Category: Companies

Carphone Warehouse close all standalone stores

Actually getting your hands on a phone – to touch it and check the dimensions of the thing – is going to get slightly more difficult now. In addition to the obvious coronavirus restrictions, Carphone Warehouse have announced that all standalone stores will close. This means that 2,900 …

MWC – Sony step back too

Mobile World Congress, the usually-massive mobile trade show in Barcelona, is getting quieter by the day as various exhibitors either ditch press briefings, reduce their attendance or cancel completely. This is all due to the continuing coronavirus outbreak, with more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally. LG, …

Get Gapps-exit done. Huawei says, “No going back”

The mighty Huawei and Honor have been properly stuck over the last few months. The delightful and totally sane Donald Trump has put the company into the USB security bad books, and has banned them from working with any US company. That means that upcoming Huawei and Honor …

Huawei to use TomTom maps

Following the embargo placed on Huawei, the Chinese phone company can no longer trade with US companies. It’s effectively received a closed door from Google and all its associated services. To be honest most of the Google services can be replaced – in fact most phone manufacturers have …

Huawei Freebuds 3 earphones – Review

I have always been a bit of a luddite when it comes.to earphones staying true to using the classic Apple EarPods since way back when I had the OG iPhone. I even used to solder the Earpods onto the headphone cable that came with my new phone to …

Microsoft’s anti-trust case was the reason it lost the OS race.

According to Bill Gates that is…. The Microsoft founder today stated he believed Microsoft’s antitrust issues in the early 2000s was the reason for Windows Mobile not being the OS that people use today. When asked about the impact of the Justice Department’s antitrust case. He came out …

Huawei provides words of reassurance for device users

Even if you aren’t a follower of all things interesting, technological and mobile, there’ll little chance that you aren’t noticing the ongoing spat between China and the U.S, with Huawei phones using Android being a casualty. Huawei has been going from strength to strength over the past few …

Groov-e Launch Wireless SoundBuds With Assistant.

Here at Coolsmartphone Towers, we have reviewed Groov-e headphones on a few occasions, and have always been impressed with the sound quality at their competitive price point. Today Groov-e has announced their latest product; the SoundBuds. The SoundBuds feature a ” push to talk feature” which give users …

Huawei update the P30 series

I have been testing the P30 Pro for a few weeks now and in that time I have been very impressed with the phone. In particular, what the camera can do. There was, however, one piece of the phone that wasn’t yet available despite being shown off at …

Is this the best camera phone? Huawei P30 Pro – Review

The time has come, the testing has been done, the verdict is brewing. Is the phone I currently hold in my hand the best camera phone of 2019, and is it worth you shelling out nearly £1000 for one? These are the two questions I intend to attempt …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

MWC – More flexible screens from TCL

So while having a wander of the booths we came across the TCL booth and on the inside of this booth, we saw some very cool looking folding screens. It turns out that TCL has been working with sister company CSOT in the development of flexible screen tech …

MWC – Huawei launch the Mate X Folding phone

So today at their press conference in sunny Barcelona Huawei have taken the wraps of their newest smartphone the Huawei Mate X. This phone is a little bit different as it is showcasing not on but two of the latest bits of tech that will make phone and tablet …

Huawei StorySign investment continues

Kids are the future and we need to keep developing technology that will allow them to develop. This case is even more poignant if children have a disability that will impede their learning. Examples of this include deafness, and this is an area where technology can be particularly …

Huawei P Smart 2019 – Review

I have been using the Huawei P Smart 2019 for a few days now, and itis time for me to put pen to paper and give my opinions of the device. The first thing I want to get out of the way is that this phone shares a …

Huawei are playing with the power of AI again…

Last year we reported that Huawei was using the AI technology that they had developed for the Kirin 970. That time around they were using the AI to help a car recognise and then take action to avoid the objects. We were able to actually see this in the …

Huawei P Smart 2019 – Unboxing

To kick things off for 2019, I have got a new phone from Huawei which went on sale with Vodafone (other networks are available) this morning. The thing that makes this phone all sorts of brilliant is that this is a perfect “New year, New you”-phone. It is …

Pixel 3 – Review

I thought that I would always need a large screen phone, but this has changed my mind. Good Points: Great haptic feedback (really does feel like buttons are being pressed) Amazing camera Feels great in the hand Excellent front-facing dual stereo speakers Gorgeous screen Just runs so well …

HP X2, 2 in 1 Chromebook – Review

A number of writers here at Coolsmartphone Towers predominantly use a Chromebook as our main devices. I have been using an Asus Chromebook flip since its release a number of years ago, and it still runs as fast today as it did the day I bought it. This …

Samsung releases a new high end flip phone.

Nearly a year ago, Samsung revealed a high-end, premium flip phone called the W2018. Well, it appears the company is about to release the next generation: the imaginatively-named W2019. The W2019 has an aluminium body and a Gorilla Glass back, but we unsure if the front and internal screens …

Huawei Mate 20 Pro – The unboxing

As this is Coolsmartphone, we haven’t rolled out our Huawei Mate 20 Pro review just yet because we like to review things in-depth. As is usual, we’ve put our main SIM into the device and we’re using it as our main phone, just as you guys would. However, …

Huawei Watch GT – Gallery Special

Android Wear was no-where to be found on the newly-announced Huawei Watch GT. Instead, and to aid battery life, they’ve gone with Huawei’s own “Lite OS” on a double chipset. Huawei tell us that it’ll have a two week battery life. Yes, two solid weeks. We quizzed Huawei …

Mi Mix 3 ‘leaked’ by Xiaomi CEO

Xiaomi CEO Lin Bin posted an image on the social network Weibo, which is believed to be the Mi Mix 3. This was a much clearer image than those blurry cam pics that had been leaked previously. If this is the Mi Mix 3, we can see that there …

Huawei launch AI Cube and Locator – IFA2018

So alongside the new Kirin980 chipset that was announced today at Huawei’s Keynote their were two IOT based products, the AI Cube and the Locator Firstly let’s look at the Huawei  AI Cube. This is a 4G Router which also doubles as a powerful Soundsystem and AI speaker. This is what …

Huawei Unveil the Kirin 980 – IFA2018

Huawei has chosen their keynote event here at IFA 2018 to Launch their new Kirin 980 SOC which features the first 7nm chip construction. The key stand out features of the chipset are to enable better facilitation of the On Device AI that was introduced last year with …

Huawei Desktop Mode – In action

OK, so this is how the story goes. I was reading the excellent review of the Huawei P20 that Dan had written. Garry had written an equally brilliant P20 Pro review and I was keen to learn more about this whole “Huawei Desktop Mode” thing. So, I had …

Huawei announce press event for IFA 2018

Huawei has formally set its plans for IFA 2018 in motion. Today they’ve started sending out an invites to their keynote on August 31st. The great news is that we will be there to see exactly what Richard Yu will have to share with us. In fact, I’ll …

Iceworks 7000mAh USB Type-C power bank – Review

Good Points: Slimline design Cable included USB Type-C input/output Fast charging for some devices Charge Level LEDs USB Type-C Out Price Bad Points: Fingerprint Magnetic Need to purchase further cables for other device’s. As we use our smartphones more and more each day, we demand more and more …

Anchor Premium Charge & Sync Cable – Revew

“The Last Cable You’ll Ever Need “ Good Points: Lifetime Warranty. Build quality. Interchangeability. Allows both fast charging and data syncing. Super strong. Tangle Free. Oh did I mention the build quality. Bad Points: The strong magnets have a mind of there own. The tips have to stay …

Huawei P20 Pro Review: Is this the best cameraphone?

  As you can see I have made a fairly bold statement up there. That my friends, was not just for clickbait. It was a serious intended question, which during the course of this review I intend to answer. I have had the privilege of testing a few of …

Huawei Porsche Design Mate RS – now available for preorder.

If the standard Huawei P20 Pro is not enough of a stunning visual design with the mind-meltingly good camera then you can now pre-order its premium brother. This come’s in the form of the Porsche Design Mate RS, it has just gone up as available for pre-order with our friends over at Clove …

Huawei P20 camera review

You’ll be forgiven if you had not realised that in addition to the 3-camera behemoth (the P20 PRO) Huawei had also released a slightly smaller handset.  All the attention has so been on the P20 Pro, the bigger device with extra RAM, better water-proofing, an Amoled (rather than …

Battery – 1%. Stressed much?

Does this sight make you nervous? I came across some interesting information when I was out in Paris the other day. Apparently one of the things that we smartphone users stress about most is our battery life.  Now, I am no behavioural therapist, but I decided to do …

Huawei P20 Pro. First thoughts and unboxing

The glitz and the glamour are done, so now it’s time to get the real work done. The unboxing of the P20 Pro. So, let’s dive into the video first and then we can analyse the phone further.. Let’s start at the top of the phone and work …

Huawei unveil the P20 range

Bonjour! We’re in Paris for the launch of the new Huawei handsets. They’ve just taken the wraps off their latest devices – the Huawei P20 and Huawei P20 Pro. We have already seen a lot of leaks about these devices but now it’s time to put these leaks …

Huawei P20 Launch. Watch the live stream!

We are going to be live in Paris at the unveiling event for the new Huawei P20 series of phones shortly. As I type I’m actually under the English channel! We will be tweeting all the news on the @Coolsmartphone Twitter account too. However, if you want to …