike last year where they announced the 200GB memory card -the largest on the market – they did not have such a huge amount to shout about …

MWC – Lenovo Tab3 series. Hands on.

Lenovo had a slightly smaller presence at MWC this year. but nonetheless we still went out to see them and to see what other new products they were announcing. Phone-wise we have already seen most of their stuff for this year. That is taken care of under the …

MWC – Canonical and the BQ Aquarius M10

A few weeks ago we heard the very exciting news that Canonical, in conjunction with BQ, were going to be releasing a tablet device. I wrote a brief article about the device then with all the bits and pieces about it, and was very keen to get my hands …

MWC – LeEco Le Alpe d’Heuz bike

LeEco also had some other toys to show us at MWC in the form of what they call a “rideable”. This is a connected bike that is designed primarily as a Hybrid Bike for city use. We did manage to have a brief look at this, and it …

MWC – LeEco showcase

This morning I headed out to meet a relatively unknown company, in the UK at least.They are called LeEco – formally LETV. The reason I was so keen to go out and meet them was that they were the first manufacturer to release a smartphone with the new …

MWC – Acer Jade Primo hands on

We took a chance to go out to see the Acer booth and whilst we were out there we came across the recently announced Jade Primo Windows 10 mobile. Now we have already covered this one during our IFA coverage from last year. Although we covered it there …

MWC – Remix OS Update

For those of you who have been following the site for a while, you will surely be aware of the fact that I am a massive fan of the Remix OS in all its forms be it the Remix Mini or the Remix Ultra tablet. Well, today I …

MWC – HP Elite x3 Hands on

We posted the news yesterday that HP are re-entering the mobile market with a Windows 10 device. Now we’ve had some time to get hands on with one of the devices. I am very impressed with it but instead of reading my thoughts on it lets see what …

MWC – Sony Xperia X Series

Sony has just finished their announcement for MWC 16 and along with some interesting looking non-phone devices, they released the new Xperia X Series. This series will come in two different versions; the Xperia X and the Xperia XA, there is also a Xperia X Performance but unfortunately …

MWC – Sony press event Live Blog

Today MWC 2016 starts proper and what better way to kick it off than by seeing what Sony have brought to the party. We are on their stand now and looking to see what new toys they have to play with. Rumours are pointing to a new MediaTec …

MWC – What’s in my bag – Garry

It is that time of year again when I jet off to the sunnier climes of Barcelona for MWC (Mobile World Congress for those who don’t know). This year after much ‘will we, won’t we’, we are heading out for 2 days of furious blogging. In fact, as …

Ubuntu on a tablet? Yes please, I will have some of that!

You may remember I tested a few Ubuntu phones last year and I was a little underwhelmed with it. I felt that the software needed a bit more work to give it enough pizazz to take on the likes of Android and iOS in what is already a very …

CheoTech In Car Quick Charger – Review

Now that I am using some very shiny phones I have found that I am in need of a car charger that will keep up with the rapid discharge rate of these high-end handsets. Thankfully CheoTech have come to my rescue with the CheoTech Quickcharge car charger. So …

Moto X Force – Unboxing

Today is an exciting day. I have received a new phone to review. One that comes with a very bold claim. It apparently has a shatterproof screen. Yes, I’m talking about the new Moto X Force. This is a phone that, at first glance, looks unassuming and mild-mannered. However, …

Microsoft Lumia 650 incoming but later than we thought

Microsoft is pushing out a new mid-tier device that is going to be aimed at the business sector, however, we are hearing stories that the expected launch date has been moved from the beginning of February to the middle of the month. The phone sports some fairly basic …

TYLT launch new charger range

TYLT had some new toys to show off at CES this year, and although we were not there in person, we have been given some info about them to share with you. These products will not be out in the UK until about June, but nonetheless they are …

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL – Review

We finally have the Lumia 950 XL on our testbed. We had to wait a long time for this one – it has been nearly two years since the last flagship-spec device from the Microsoft brand. Many people were hoping for a direct Lumia 1020 upgrade, which has …

CES – Huawei Watch range expanded

Huawei has announced that they will be expanding their Watch range with two new models. These have been designed for the fairer sex or those who have skinny wrists – i.e. me! The new watches do add an element of glamour to the proceedings with some bedazzling ornamentation. The …

Huawei launch the Mate 8 Globally – CES

Huawei has been busy at CES this year. They released two new variants of their Watch aimed specifically at the female market, and aficionados of  “Mockadile” (this should keep our resident Pixel Density Enthusiast editor Matteo happy). Huawei also unveiled an update to their tablet lineup in the …

Archos release a bevy of phones in Vegas – CES

CES has kicked off in the Nevada Desert and Archos have been hot to trot in announcing their new handsets to the coming few months. They have actually announced a few phones as part of the new ranges – the Power and Cobalt line. In the Power line …

Acer release a new Windows 10 phone – CES

We first saw this phone being discussed way back in September at IFA, but at that time we were unable to get any hands on time. Now that it is official we can bring you the specs of the phone and it looks good. Specs Operating system- Windows …

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Unboxing

We have one in the house – the infamous Lumia 950 XL from Microsoft. The kind people at Lumia Voices have decided to lend us a review kit with not just the Lumia device, but the full package. This includes a Lumia 950 XL of course, but in …

Remix Mini – Review

Mini PC’s are quite the thing at the moment and seem to be popping up everywhere. Now for a while, these were nothing more than Netbook components being shoved into a small box. However, with the recent developments in Android and, to a lesser extent Chrome, there has …

Coolsmartphone Awards 2015 and Podcast

Welcome to the Coolsmartphone Award Ceremony and Podcast, coming to you, prerecorded from Coolsmartphone Towers. Our team of experts got together yesterday and decided on the best and worst bits of 2015 in order to entertain you and reward/shame those responsible. As with all good awards ceremonies we’re …

“Alexa book me a flight please?” Wait who is Alexa?

Have you ever found yourself talking to yourself out loud and thinking it would be nice if I didn’t need to then dig out the laptop to do what you just said? Weirdly I have. Now, take this concept one stage further and make it useful. Say for …

Pixel C – was it meant to be a Chromebook?

There are some stories doing the rounds at the moment about the Pixel C. They aren’t just reviews and first impressions, but about the origins of the tablet. Let me explain. We know that the Pixel line has long been attributed to Google’s own high-end Chromebook range, and …

Cortana is bridging the OS gap UPDATE

Those of us who use Siri and Google Now will be familiar with the difficulties and idiosyncrasies of using a voice assistant. They sometime work and sometimes….. they don’t. They struggle with regional accents (if you are a Brummie or Glaswegian, you get me). Sometimes they are just …