Category: Android

My Time with the Samsung Galaxy S4

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of using the HTC One and when my time with it was up I just knew what phone I had to get next. It just had to be the Samsung Galaxy S4. I had heard a lot of fuss online about …

OPPO Find 5 now in stock and available on next day delivery

If you’re a regular reader of Coolsmartphone you’ll have heard of the OPPO Find 5, if not then I suggest you: a) check it out and b) become a regular reader! The newly released handset is blessed with what is arguably the best 5-inch, full HD screen on …

Huawei Ascend P6 hands on at London launch event

Beauty is worth waiting for, according to Huawei who announced their new Ascend P6 Android phone yesterday in London. I was there to represent Coolsmartphone, which meant that I got to have a play! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, is a more common term.  I …

HTC announce the Butterfly S

HTC have revealed The Butterfly s with a 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, UltraPixel camera sensor, at its Taiwan launch event. It’ll arrive boasting an identical-sounding 5-inch 1080p display, front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers and Sense 5. There aren’t any official images yet, these were leaked last week. The specs …

Huawei Device show off the last version of Emotion UI

Emotion UI is the skin that Huawei apply over Android. Love it or hate it Android skins are here to stay. Especially as Huawei said yesterday that there wouldn’t be a Google Edition of the P6 as Emotion UI was good enough. Huawei have posted the following video …

Watch the Huawei Ascend P6 event highlights here

As is customary these days, manufacturers film their press events and either live stream them or publish a highlight video afterwards. Yesterday after Huawei unveiled the Ascend P6. The details about the Ascend P6 are here. Our hands on article is coming soon, once Ronnie has woke up. …

Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini – Pre-order and get a free tablet

The nice people at Phones 4u have just let us know about an offer they have on. Right now, if you pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini from them you’ll receive a free 7″ Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. The S4 Mini is available free from just £27 per …

Tapatalk for Android and iOS is now Free

Here at Coolsmartphone we love bargains and there’s nothing better than something for nothing. At the moment the fantastic forum app Tapatalk is now free. If you subscribe to a lot of Forums Tapatalk is the app for you as puts all your posts into one place with …

Rearth Ringke Fusion case for Samsung Galaxy S4 – Review

Phone cases are a part of my daily routine, wake up, pick which phone case to use, get out of bed, brush teeth, itch, you know, all the normal stuff. I find phone cases fall into three different types. Minimal – minimum protection, no shock absorption, no screen protection, …

Huawei announce the Ascend P6

This afternoon we are attending the unveiling of the Huawei Ascend P6 and they’ve gone and published the press information a little bit earlier than the event. So here it is the Huawei Ascend P6. Spec wise the P6 is pretty good. – 1.5GHz quad-core processor – 4.7-inch …

Android App Review – Yandex Shell

Many many years ago SPB used to make apps for Windows Mobile. The had something called SPB Shell, it was basically a launcher for Windows Mobile. Me and millions of others enjoyed it. Fast forward a few years and SPB have been bought out by Russian Search Engine …

Beauty Worth Waiting For

Feathers, a Dragonfly, water droplets and  snowflakes. What could it all mean? What we do know is that this afternoon we will be at the Huawei event in London and whatever they unveil we’ll be on hand to show you. It is almost definitely going to be the …

Vodafone Smart III Android phone – Review

The Vodafone Smart III is a budget Android phone (real name Alcatel 975), designed to introduce the world of smartphones to those who haven’t discovered it yet. It’s fun, colourful and comes with some innovative thinking behind it. However, does it justify its £95 price point on pay …

Otterbox Commuter case for the Samsung Galaxy S4 – Review

I’ve said this many times before, or something similar anyway. An expensive phone deserves a decent case So when the Samsung Galaxy S4 arrived on my desk the first thing I did was get a case for it. Over the years my go to brand has been Otterbox …

Samsung to release a faster Galaxy S4, but what will they call it?

Samsung have said that there will an updated version of the Galaxy S4 released. With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip and LTE Advanced, meaning not only will the phone be faster but the internet speed will be a whole lot faster too (on compatible networks). J.K. Shin from …

Popular CPU identification utility CPU-Z is now available for Android

People have been getting information about the CPU of their computers using CPU-Z for a good few years now. Now they can continue using it but on their Android devices. Android version of the popular CPU identification tool for PC/Windows., CPU-Z is a free application that reports information …

Motorola X Phone specs leak – more like a meh-phone?

The Motorola X Phone seems to be a mythical beast. Ever since Google bought Motorola Mobility early last year there have been rumours of some sort of amazing Google phone being produced by Motorola. Would it be a Nexus? Will it be the most powerful phone ever? Will …

Despicable Me for Android is now available

Despicable Me was a great film and the Minions for me made it a bit better. Most people you talk to about the film refer to them at some point and what better way to get people excited about the upcoming sequel Despicable Me 2? Release a game …

Asus Nexus K009 tablet takes a visit to FCC for approval

Asus look to be building on the success of their original Nexus tablet, if newly published FCC test results are to be trusted. They’ve been playing about with a tablet that’s referred to as the Nexus K900. Tech specs aren’t quite high-end, but still pretty juicy, pointing towards …

Huawei Ascend Mate – Review

Pop along to any major supermarket and you’ll no doubt find a bargain-basement 7″ tablet. Those cheap tablets will usually have a fairly large frame around the edge of the device but, for keeping the kids entertained, they will do. Now, imagine lopping less than an inch off …

HTC want your help

HTC are doing some market research and they’d like to hear from you. You’ve just pulled out your HTC smartphone, but what are you going to do with it? Are you looking for news or updates from social media? Perhaps you’re just checking email or text messages? That’s …

eBay for Android gets an update to include tablet support

I like it when big name companies update their apps to follow guidelines for design. I also like it when big name companies add tablet support for their apps. So when I saw the new eBay app update I was quite happy. They’ve only gone and done both. …

Watch a real person use the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

Yesterday the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom was announced. It seems to be becoming a marmite device, some people like it and some people hate it. Personally I think there is definitely a need for a product like this, it’s just for me the design seems a bit off. …

Google Cloud Print for Android is released

Printing should be easy, press print and you’re done. It never seems to be the case though. Especially if you’re trying to print from a mobile device. In the past Google Cloud printing has been a matter of setting up your printer and pc and then relying upon …

Slow motion video with the HTC One

Cameras on our mobile phones seem to be the be all and end all of life these days. It is how we capture moments of our lives to remember them later on down the line. The HTC One has a great camera and it has a few method …

Do you want to see the Samsung Galaxy S4 get roughed up a bit

Most modern day handsets have to be stress tested. To see quite how much of a battering they can take. Accidents happen, both to us and our possessions. We cannot prevent every mishap, but we can prepare for the worst. Smartphones can be used anywhere and everywhere, and …

Samsung Galaxy S4 v Apple iPhone 5 – What is the best option?

Two of the biggest and best smartphones available on today’s market are the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Apple iPhone 5. With both devices possessing impressive performance specifications, immersive touchscreen displays and multi-tasking capabilities, it is certainly a close battle. So, here is a comparison of two smartphone …

Motorola RAZR HD – Deal

Remember last year Motorola announced a few phones and didn’t really bother to try and sell them in the UK? they left it to retailers like Expansys to sell them instead? Well if you always liked the look of the Motorola RAZR HD then now might be your …

Vodafone Smart III Android phone – Initial Impressions

The Vodafone Smart III (aka Alcatel 975) is an entry level Android smartphone with an eye on those who want something a little different; something fun, functional and funky (you can have that one, Apple, if you’re after a tag-line for iOS7!). I’ve got one for a week, …

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom now official

Well, we expected it, you all saw the leaked images. It’s the love child of the Samsung Galaxy Camera and Samsung Galaxy S4. That x10 Optical Zoom camera is a 16 megapixel unit and has “enhanced SMART modes, IOS 24-240mm, F3.1-F6.3″ (I’m guessin gthat the photography buffs will understand that. …

Google Buys Waze

It has been reported that Google has bought the social mapping/GPS app Waze. Never used Waze? Well, we’ve been tracking it for a while now and reviewed it in 2011. Waze is a free GPS app that’s available on both iOS, Android and Windows Phone, but it’s star …

Retro, baby – Snake is back!

Do you remember Snake? Back in the days of the earlier Nokia handsets I remember playing the brand-new “Snake” game in the pub… oh, no sorry.. err.. I mean I was in Primary school. Yes, that’s where I was. Now, just a couple (ahem) of years later Carphone …

Huawei Ascend P2 exclusive to Phones 4u … in white

There’s no denying it, Huawei make some very good phones. The Ascend P2 is just around the corner now and Phones 4u will have an exclusive onthe little blighter in white. The handset, which you can pre-order it on their website now, features a 13 megapixel camera, 1.5GHz …

Tim Cook calls Android “a pretty bleak story”

On stage yesterday the Apple CEO stood to talk to developers about why they should choose iOS over anything. Mentioning competitors directly, he showed the OS version fragmentation on Android and compared it to iOS. Some 93% of iOS users have iOS 6, whilst on Android there’s a …

Lorain Wong joins HTC as Vice President of Global PR

A few people have left HTC recently and now they’re continuing with the re-shuffle. Meet Lorain Wong, she’s going to report directly to Chief Marketing Officer, Benjamin Ho. Wong will be in control of public relations, media and analyst relations and corporate communications. Let’s hope that she can …

OPPO Find 5 Mini – 3.7 inch 720p coming to Europe in July?

OPPO aren’t a household name, but they’re starting a bit of a stir in the world of Android with the OPPO Find 5. Well, now it seems that there’s a little’n on the way – the Find 5 Mini. We’re still at the rumour stage with this one, but …

Casemate Tough for Xperia Z review

Another month and you know what that means, it is time for me to get a new case for my Xperia Z. Those of you who have read my precious reviews will know that I have been using a Leather book style case for my phone up until …