Category: Android

Wileyfox launches three new Android smartphones

Just a few days ago we found our Wileyfox launch invite. It had arrived in a lovely shiny plastic envelope and we kinda assumed it was junk mail. Doah. Anyway, down in London Wileyfox went ahead without us. They even handed out Fox’s Biscuits. Geddit? Fox? Fox’s ? …

Vodafone Platinum 7 – Review

Imagine having a smartphone made of metal and glass, beautiful design, a great quality 16 megapixel camera, 2K resolution display and a fast fingerprint reader on the back. Now think what a device like that might cost you? £400? £450……….. Well, what if I said you can have …

Vodafone Smart first 7 – Review

Honestly. £20. It’s all bonkers isn’t it? This, as I’ve said before, is an Android phone that would’ve cost you £100 only a very short time ago. Now you can purchase a smartphone for a mere £20. Let’s get some things out the way. This is entry level. …

ZTE Axon 7 hands on – MWC Shanghai

They only announced that this would be available the other day, but us being eager beavers here at Coolsmartphone (and with me being in Shanghai), I thought it would be worth a visit to ZTE. Before we get into that though let’s see what this thing is all …

Phones that will revolutionise mobile gaming

Every year mobile gaming becomes more involved and sophisticated with new games, better ways to play them and even greater connectivity with friends through social media. And, as this march of progress continues, the technology to play the games on moves forward too. At the forefront of these …

666 is the Legacy of the Beast!

For those lucky few who caught our live broadcast last week, you will know we have had a copy of Legacy of the Beast. This is a game dedicated to the British music legends, Iron Maiden. The game celebrates every single album by taking you through worlds based on …

Note 7 Iris scanner rumour looks more promising

According to the inter-web rumours, the next iteration of the Note series the Note 6…sorry the Note 7 (I don’t know either), is rumoured to have an iris scanner.  Now it appears that this latest rumour may have a bit more substance,m and good old leaker @onleaks (who has a …

Emojis – Even I’m using them now

There was a time, not too long ago, when I’d be pretty annoyed at using an emoji. My wife loves them, but when she sent me a text message my phone wouldn’t be able to understand it and I’d just get a stack of question marks where the …

Your home, in your hand…

You’ve seen a few of our recent camera reviews covering security gadgets for your home. Most of the time it’s security cameras, but they’re not always the fixed ones we’ve checked out – we’ve also used our smartphones to control cameras, to control the heating and more. Home …

HTC app update kills HTC One M8 and M9 camera

On June 27th HTC updated this app. It’s called the “HTC Service PNS”, and is basically their push client supporting HTC services and apps. Since this got updated HTC M8 and HTC M9 owners have started having problems with their camera app. HTC 10 owners seem unaffected so …

OnePlus threaten to increase prices as a result of #Brexit

Errr… so, we’ve been sent quite a few “announcements” from companies following the EU referendum last week. The information we’re getting is sometimes contradictory, sometimes wrong and sometimes biased. Pretty much, you might say, like the whole campaign has been to date on both sides. Anyhoo, we’ve got …

Evernote reduces free users to only two devices

A post on the Evernote site posted on Monday 28th June states that Evernote Basic, the free tier from Evernote, will be limited to only two devices. This accompanies a price change for the paid levels, with Evernote Plus now costing £29.99 per year and Evernote Premium £44.99 …

Google changing the smartphone game

The Telegraph in the UK have reported that Google are looking in producing their own smartphone. This is different to what we have been used to as the Android creators previously left the manufacturing to other huge names like Samsung, HTC and so on. We also have the Google …

Vodafone launch another own-brand smartphone – The Smart ultra 7

OK, it’s been a busy few days. We’ve left Europe, but Scotland wants to stay, as does Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. The opposition is crumbling, the pound has tumbled to a 31 year low, the markets are in turmoil, the people behind the “Leave” camp have disappeared and …

OnePlus 3 – Review

OnePlus seem to have been in the news quite a lot recently, and this time it seems to be for all the right reasons. No over the top, morally and ethically questionable campaigns or events this time. It’s all about the OnePlus 3, the third flagship from the …

EXCLUSIVE – Yes, yes. The OnePlus 3 IS coming to O2

So, while I was mourning the loss of our Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (it’s only lasted a week and there seems to be some issue with the graphics driver), I received another email. It was from our mysterious, but trusted, source. The same one who mentioned that the …

OnePlus 3 coming to O2?

OK, I’ve had a pretty cryptic email from an anonymous source. It says that the OnePlus 3 is going to be ranged by O2 and will be in stores soon. Anndd…. that’s about it.. Sorry, that’s all we know so far. We’ve got no real evidence just yet, …

Doro 8030 – Review

A smartphone can be a scary proposition for some. It’s like being asked to perform brain surgery for a certain section of society and it’s something that they’ll run from. Why? Well, they’re older. Age will happen to all of us, but put a modern smartphone in front …

Vodafone Smart platinum 7 now available

Remember that Smart platinum 7 we told you about just days ago ? It’s now available to buy for just £295 on Pay As You Go or from a mere £28 per month (with a £20 up-front charge) on contract (1GB data, unlimited everything else). In addition, you’ll …

Honor 5C Announced

Oh I like this. Honor have sent us pictures of their new Honor 5C outside, next to a river. Perhaps James took it to the pub and snapped some photos? Well, perhaps that’s a topic we’ll need to talk to him about over a cold beer. This is …

Motorola Moto G4 – Now available to buy

The Moto G handsets have always been known as good value and good quality phones. Now, the Moto G4 that we covered a short while ago is available to buy. Expansys have it unlocked for £168.99 and John Lewis for £159.95. You can also find it for £156 …

Jide Announce its next Remix, the Remix Pro

It has been a bit of time since we last heard any news from Jide (the makers of Remix Ultra Tablet and the Remix Mini). They have been working very hard on a few different projects and building their portfolio up. So, what have they been working on so …

Moto phones get their own Motorola Camera app in the Play Store

Why is this a thing worth mentioning? There’s a camera app specifically for Motorola phones (called surprisingly enough, Motorola Camera). It largely depends on whether you have a Motorola phone or not. More precisely, whether you have, or intend to get, one of the 2016 crop of Motorola …

Panasonic goes rough with the ToughPad FZ-A2

Our smart gadgets are great, that’s for sure, but they break all too easily. In the end, if you’re going to use a tablet or smartphone outside of a soft, cushioned room; you’ll need to wrap it in a case or a cover and definitely never ever drop …

Facebook Messenger Now Does SMS

Are you someone who lives in Facebook Messenger? Would you like to spend even more time in the app? Well after the latest app update, you can now set Facebook Messenger to be your default SMS app (if you are on Android). For now iOS users can’t set …

OnePlus keep the punches coming with the OnePlus 3

I was recently on holiday and when I returned I found that this strange contraption was waiting for me in my hallway. Now for those of you who have followed us a for a while, you will no doubt be familiar with what this is. It is, of course, …

SIRIN LABS open up their Mayfair store for SOLARIN buyers

Hop off at Green Park or Bond Street and, if you want to buy a new smartphone with military-grade security, it’s probably best that you only look through the window of the new SIRIN LABS store at 34 Bruton Place in London. Why? Well, chances are that if …

Vodafone launch the Smart platinum 7

From Monday 20th June you’ll be able to get this, the new branded device from Vodafone. It’ll cost just £300 on Pay as you go, or you can get it on contract. Prices start at £28 per month for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of UK data. That’s …

It takes two to Tango – Phab2Pro announced

Earlier you hopefully found our post about the Moto Z family and the snap-on Moto Mods. You probably thought, “Oh, what a fantastic website that is, I must follow them on Twitter and then hunt down that “Gears” fella and buy him lots of beer, he’s doing a …

Vodafone Smart Prime 7 – review

The great thing about the Android operating system is manufacturers in all shapes and sizes can produce some decent hardware at a low price. This is enabling networks to jump on board too, and they’re making some of their own branded phones. Network-branded smartphones are not a new …

Welcome to the Moto Z family

Did you watch the live announcement? If not, you can watch it all again here. Anyhow, come close, because we have to get one thing out of the way… Say goodbye to that 3.5mm audio port. Yes, I know. I know. Moto appear to have beaten Apple to …

Moto announcement – Live

Lenovo told us to head to their Tech World event and watch the keynote. It’s happening live, right now in Silicon Valley and, during the second hour (scheduled to be 7PM BST here in the UK), they’ll be making a big announcement involving Moto. What is that announcement? …

Monitoring a smartphone, without revealing yourself

We’ve covered monitoring solutions in the past and, as I’ve pointed out previously, there’s a number of reasons why you’d want them. First though, let me explain a bit more, because the one I’ve been looking at here will monitor phone activity and report back – all without …

Twitter for Android goes Material Design

The Twitter app for Android has gone Material Design (and we really do like it). In case you don’t know, Material Design is Google’s design language for web and native applications. Since Android 5.0 (Lollipop), Material Design has also been the design language of Android. Google’s own apps …

Get 20% Off Selected Kindle eReaders

It’s that time of year again: you’re looking forward to spending some relaxing time outdoors reading while the weather is half-decent. Amazon must be mind readers (as well as purveyors of fine Kindle eReaders), so they have launched Summer Deals which has 20% of selected Kindle eReaders.   …