Category: General

Vodafone 5G to go live on July 3rd

No additional cost and 5G roaming into four European countries, it’s all to come on Vodafone and they’re the network to announce a go-live date. The company will be switching on the new 5G service for all their customer on July 3rd, which is just over 7 weeks …

Three to range OnePlus handsets

Next week will see the launch of the new OnePlus 7 Pro. It’s already slipped out and you’ll be able to play with the thing yourself at a range of pop-up events. However, today we’re hearing that Three UK will be picking up the “OnePlus premium smartphones” very …

The Vodafone Connected motorhome

Over the years we’ve had a couple of mobile HQ’s. In Barcelona we’ve reported from a boat and also from this rather epic camper. Now Vodafone are getting in on the act, adding lots of the their clever connected technology into a motorhome. Vodafone employee Dirk Ellenbeck created …

Huawei P30 Lite now available at Vodafone

If you want a lot of phone for not much cash, the new P30 Lite could well be on your radar. We’ve covered it last month and you can buy the handset direct from places like Argos or Amazon for £329.95. You can also get it from O2, …

Start your DJ career with a DJ Mini Mixer

In my head I’m a talented DJ like Fatboy Slim. Sometimes I try the djay 2 app on my phone and the results are, well.. mixed. Now, however, you can get the app running on two phones and use this Mini Mixer to switch between the two devices. …

Sitting down? Why? Work standing up!

I sit in an office for the best part of the day. Let’s face it, being parked on your posterior isn’t healthy. However, if you drive a computer all day you can choose to stand up instead. So, you just need to buy an entire new desk right? …

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 …

Anker Powerport+ Atom III anounced

Anker has for a long time been working to make charging our devices easier and faster. They have also been striving to make their chargers more universal by utilising their IQ technology in the universal chargers that they make. For someone like myself who is always on the …

Diggit XL Bluetooth speaker. Ideal for your outdoor adventures

I went camping this weekend and, as usual, took a fairly rugged outdoor speaker. However, after seeing this new Diggit XL speaker pop into my inbox I’m fairly impressed by the helpful little addition – a stake. It’ll push into the sand or ground to keep the speaker …

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 …

New EE Smart Plans launched. Here’s the deets!

Say hello to the new EE Smart Plans. They’re a new range of packages which are both flexible and personal. You can choose from swappable benefits, including the EE Video Pass, EE Music Pass, access to the BT Sport app and Extended roaming. Don’t know what the EE …

Fashionable Swedish wireless earbuds announced by Urbanista

They tell me that these £89 Stockholm wireless earbuds are the “pinnacle” in terms of sound output and design. Urbanista have announced them today and you can go ahead and buy the things in one of the four colours on their website. They come with up to 14 …

Virgin Media cranks up the speeds and boosts bundles

Want even faster broadband at home? Well, for £62 per month you can get half a Gig down and 35Mbps up with their Business fibre service. Not only that, but Virgin Mobile – operating on the EE network – are now combining broadband and mobile deals, plus they’re …

Video review – The Wallet Slayer

Last month I took a look at the Wallet Slayer cases from SilkSmartish. You can find them on Amazon USA too, but if you buy from their site, they’ll do international shipping. However, I wanted to show you how these cases worked, because you can carry your cards …

Remote control homes. Getting more clever by the day.

Long-time readers may be familiar with our love of home heating control systems. Back in 2014 we looked at the Nest thermostat, however since then we’ve seen competitors entering the marketplace and more people getting in on the programmable thermostat fun. It doesn’t matter too much about how …

I hope your password is better than 123456

If you stop and think about your online presence, just think how many different sites and apps you log into on a daily basis – each needing a unique username and password. Let’s be honest, most of us use a username that’s also our email address, so for …

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 …

EE goes 5G for Glastonbury

Heading to the Glastonbury Festival on June 26th? Well, EE are going to be the technology partner for the sixth year and will be installing the latest 5G network at Worthy Farm in a landmark trial – creating the UK’s first 5G-connected Festival. A predicted 70 terabytes of …

Revonext RX8 Earphones

Back in February, RevoNext from Sweden launched a series of earphones including the RX8 range. We have had the pleasure of testing them out over the past couple of months and the verdict is in but first a little bit of background. What the Press Release Said… With …

giffgaff celebrates award by… increasing prices

This is awkward timing. On the very same day that giffgaff won the Which? Best Network award for the 7th year running, they’ve also announced that their £5 and £7.50 goodybags will be going up in price. The £5 goodybag will be increasing to £6 and the £7.50 …

giffgaff wins recommended Which? Provider yet again

It’s the 7th year running for the network, which is only 10 years old, and they’ve won the “the Best Mobile Network” award. A lot of “virtual” network operators have claimed the top spots, with Utility Warehouse and Plusnet Mobile coming second and third respectively. They’re closely followed …

The TicWatch S2 and now the AI-powered TicPods. Dive in!

You may have heard of Mobvoi and their TicWatch S2. It’s powered by Wear OS and has a 1.39″ AMOLED 400 x 400 display. Inside, it’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 CPU and comes with 4GB of storage with 512MB of RAM. Plus, it looks bloody …

Ekster – Trackable smart wallets

These are sold in shops like Macy’s and Selfridges and are crafted from the highest grade leather available in Europe. Basically, they’re high-end but they’re also clever too. These are ultra-slim smart wallets which can be tracked and actually run via solar power. Yes, solar power. This means …

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 …

Smartphone usage is on the up, but people are cutting back

Are you showing signs of addiction? Well, even if you class yourself as a “moderate” user, you’re probably using you phone more than you think. Recent research has shown that those classed as a “moderate” user will touch their phones on average 2,617 times per day. I know, …

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 …

Vodafone add 4G to phone boxes across Cornwall

The boys from Vodafone have recently tried some new and interesting ways to expand their coverage. First we saw their mini 4G masts and then they went ahead and put a mast inside a manhole. Now they’re adding 4G to phone boxes, and let’s be honest – I …

Vodafone Gigafast ads get into trouble

As a techy geek, whenever I hear the word “Giga”, I think of “Gigabit”. Indeed, the word itself actually denotes a billion, and it’s got Vodafone into a spot of bother as they roll out their direct fibre solution – Gigafast. The offering is a FTTP (Fibre to …

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 …

The Coolsmartphone Podcast – Now on Spotify too!

We published our first ever podcast, unbelievably, way back in 2012. On Tuesday we’ll be publishing Episode 244. The number 244, as you may be aware, is the dialling code for Angola. It’s also the year that Philip the Arab became the new Roman Emperor. So… ermm.. to …

New mobile phone detectors deployed by police

Using your phone whilst driving? Perhaps you have a cheeky look at it when you’re stuck in traffic or in a long tail-back? Well, beware, because the police are now starting to roll out automatic systems which will attempt to spot your phone usage and then flash a …

Three 5G Update – Second live site now online

Way back in the day, a new network called “Three” appeared on the scene. They were the first 3G network at the time and, if you had a rather bulky 3G video phone, you could do video calls and browse the internet on the move. At the time …

New study reveals big increase in phone usage

It goes without saying that, right now, you’re using your phone. After all, you’re reading this. I’ll be honest, it doesn’t seem that long ago that people used laptops and – yes – desktop PCs. Web designers only spent a small amount of time actually creating a “mobile …

IKEA releases Sonos-integrated furniture

You know Sonos? Right? Yeah. They’re the go-to people if you want some serious sound in your home. Now IKEA have release Sonos speakers which are integrated with their furniture. Called “SYMFONISK”, it includes a table lamp with sound and light in one place, plus a book-shelf speaker …

Free chocolate for Vodafone and VOXI customers!

Afternoon. Hope you’re well. I’ve just been charged £100 for a parking fine. Nice huh? Thanks Euro Car Parks! 🙁 I’m going to eat chocolate to try and feel better. Plus, right now, if you’re a Vodafone or VOXI customer, you can join me. Let’s start with Voda, …

Join VOXI – Even if you’re over 30!

OK, sitrep. Vodafone launched a virtual network called VOXI but you had to be younger than 26 to get one of their SIMs. Then, a little while later, you could get a SIM if you were under 30. They then added a stack of freebies and started selling …

Vodafone donates another £1,000 to local charity

Each month Vodafone dish out cash to a worthy local charity. The Community Connection Awards are a way to give back to the local communities in and around the towns, cities and villages where Vodafone stores operate. Often in partnership with local newspapers, they invite clubs, causes and …