Category: Android

Going fishing? Try these amazing angling apps

My father-in-law is a keen fisherman. Or angler. Or fish catcher. I’m not honestly sure of the term, but I had a strange and yet straightforward question recently. “Are there any decent fishing apps for my phone?” Well, I’l confess to not knowing the answer to that one, …

Alcohol! Phones! It’s a double win!

Meet me and you’ll soon learn that I have a penchant for beer. Perhaps even the odd cocktail. This love of alcohol has sometimes caused problems though, and when you’re attending a swanky PR launch for a new phone with free alcohol … well, things can get blurry …

Bookee App Review: Tinder for Betting

When I was a lad we used to go and meet girls at the park or maybe at the local nightclub. Now, with powerful smartphones, you simply swipe your finger across the screen. In a way it can be a little disheartening to see everyone communicating via a …

Fancy a Vernee Mars Pro? For free?

There’s 100 of these to review for free and, if you have a look at this page, share the activity, leave a comment on their page, then .. well – you could do all that or you could perhaps buy one instead. The phone is, by the looks …

Design your own smartphone game on paper, then play!

I walked into the kitchen this morning to find my son drawing what appeared to be a platform game on a piece of paper. When I asked what he was doing, he told me that he was designing his own smartphone game. “That’s nice”, I thought, but then …

A Mobile Love Story – Comparing the Galaxy S8 and the LG G6

Smartphone fidelity has not been my strong point lately. In the last 2 years I’ve had got through 6 phones. However, I am generally monogamous, sticking to one at any one time…but I seemed to be now, for the first time, genuinely torn between two different devices. Do …

LG G6+ Launched, plus goodies for existing G6 users

Like the LG G6 yeah? Heard about the new version? Well, it’s just been announced.There’s 128GB in this version and it comes with premium B&O PLAY headphones for the on-board 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC. They’ve also chucked in wireless charging in some countries. It’ll be called the LG G6+ and …

Vodafone Smart V8 and Smart Tab N8 available now

The own-branded Vodafone kit we’ve tested lately actually scores rather well with us and now they’ve announced a couple more devices – the Vodafone Smart V8 and the Vodafone Smart Tab N8. You can get both from the Vodafone website. The V8 has already won design awards and …

Note 8. Maybe the most expensive Galaxy phone yet

According to VentureBeat, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is going to be the most expensive Samsung phone to date. The 6.3″ device is rumoured to have the same edge-to-edge, 18.5:9 aspect ratio, AMOLED infinity display as in the Galaxy S8. The Galaxy Note 8 is rumoured to be …

Honor 9 – Everything you need to know

Live from here in Berlin, we’ve got all the very latest details on the new Honor handset. The first thing you need to know is the price. It’s going to retail in the UK for a mere £379 and will be sold via Amazon, vMall and Three. The …

Honor Launch – Live

Yes, it’s me – I’m actually doing a press event. Early this morning, incredibly sore after my 340 mile ride to Edinburgh, I hopped onto a flight to Berlin. I’m now sat in a (thankfully) very comfortable seat, ready to bring you all the details of the new …

Marcher – Malware Alert

Malware on Android is becoming more popular every month due to the complex nature of the Android vendor model with some many variants, unlike Apple. Marcher is a trojan that is designed to steal your financial details by masquerading as an Adobe Flash update. How the malware is …

Honor 9 and Nokia phones now available to order in the UK

Some exciting news today for anyone awaiting the latest Honor and Nokia handsets as both companies have announced UK availability for their phones. The Honor 9 was announced in China recently and is due to be ‘revealed’ in Berlin next week. Honor is the online subsidiary of Huawei, and …

HTC U11 now in solar red

HTC has just reached out to us to give the news their flagship device; the HTC U11 is now available in a brand new ‘Solar Red’ colour, and it is available from today. The HTC U11 has some great standout features, from the DxOMark-leading camera to the unique ‘squeeze’ …

On the way to Scotland. How about a battered … Galaxy S8?!

I’m on a charity cycle ride right now, heading up to Edinburgh. From England up to the top of Scotland, it’s going to be one very punishing trip. It’ll be my second time to Edinburgh, and I learned quite a bit about the place last time. I visited …

Doro 8020X Overview

If you’re of a certain age the Doro handsets will definitely appeal. They’re simple to understand, easy to use and have an intuitive method of getting tasks done. Some of their line-up, like the 6050 we looked at yesterday, are more simplistic. Other handsets pack further features, such …

Phew. New Nuu A3L for you.

Want to spend less than £75 on your next smartphone? Well, you need to be looking at something like this, the A3L Smartphone from Nuu Mobile. You can put two 4G SIMs in and there’s a 5″ 854 x 480 display. It measures in at 143.8 x 71.8 …

How to unlock Samsung Galaxy S8

How to Unlock Samsung Galaxy S8 If you’ve got one of these sexy new handsets then you’ll have probably gone with a contract deal that has tied you to one network. Some people, though, don’t necessarily want to use the Galaxy S8 on the network they purchased it …

OnePlus 5 – Thoughts from others.

As the live event happens and we start to turn our attention to the new, shiny Oppo OnePlus 4 5 and we begin to longing to get hold of one to review for you lovely readers. Until we do manage to get our hands on one. Here are some video …

OnePlus 5 launch event. Live

Join us for the latest handset by OnePlus. They’re broadcasting the event live, so we all get to enjoy the reveal of the OnePlus 5 together …

The P10. I actually need to keep this one.

Some people get final demand letters. Others get bailiffs. I get emails asking for phones back. See, if you write for a site like this you’ll get very expensive phones sent to you, but you can’t keep them. You have to send them back. It’s no surprise really, …

HTC U11 – Photo special

HTC have dropped out of the limelight of late. Vodafone don’t seem to be ranging any of their handsets and Three are all out of stock of the HTC 10. Whilst playing with their U Play and U Ultra it occured to me that both handsets had pretty …

Time-killing apps for your holiday

Go on, have a look on iTunes and you’ll see over 2 million apps now. That’s a pretty massive selection, and means that everyone in the Republic of Macedonia could have one app each. At the top of the app charts you’ll find a constantly shifting set of …

RCA Android tablets launch in the UK

Following the successful launch of its 2-in-1 affordable Windows notebooks here in the UK, premium audio and video manufacturer Venturer (both of which I have reviewed here and here) have announced a new range of Android tablets under the RCA branding. RCA is a name new to us …

Return of retro gaming!

Right, I will come right and say this I am old. I can remember a time before the internet, before mobile phones and before the home computer had been invented ! I remember when gaming well that was something you did outside with your mates. I have been …

Archos announce a new smartphone line-up

Here comes the summer! Yes, it’s actually properly .. here! To celebrate, ARCHOS have sent us a box filled with ice-creams and lollipops revealed a new range of smartphones. There’s two “Diamond” handsets and two “Sense” phones. First is the Diamond Alpha, which is, according to the company, …

Vodafone Smart N8 now available

Vodafone have today launched their latest own-vranded smartphone, the Smart N8. In a time where you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a great feature-packed device, Vodafone have been producing some of the best for a while now. This is the latest in the range and, …

Honor 9 Official! (In China…)

Honor, Huawei’s brand for the “Digital Natives”, announced their latest flagship in China. The Honor 9 is now official in their home country, with a shiny metal and glass body, dual cameras and familiar chipsets… Here is the full specifications from what we have learnt so far: 5.15″ …

Strava. Huawei. Sort this out. Now.

Remember my old story about getting Strava working on Huawei handsets? It involves disabling the sometimes over-zealous power management on your Huawei phone. Why do this? Well, if you’re running Strava (the running and cycling recording app) on a Huawei phone then the battery control software will see …

Sunnycam Xtreme 1080p HD Video Glasses – Review

You have to be a little careful when describing this particular product. They are a pair of sunglasses with a hidden camera at the front. It sounds a little dodgy if you put it that way. The camera is noticeable, however many won’t spotted on a day-to-day basis. …

EE get the exclusive on the silver Galaxy S8 and S8+

We’ve seen both the Galaxy S8 and the S8+ side-by-side and we’ve covered both in great detail here. If you’re after either, but you want the Arctic Silver one, only EE will be selling it. There’s a bit of a wait if you want this particular shade though, …

Moto Z2 Play and new Mods announced

We recently brought you the review of the Moto Z Play, a mid-range device that stood out from the competition thanks to its fantastic battery life.  Moto have since announced the 2017 iteration of the device, the Moto Z2 Play.  The new phone is an updated version of …

Peli Case for your​ S8/S8+

The new Galaxy S8 and the S8+ handsets are gorgeous. There is no denying that. There are countless blogs and reviews attesting to this. However, this beauty does come at a cost. In testing by the fine people over at SquareTrade it was discovered that the S8 and …

DOOGEE Mix shrinks the bezel. Cheap too.

OK. I’ve caved. The PR people for DOOGEE have mailed me each and every single day for months now. The daily updates range from orchestrated “leaks” and “rumours”, so it’s difficult to know when an actual handset has been announced because I’m buried in their mails. Today though, …

HTC U11 now available on giffgaff

Want the squeezy HTC U11 network unlocked, on the giffgaff where you can adjust your monthly cost as you require? Head to giffgaff where they’re stocking the “Amazing Silver” or “Sapphire Blue” version right now. We’ve got full details on the HTC U11 so, when you’ve checked the …

Smartphones made of glass, lol

Wikipedia lists glass as ‘a non-crystalline amorphous solid that is often transparent and has widespread practical, technological, and decorative usage in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optoelectronics’. Here’s a further list of some things that are made of glass: Light bulbs Drinking vessels Spectacles Greenhouses Ashtrays Smartphones …

Blackberry KEYone – Pretty Pictures

The BlackBerry KEYone is a device we saw being launched in Barcelona at MWC. I’ve had one for a while and a review is coming soon to Coolsmartphone.com. In the meantime, here are some hands on shots of the device, with plenty of greenery in the background.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium now on pre-order with Three

Want to get a shiny new Qualcomm 835-powered Sony Xperia XZ Premium? If you’re looking to get one with Three, you can pre-order it right now. It’s available to buy from June 2nd. Three are offering the handset on their  “Advanced Plans”, which means that you can get the …

Face off – Huawei P10 Plus and the P10

Yesterday we took a look at the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus and yes, those are the “hot” phones at the moment. You’ll no doubt see the S8 advertised no TV, on billboards and pretty much everywhere else. However, I have a certain love for the Huawei …