Category: General
Hello Coolsmartphoners. At home I’ve got that “FTTC” gubbins that most people either know as “BT Infinity” or, when it’s sold through other providers, “Fibre broadband” ..which it isn’t quite, not all the way. Anyhoo. I’m pretty lucky. However, if you’re not, you can try this. The idea …
We get a lot of review kit here at Coolsmartphone. What we try and do now is, after reviewing something, get a nice discount code for you guys to use. So, here’s another one. This is for the Lumsin 5-port wall charger that we reviewed just the other …
A new website has just launched which compares SIM-free and network-free phone deals. It should, according to the people behind it, ensure that you get the best deal on your next mobile and / or talk plan. They estimate that the average consumer will save £330 buying from …
If typing on your screen isn’t your “thing” and you’re not a fan of modern Bluetooth keyboards. Perhaps try this, the QWERKYWRITER. It’ll bring you all the fun and memories of using an old-school typewriter, plus it acts as a stand for your device. The keyboard connects via …
My experience of streaming TV at the weekend was, let me tell you, thoroughly disappointing. My son wanted to watch Iron Man 2 and so I set off trying to find a streaming service offering it. That bit alone was tricky. We couldn’t find a page detailing what …
Smartphone photography is increasing at a rapid speed. Just take a look at the number of smartphone apps available to help you capture the perfect shot. In order to utilise the features of your smartphone or app, you first need to start with a quality photograph. That’s where …
A few years back most people will have perhaps ignored USB ports. They weren’t for charging at one point. They were for peripherals – scanners, webcams and more. Sure, we still have mice, keyboards and other kit plugging into USB ports now but – more than ever – …
Drones. They’re a hot topic at the moment. You can go down to Aldi and get yourself a fairly cheap drone right now. Trouble is, they’re big, sometimes difficult to master and you’ll need to make sure you don’t fly it in the wrong places. Outside a neighbour’s …
Here at Coolsmartphone a number of writers use a Chromebook as their primary device. I’m one of them (I’m writing this very article on the fantastic Asus Chromebook Flip). Despite being cracking devices Chromebooks have never really hit the limelight… until now. It appears that the Google low-cost …
Paying for your apps in Google Play usually involves your credit or debit card of some sort. However, Vodafone have come up with a plan to make it a bit simpler and, for six months, you get a whacking 90% off some Google Play apps and games t’boot. …
“System and Security Info” has risen to being of the one of the top paid-for applications in the iTunes charts since its release last week (14th May 2016) however in that time frame Apple got upset about the application and decided to ban it. The reason Apple got …
Camera phones are great, they allow us to capture, digitise and preserve memories at will, and the quality of inbuilt cameras has reached the level where for most of us we don’t require a dedicated camera. However there is one limitation on most camera phones, the lens type …
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 …
Ever imagined a battle-royal to find the king of the cable, a USB with a killer USP? Well if such a position / device existed then Nonda, a manufacturer of smart hardware products based in Palo Alto California, believe they have it. It arrived in the post this morning and seems …
As a UK resident, it was certainly a flash from the past to receive an email from Orange. They are, of course, still going strong elsewhere in Europe and, if you’re heading across Europe for the EURO 2016 tournament. The Orange Holiday plan is available here (this is …
Being able to cycle around in these balmy sunny evenings is really refreshing, but when it does eventually get dark you’re going to need a bike light. These are plentiful, and you can even put an action camera on the handlebars to record your journey and log any …
Remember our review of the Titan cable? Well, there’s now an Indiegogo campaign for a new Zus Kevlar cable. It’s supposed to be all tough and rugged, so some guy figured that the best way to show it off would be to yank his car around with it. …
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 …
Walking around with that low battery notice on your phone is always going to put you on edge. So, to charge on the move, your going to need something like this. This is the Lumsing Harmonica 10,400mAh dual-port power bank and yes, it really is designed to look …
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 …
I always have to apologise to the companies that send us headphones to look at. I’m always losing the things. They’re mostly tiny and either end up stuck in pockets (and then going through the washing machine) or stuffed in a drawer somewhere. So, Wraps Wearable earphones are …
A very quick mention for a couple of charity things. Firstly, Simon Allum (you know him, he’s written a few articles for us) is doing an insane thing – the Three Peaks Challenge. He’ll be part of a small team walking Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in …
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 …
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 …
There are lots of streaming music services out and it often isn’t just the quantity and quality of the back catalogue that dictates which we subscribe too. I recently discovered that university graduates can pay a £12 annual subscription to get an NUS Extra card, which then entitles you …
We’ve seen the teeny-tiny GoPro cameras shooting some pretty excellent footage over the years. The cameras have also helped TV makers to film in cars, on bikes, motorbikes, boats and – when strapped to people – they can grab point-of-view footage in full HD. Now they’ve stuck one …
Hutchison (owners of Three) badly wanted to grab O2. Following disapproval by UK competition watchdogs, they tried everything to change minds. They added guarantees that prices for O2 and Three customers would be frozen for five years. They’d also promised £5 billion of investment and to open their …
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 …
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 …
Wowser. That’s a long title for a review isn’t it? Well, we’ve been sent lots of headphones here at Coolsmartphone. These are those big chunky ones that actually sit over your ears and fully cover them up. They produce a very nice all-encompassing sound and the closed back …
Bluetooth speakers? Where do you start? The market is currently awash with speakers which fill every part of the price point spectrum. I was recently contacted by Say it Loud to ask if I wished to review one of their latest Bluetooth speakers, the Riva S. At first …
About a week ago I unboxed a new 2-in-1 PC that had a retail value of £150, and I posed the question of ‘can a machine this cheap be any good’? I also mentioned that I was going to be able to compare this to a more standard-priced …
Ringtones have changed quite a lot since the days of polyphonic and monophonic but yet there are certain ringtones we automatically associate with certain brands. Well ToxixEternity, aka Jack Fliegler from YouTube, and a death metal band called Singularity has taken the Apple iPhone ringtone we have grown to …
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 …
It’s something we’ve already seen Three and Tesco Mobile doing, but now Vodafone have added some roaming goodness as well. Inclusive roaming across 40 locations is now available, and it’s 4G roaming t’boot. The list of countries look to be European and are as follows… Albania, Austria, Belgium, …
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 …
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 …
Following on from a reported 15% rise in annual profits to £3.03bn, BT has announced plans to invest £6bn in faster broadband and mobile services over the next three years. The company plans to offer their “ultrafast” broadband to 12 million premises by 2020. With speeds of 300 …
When you’re young and full of beans you really enjoy writing about tech. Mobile phones, gadgets, gizmos – it lights your fire. Then, after several years of looking a Bluetooth speakers, you start to wane a little. You get sent dozens and dozens of the things. Some are …
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 …
