Category: Android

Oppo Reno – Up close

We mentioned the fact that the Reno 5G was, in the UK at least, scheduled as an exclusive to EE. However, Jonathan Morris, from the excellent jmcomms.com, has sent over some more pictures of the Reno range, including the new Reno 5G. It shows that cool motorised pop-up …

Oppo Reno 5G announced. Exclusive to EE.

Just a short while ago we told you about the upcoming Oppo Reno. Now it’s confirmed, and it’s got 5G too. Here in the UK it’ll be EE with the exclusive, and they’ll have it on sale later this year. It’s the first 5G handset from Oppo, but …

Illegal streaming. Most people have no concern.

There was a time when people used to look down on online gambling. However, now it’s a perfectly acceptable pastime, especially when you consider the amount of online casinos and bingo sites. Some of these get advertised in the day too, and you’ll find that there’s a lot …

Some of the best Monopoly smartphone games

  It’s the Easter holidays, so I’m doing my best to ensure that my son isn’t stuck to his smartphone all the time. Today it’s resulted in him bringing out a whole load of board games. We’ve had the infamous “Mousetrap”, plus “Buckaroo”, “Scrabble”, ”Trivial Pursuit” and, of …

How APK sideloading became mainstream

Here at Coolsmartphone we download pretty much everything for our Android phones via the Google Play Store. There’s over a million apps and games available there, and they’re all categorised and reviewed. For years though, all Google Android phones have been able to “side load” apps. This means …

Total phone content protection and monitoring. SpyMyPhone.

Just recently I’ve been looking for a way to keep tabs on my son. He’s just got his first ever proper smartphone and, although I don’t want to snoop on him too much, I do want to ensure he’s safe. One app that has pinged my radar is …

Samsung Galaxy Fold delayed

Last week we told you about the rather poorly Galaxy Fold handsets. Broken hinges, busted displays and a peel-able screen protector that, if removed, breaks the screen. Now Samsung have pushed back the launch of their new folding device in order to “fully evaluate the feedback and run …

EMUI 9.1 coming to stacks of older Honor and Huawei kit

Based on Android Pie, EMUI 9.1 is the latest iteration of the Huawei / Honor skin. The newest version brings the incoming call videos we mentioned just the other day, plus improvements to GPU Turbo mode, voice assistants triggering via the power button and much more. The latest …

Strategies for referral SEO

So, you’ve spent hours, days, weeks and months developing your mobile app. You’ve carefully crafted it. You’ve made a beautiful interface, and it’s really, truly useful. You’re rightfully proud of your creation but you’re about to hit your biggest problem. After uploading, adding a graphic, a video and …

Vodafone to range the Xiaomi Mi 9 and Huawei P30 Lite

Two new phones have been confirmed by the Vodafone network here in the UK. First, the Xiaomi Mi 9 is coming. This runs Android 9 and has a 6.39″ 19.5:9 Full HD+ OLED display. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 CPU and an Adreno 640 GPU. There’s …

Samsung Galaxy Fold units breaking already.

Oh dear. Some serious problems for Samsung this morning as first users of their Galaxy Fold experience broken hinges and flickering displays. This is not what the company wanted at all. Before I type another word, I should mention that a proportion of the problems appear to be …

Nokia 1 Plus now available in the UK

A Nokia handset for less than £90? Interested? Well, today you can go and get one. It’s powered by Android 9 (Go Edition) and is a great first smartphone for those wanting to move on from the traditional feature phone. The Nokia 1 Plus (details here) has 1GB …

Unboxing the Huawei P30 Pro

Normally when we get a phone to review, one of the first things that we do is an unboxing. However, with the P30 Pro we decided to mix things up a bit. Dan was able to use the phone for a short period of time before he departed …

NOA Opens their first European store

If you’ve seen our NOA handset coverage and you want to learn more, you can head to their website. However, they’ve now opened their first physical store in the EU. It’s the first over 100, with 15 alone planned for Ireland alone. Their first outlet is within Swords …

Possible May release date for the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro

If you’re a long-time reader, you’ll probably already known that I am an avid OnePlus fan. I’ve had every device from the Chinese manufacturer and, if the the company are keeping to their previous device roll-out schedules, the next “Flagship Killer” shouldn’t be that far away. As always …

The benefits of using a VPN on your smartphone

OK, so you’re a bit worried browsing to certain places on your phone. If you’re using the work WiFi then they’ll be tracking you. If you’re using the free WiFi at the local coffee shop then, yes, they might be snooping. You can’t be sure that the information …

The Huawei P30 Series expands. Welcome, the P30 Lite.

Yes, it looks a bit like the Honor 10 lite but this is actually the new Huawei handset and, like the upcoming Honor 20 Series, Huawei have a numbered series of handsets too.. errmm.. and this is the P30 Series. Confused yet? Well, following the excellent P30 Pro …

New HONOR 20 Series incoming

The naming convention is getting me a little confused this early on a Monday morning. We’ve already had the excellent Honor View20, which I reviewed here and loved. Now, though, it looks like there’ll be more “20 Series” phones coming soon. Honor have put out this launch notification …

Another look at the Huawei P20

Yes, the P20. Sure, I know that the P30 and the P30 Pro are the new kids on the block, but let’s not forget just how good the P20 is. Dan reviewed it last year and was mightily impressed, however now you’re going to see it get a …

Is the death knell sounding for Google Play Music ?

On 30th April this year, Google is planning to close down the “Artist Hub” of the Google Play Music service. “What’s the Artist Hub?” I hear those of you who use Google Play Music ask. The Artist Hub is a tool that allows smaller/independent artists to stream and …

Get your P30 and P30 Pro at Vodafone right now

So, you like the look of the P30 handsets? Well, head to the overview from Dan if you’re wanting to know more about it. However, as mentioned on my network comparison piece you can get it on Vodafone too. They’re going to be pimping the Red Entertainment plans, …

Huawei P30 Pro – My first week

Intro So it’s been just over a week now since I got back from Paris, and more importantly the Huawei P30 Pro launch I was invited along too with Huawei and some other journalists/bloggers. Having been using a Mate 20 Pro since the launch event at the end …

Pixel 2 & 2 XL official sales cease

If you are hankering after last year’s Google flagship from official channels i.e. Google’s own page, well it appears this can longer be done. If you pop over to the Google Store and search for either the Pixel 2 or the Pixel 2 XL, the devices are no …

Honor UK changes to Honour UK?

How long have we mentioned this eh? I suggested it to the Huawei bosses when I was in China and we asked them again on our podcast… Joking aside – that was a question we asked when we interviewed them for the CSP podcast. — John M (@GreyingGeekJohn) …

Reno by Oppo a new take on the front camera

According to internet Slashleaks, the Chinese device manufacturer Oppo’s latest device named “Reno” has a new take on the front-facing camera. Like some others, the Reno has a pop up front camera, but the Reno’s unique front camera design means that the camera will apparently fit into a …

The Samsung Galaxy Fold bend test. Strangely hypnotic.

That clever folding Samsung smartphone looks beautiful, no denying that. However, deep down we’re all thinking, “Surely it’s going to develop a crease or crack somehow?” I tend to use my wallet as an example. It’s got folds and stretches all over it so, despite what my head …

Say hello to the Samsung Galaxy A70

The fairly random “A range” of Samsung devices don’t usually get the same level of coverage as the Galaxy S handsets, so let’s take a look at the new Samsung Galaxy A70 which was announced yesterday. This one has a 6.7″ FHD+ (1080×2400) Super AMOLED Infinity display with …

Huawei P30 and P30 Pro – Deals and opinion

OK, so after the leaks we got a look at the P30 and the P30 Pro from Huawei here in Paris. As we expected, there’s a clever camera setup with a 10x zoom. The P30 Pro gets a Leica Quad Main Camera, whilst the P30 has a Leica …

Huawei announce P30 Series in Paris

Huawei have today announced the brand new P30 Series here in Paris and both devices come with a very impressive set of specifications. The headline of the two is of course the Huawei P30 Pro which takes mobile photogrophy to another level thanks to the improved four camera …

Samsung Galaxy S10 Range – Hands on

Right, if you’re at the end of a contract or thinking about buying an additional phone, the Galaxy S10 range could well be on your radar. We’ve covered all the Galaxy phones during Mobile World Congress, but I think it’s worth looking again at the hands-on overview we …

EE to take the Samsung Galaxy Fold

It’s not the Mate X. Not yet anyway, but EE have now picked up the Samsung Galaxy Fold and will be selling it here in the UK very soon. EE will have the network exclusive, while Samsung will be making the Fold available on the Samsung Online Shop …

Another leak, another peek. The Huawei P30

The launch is literally hours away now, but we’ve already had a really good look at the phone courtesy of the Huawei website itself. The particular page where the beans were spilled has now gone offline, but we know that there’s a Super Sensing Leica Quad Camera, a …

Want to know about the Huawei P30 Series? Well, here you are…

I’m a little confused by this one, because I’ve just spotted a whole load of stuff about the yet-to-be-announced Huawei P30 Series. It’s to be revealed at a very posh launch event in Paris on Tuesday next week (March 26th). Trouble is, Huawei themselves have already revealed the …

Get yourself a virtual personal trainer

Wanna get fit? Well, you could join a gym, but that can be pricey (I’m looking at you David Lloyd Leisure.. £100 a month!? Waahh??). So today marks the launch of, according to Kaia Health the “world’s first virtual personal trainer”. It uses unique motion tracking technology to …

Enjoy the full experience of Fortnite

If you’re a Fortnite fan, then you’ll probably be aware of a few things. First, the buzz around this game just doesn’t seem to fade. It’s still as popular as it always was and now, with the addition of Android and iPhone versions plus cross-platform multi-player, it’s taken …

A fun way to get your kids brushing properly.

Kids love sweets, so ensuring that they’re brushing their teeth regularly is key. You can’t always monitor this, so PlayBrush is a great way to create a solid dental cleaning routine. Instead of making brushing teeth a chore, the 2 minutes task can now be made fun thanks …

More time with the Mate X and 5G news

I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to get a little bit more hands-on time with the Huawei Mate X. I thought I would take some time to give you my initial thoughts. Before I dive into that first thoughts I must remind you that …

Amazing new Google Walking AR directions heading your way

I’ll be honest, this popped up the internet last month but we were a little busy with Mobile World Congress at the time. This, then, is what you can hopefully expect to see on your Google Maps in a few months time. Right now it’s only available to …