HTC 10 – Review
I write this shortly after reviewing the Huawei P9 and, I have to say, the first thing I noticed is how much heavier the HTC 10 is. The P9 is 144g and the HTC 10 is 161g. It might not sound much, but boy – I noticed it …
Category: Android
Ubuntu OTA brings Wireless Display to Meizu Pro 5
Announced yesterday on the Ubuntu site – the Over The Air update 11 for Meizu Pro 5 Ubuntu Edition brings the much delayed full Ubuntu PC experience from a mobile phone handset. In addition to this feature, this update also brings overall performance improvements to the M10 tablet …
An Android TV box – It’s time for me to dive in
Some time ago I nearly got into the whole Android TV Box experience. I’d written this post about how some “fully loaded” boxes are able to deliver Sky TV without you actually paying for it. I’ve not taken the leap just yet, but I have been messing around …
Vodafone Smart Prime 7 Video walkthrough
Right, we’ve got a review of this one coming very soon indeed. However, until then we’ve got another video to show you. This is the up-rated and much thinner version of the Smart First 7 we looked at from yesterday. This is just £50 more expensive than that …
Vodafone Smart First 7 Video walkthrough
In the not too distant past we used to look at £100 Android phones and highlight the fact that the CPU wasn’t that fast, the screen wasn’t that big and they were probably only suited to those who were looking for a straight replacement for an old feature …
Xperia X – Unboxing and first impressions
There is a new Sony hitting the shelves today, it is the much awaited Xperia X that was announced at MWC 16. This is slightly scaled down version of what went before in the form of the Xperia Z5 range. It shares a lot of features of its …
Huawei P9 Plus available at Vodafone
It’s Friday. The Bank Holiday weekend is just hours away and Vodafone have just started selling the Huawei P9 Plus. It’s available in the Quartz Grey colour exclusively from Vodafone. You can get it for £37 per month for a 1GB plan with a £60 up-front cost and …
Honor to honour a 60 day return policy
Buying a smartphone is always a bit of a risk. If I’m honest, there’s a risk of them all looking a bit “samey” and you might not know if the phone is really going to suit your needs or not. Buying online is something else to consider, and …
OnePlus 3 virtually upon us
Pardon the dreadful pun, OnePlus arguably the loudest and most popular of the smaller smartphone players in the market. Two members of the Coolsmartphone team even have a OnePlus handset each! The OnePlus 3 is set to be their next “Flagship Killer” and is looking to be launched …
Amazon Fire 7 down to £39 at Tesco
The sun is out, the sky is blue.. Time for another great gadget deal! This time it’s from Tesco and it’s the 7″ Amazon Fire tablet. It’s now reduced to a pretty unbelievable £39 and you can get it in black, blue or magenta. There’s free delivery or …
Evernote Labs opens to general public
Evernote Labs, the beta community that tests improvements to the Android Evernote application, has opened its doors to anyone who wants to become a beta tester. I have been part of the Evernote beta programme for a while now, and I would recommend anyone who is a regular …
Android Apps coming to a Chromebook near you soon!
You know that we love our Chromebooks. Leigh uses one as his one and only computer. I have recently joined the Chromebook fray and, while I enjoy the near instant-on capability of it, one thing has always bugged me. The Chromebook apps are well, to be blunt, rubbish. Well, …
Motorola unveil the new Moto G series
The Moto G range has always been a stalwart in the budget Android device segment and with their latest release nothing changes on that front. As is expected from my new phone release the specs have taken a bit of a jump, as have the screen sizes. This …
Google I/O – Live feed
Tonight could potentially be very interesting indeed. It’s Google I/O time, which means three days of the latest and greatest Google tech. At 6PM (UK time) we’ll see Google CEO Sundar Pichai kick off proceedings and we’re hoping that those rumours of Android apps running on Chromebooks will …
Getting started with Android Pay – A 6-step guide
Getting started with Android Pay is ridiculously easy and follows similar steps that iPhone users may be familiar with. As Android Pay has only become available in the UK today, we thought it wise to give you a brief look at the setup process, which goes a little …
Android Pay – It’s finally here
MasterCard are first off the line this morning with the announcement that Android Pay is finally available in the apparent sleepy backwater that is the UK. All you need is a compatible Android phone with NFC. It’s not just MasterCard though. Everybody has been in touch with us …
Huawei MediaPad M2 10.0 now on sale
Fancy grabbing the new Huawei MediaPad M2 10″ tablet we reviewed just this morning? It’s now on sale from Currys PC World. The tablet, which we reviewed here, has Harman Kardon speaker technology (which sound, let me tell you, very good indeed), excellent battery life and a slim, …
Five reasons to buy a Chromecast (or another one)
Unbelievably, I’ve had my Chromecast for a couple of years now. Despite my TV and a set-top box having the ability to show stuff from my phone, I still default to the Chromecast. It sits wedged into a random HDMI port on the back of my TV and …
Acer Predator 8 tablet – Hands on & Gaming demo
The Acer Predator 8 is a device we have seen a few times now, but up until now I have not really had a good chance to have a play with it. That all changes today as I am in Belfast with #acerliveblog2016 and they have let me …
Android Pay Entering the UK – Soon
There’s been signs & symptoms of the impending intro of Android Pay into the UK. It’s been in the US for some time and iPhone users have been treated with their phone pay system since last July in the UK. There have been reports of sticky signs popping …
Huawei add the P9 Lite to their portfolio
As you can see in the review we are pretty big fans of the Huawei P9. It now seems that Huawei is going to be making a bigger push into the UK market than we first thought. Coming very soon to a network near you is the P9 …
Win with Honor
Honor have a competition on right now. Perhaps it’s to find the letter “U” from their name. Who knows. What I can tell you is that they’re giving away some limited edition flip cases (they look a bit like this but more .. errr.. limited edition-ee) and some …
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 …
Xiaomi’s Mi Max launched
I am a fan of big screened phones this is something that I don’t try to hide at all. One of my favourite devices of all time was the Xperia Z Ultra from Sony, I have owned 3 of them in the past. I just really liked the size …
EE launch the Jay
Back in the 90’s there was a group called Jamiroquai headed up by Jay Kay. He used to date Denise Van Outen too. Oh, and he owns loads of sports cars. Lucky, lucky blighter. Anyhoo. EE have named a tablet after him and, somehow, I though that the …
Upcoming modular handset from Moto too?
Rumours have been floating around cyber space regarding the 2016 versions of the Moto G. However, a new leak is pointing at a modular Moto X. Yes, another modular phone on the horizon. We are hoping to see this one released over the sunny part of the year. …
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 …
Swytch now offers a weekly mobile deal
You may have already heard about Swytch. Just grab the app and you can instantly have additional mobile numbers piped through to your phone. You can have a line for your business or one for friends. There’s no commitment and, provided you have a fast data connection or …
HTC announces first quarter loss
I’ve got a HTC 10 in my hands right now and, I must say, it’s a strong bit of kit. Whether this phone knows just how much is riding on it is another question though, as the HTC figures (released today) put a lot of emphasis on this …
Three change their mind – The LG G5 arrives
When we were in Barcelona ogling over the LG G5, we were contacted by most of the usual networks to say that they were ranging it. However… we noticed someone who wasn’t coming to the LG party. Three. We got in touch, and they told us that they …
Vodafone now selling the Huawei P9 on the cheap too
Consider, for a moment, the fact that the Huawei P9 (unlocked) is £449 to buy on the Huawei store. Now, if you head across to the Vodafone site, you can get the phone on Pay as you go for just £300! Don’t forget that that giffgaff are also selling …
Huawei P9 now available at giffgaff
How does £17.06 per month sound for a top-end phone on a 2 year deal? Well, even with the addition of a £10 monthly goodybag on giffgaff it’s still pretty good. The Huawei P9, which we’ve already looked at in detail, is available to buy out-right on the …
Is HTC finally about to release a smartwatch?
This has got to be one of the longest-running rumours of the tech world. The first suggestions that HTC were working on some sort of smart wearable surfaced back in 2014, when a picture of this appeared online: Even by 2014 standards it wasn’t the most glamorous of …
Minecraft on Gear VR
Minecraft. Everyone in the world seems to be on it. It’s getting more interesting now, especially for the ones looking at a more immersive ways of playing the game. How does it sound to be in the middle of the world you’ve just built, or exploring a …
Google’s making Android Wear Mode straps
Google has recently announced that it is making straps for nearly all the Android Wear variants out there. It’s called ‘Mode’. Not sure why. Not happy with providing only software for the Wear devices, Google has now ventured out into the hardware side of things for …
Player FM update brings cool new functionality
Podcasts have exploded in popularity since they first came onto the scene in the early 2000’s. The move to smartphones and busy lifestyles with commuting, has only increased this popularity to the extent that phones seem to have become the main medium for consuming them. In such an environment, a good …
Blocking nuisance calls – CPR Call Blocker now in an app
Remember the CPR Call Blocker that we reviewed some months back? That gadget plugs into your home phone and, with the help of an in-build database and a one-button blocking system, you could get rid of nuisance callers. However, it’s not just your home phone that gets those …
Chromecast Audio, back again for £15
Hey you Coolsmartphoners! If you guys and gals have been out in the wilderness over the Bank Holiday weekend partying, here’s a great deal that might not have caught your bleary eyes. The ever-fantastic Chromecast Audio is out there for a mere 15 quid again, if you missed …
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge – Case reviews
Choosing your next smartphone is a big decision. With different storage options, colours and sizes now available it can be no easy choice to make. However, protecting your phone can be just as important, and this gets even more complicated with the hundreds of options available to keep …
LG Stylus 2 first DAB radio equipped smartphone coming to O2
UK carrier O2 has announced they are going to exclusively carry the new LG Stylus 2, which is the first smartphone with DAB radio support*, meaning you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite radio stations without using your data allowance. The device is available right now on O2 …