Category: 4G

European roaming law gets update – no 90-day limit

OK, story so far then. We’re all fairly familiar with the “bill shock” that comes with a trip across a local border here in Europe. Take a short trip on the Eurostar and your phone suddenly costs a whole lot more to use than it does back home. …

EE Launch “Roam like home”

Hmmm… A roaming service that lets you use your phone abroad for no additional fee? Just as if you were in the UK? We’ve totally never heard of that before, and it’s in no way similar to anything any other network is doing… Today EE, who got the …

Vodafone want to stick brains into your bikini

Sitting out in the sun all day long might seem like a great thing to do, especially when you look out of the office window here in London to see nothing but rain. However, there’s risks associated with this, and Vodafone have been dreaming up ways to keep …

Three launches the bare Essentials

Going abroad is great. Using your phone as a hotspot is great too. However, if you don’t want to use your phone on holiday and don’t often turn it into a portable WiFi hotspot, there’s no real need for you to have a chunky plan which includes these …

Tesco puts a Rocket in your pocket

Want 4G data on Pay As You Go? Tesco Mobile is going to deliver with their new “Rocket Packs”. They’ve been announced just weeks after the virtual mobile network announced a money-saving scheme which reduces mobile bills if you watch some ads. Now they’re offering 4G data on …

dial wearable now on Three PAYG

UK network Three have now made their latest exclusive device the ‘dial’ from will.i.am. It’s available on Pay As You Go for anyone wanting to purchase – no need for a contract. The dial is an interesting idea – making a smartphone with voice assistant available on your …

EE Launch 4GEE WiFi and 4GEE WiFi Mini

Some people call these things “MiFi” units. Basically they’re tiny gadgets that you can pop in your pocket which will fire out a WiFi hotspot for you to connect to. Share the hotspot or keep it secure, it’s up to you, but it can be a life saver …

Vodafone announce Prime 7 and First 7

These days networks are producing their own devices to go on sale at a more affordable price. Vodafone is a key example of this with their great value devices already on sale such as the Ultra and Prime 6. Today the network announce two upgrades to the range …

Possible Oneplus 3 images leaked

Yes I was one of those people that jumped on the invitation merry-go-round to buy the OnePlus One. Oh, and guess what. I did there same a year later for the OnePlus Two. I love OnePlus devices so, when here at Coolsmartphone towers we had a sniff of …

BT investing £6bn in faster broadband

Following on from a reported 15% rise in annual profits to £3.03bn, BT has announced plans to invest £6bn in faster broadband and mobile services over the next three years. The company plans to offer their “ultrafast” broadband to 12 million premises by 2020. With speeds of 300 …

EE announce white S7 and edge exclusive

UK network EE has just sent out a press release confirming they will be exclusively offering the Samsung S7 and S7 Edge in white starting in May. These two devices are some of the most powerful and popular on the market today. Now, with the introduction of a …

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, …

You’re only getting 4G 53% of the time.

According to a report published by OpenSignal and consumer watchdog Which?, smartphone users here in the UK only appear to get access to 4G data speeds for about half of the time on average. From the four UK networks tested, EE was found to have the best 4G …

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 …

Three gives 200MB free data to mobile broadband customers

Fancy getting yourself some free data? Who wouldn’t eh? Three are now offering up a whizzy new mobile broadband deal which will give you 200MB of free data every month. The Data Reward plan give you that “always on” vibe without the need to be tied into a …

Leak – EE SIM Only plans get an overhaul

Three have caused a right old ruckus by tweaking their plans recently and now EE are at it too. However, it looks like this change will actually be quite beneficial for some and perhaps not so much for others. We’ve got a naughty picture from an EE shop …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Three start their SIM sale

Yes, we’re getting emails from PR agencies telling us about January sales already. This one is from Three, who are launching their “biggest SIM sale ever”. They’re offering half price SIM-only deals for as little as £4 for the first three months of a 12 month plan. Not …

Merry Birthday from Three

Christmas time is upon us once again and Three have come out with a cracker of an advertisement campaign (excuse the pun). The new video shows someone who is born on Christmas day and who feels let down that you only get one set of presents instead of …

Huawei Mate 8 specs released

In November, Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei announced their highest specced phone to date, the upcoming Mate 8. On-paper specifications do look mighty impressive. The Huawei Mate 8 is now available for sale, with the promise of better performance and battery life. The device features the new Kirin 950 …

OnePlus makes phones invite free

The most annoying thing about trying to get a phone from OnePlus has been their insistence on using an invite system in order to allow you to buy one of their phones. It seems like there is some good news on that front as for the next few …

OnePlus X – Unboxing

Have you been thinking to yourself, “It would nice to have a handset that didn’t require a backpack or a monolithic battery”? I had the thought occur to me the other day but then instantly dismissed it as nonsense and told my brain to behave itself. Of course bigger …

ZTE Axon Elite – Review

This is the ZTE Axon Elite. It’s a big phone, with a 5.5” inch screen, and it doesn’t feel small in the hand. It shouldn’t either – there’s a lot packed under the hood of this ‘Ion Gold’ coloured beast. I’ve never had serious hands-on time with a …

Nexus 6P – Review

Google’s latest handset has been garnering a lot of interest from the tech world over the last few weeks. In between all the reports of people not getting their orders delivered on time and Google delaying the launch, I managed to secure one for this review. With the …

Does the “butter side down theory” apply to phones?

You all know it the legend that states if you drop a piece of toast, it will land butter side down the vast majority of the time. It has even been scientifically proven by this guy. In a number of tests he ascertained that the majority of falls will …

Black Friday – Honor vMall deals

Honor are as you would expect haveing a bit of a thing for black Friday and are inviting people to claim vouchers through their vMall store to get some tidy discounts off the Honor 7. It seems like the sign-up bonus will discount the price of the Honor …

Forget Black Friday, meet Vodafone Red Thursday

Those canny folk over at Big Red have stolen a march on Black Friday by coming up with Vodafone Red Thursday… to cut a longish story short, Vodafone Red Thursday – today – is offering some pretty neat deals. They’re starting today, but there are more to come …

Xperia Z5 & Xperia Z5 Compact Comparison – Review

The time has come to put Sony’s finest under a microscope and to see what you are getting when you plonk down £610* on the counter. We know that the camera is meant to be the best thing since they made the camera obscura back in the early …

Nexus 6P – Unboxing

Have you ever wanted to have an exquisitely made Android phone that will make those “friends” that have been drinking from the iPhone lake for so many years a little bit envious? Good news then, as you can now get one. The phone I am talking about does …

Moto X Force released

Did anyone else notice that Motorola had released a new phone in the USA over the last few days? Well they did and it was called the Droid Turbo 2. Now Motorola have decided that we UK buyers are also worthy of such a powerful device too, albeit …

OnePlus have a new device… The OnePlus X

OnePlus have been busy as of late and have just launched the OnePlus 2. They have just closed off the reservation list and are busy sending invites out to the millions of people who had registered. Not only that, but there’s flash sales to appease the masses of …

Nexus 5X also available from Expansys

I had the familiar ping of my inbox this morning as I awoke. In amongst all the usual detritus I had an email from our friends at Expansys. It seems that they have managed to secure some stock of the Nexus 5X. The are carrying the 32GB version …

Want a Huawei Mate S? Pre-orders now open

If you were impressed with the Huawei Mate S we reviewed a few weeks ago, then your wait is nearly over. Carphone Warehouse announced today that they are taking preorders for a release next Tuesday. The prices start at £31 per month or £419.99 for a SIM-free unit. …

Three hit the boost button – 4G speeds increased by 50%

We here at Coolsmartphone towers love UK mobile operator Three. They were the first operator to roll out a 3G network here in the UK, plus they rolled out unlimited data and 4G for no extra cost etc. I think nearly all our writers have a least one Three …