Category: General
A 5″ 480×854 pixel (196 ppi) screen, quad-core 1.3GHz CPU, 1GB RAM and 8 megapixel camera with flash. Sound interesting? What about if I mention that it’s just £79.99 with £10 airtime included. How’s about that? The new ZTE Blade L3 has arrived in the UK today. There’s 8GB of storage on board, but …
Last year I was sent through the TravelCard portable charger for review, which is a super slim battery pack designed to fit in your wallet and give your mobile device that all important boost when you need it. I loved the TravelCard charger and it sits happily in …
That’s right. A million. On day one. There are always going to be some people who aren’t into wearables, and there will be others who can’t quite buy into the Apple way of doing things, but there are enough people who think differently. In a report from Sllice …
After somewhat of a delay, Cyanogen have finally began the roll out of Cyanogen OS 12 the Android 5.0 based update for the OnePlus One. The update has all of Google’s features introduced in Android 5.0 including Google’s new Material Design. As always the Cyanogen team, have included tweaks …
Yesterday I was at a Microsoft event in sunny Glasgow where I was lucky enough to get hands on with the Brand new Microsoft Band, which is launching on Wednesday. I am very impressed with it and in the short time I wore it, it felt quite comfortable. The Band …
Battery life on a phone is something we all wish we had more of, whether it be for more gaming time or for more camera shots whilst on holiday. For a while now many companies have made portable charger packs which charge your phone via USB and then …
And more importantly – what’s the point? I’ve personally never understood the need for a SmartWatch. Perhaps it’s because of the reported short battery life on some models, or it’s because I’m never separated from my phone, but I never really ‘got it’. However, I’ve become aware that the …
The quality of camera phones is generally very good, especially on high end models. However, with a few exceptions, significant changes in magnification normally requires software-based image manipulation when on a smartphone. There are a few options available for altering lenses on phones, and one that impressed me …
Remember that new Chromebook Pixel we talked about recently? The one with the updated processor and also 2 x USB C ports? Well if the techlust takes ahold of you and you decide you can’t live without having that 3:2 ratio, 12.85” screen, 2560 x 1700 pixel at …
James Cordon seems to be making a bit of a name for himself over in the USA and now Samsung have roped him in to promote their shiny new Galaxy S6 handsets. Basically, this is an advert coming up. We can’t get hold of either of the Samsung …
Following my visit to this years Gadget Show Live show, I’m going to share my views on those products that impressed me the most. As listeners to our podcast will be aware my favourite product came in the unexpected form of a smartphone case. Traditionally I’ve always preferred …
Tesco Mobile is, like a number of MVNOs, offering some of the very latest handsets at the moment. Using an MVNO is no longer seen as a cheap and cheerful choice. Now it’s perhaps a clever alternative which is just plain better than the main four networks. The …
Today marks the launch of both the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 edge. Whether you like it or not, it’s wise to put a case on the posh new Galaxy handset if you get yourself one today. The S6 is pretty much £600 or more depending on …
I really don’t know much about this whole Games of Thrones thing. To be honest, when I first got this press release, I thought it was a mobile game, not a TV show. Either way, I Googled and got this image, so I’m guessing that people aren’t just …
Hello there, welcome to the “listen in live” page for our podcast. Joining me this week should be John and Julie. Julie is our special guest this week. This weeks topics should be about John and his trip to Gadget Show Live, me really trying hard to get on with …
We knew it was about to happen. Apple announced EE would be a partner for WiFi calling back in Sept 2014 and with the announcement of support for Wifi Calling on the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge from the 10th April, it was only a matter of time. …
I’ve been somewhere magical this weekend. A place with absolutely no signal. I’ve been with a group of mates and between us we had all the networks covered. One had an EE phone and amongst us we also had an O2, Vodafone and Three device. Not one phone …
As one of the few remaining networks to still offer a 12 month contract, it always pays to keep an eye on Vodafone. So when they announced that new tariffs were being announced, I was intrigued to see what the new propositions were. And all in all, it …
Over recent years The Gadget Show Live Exhibition has become one of major consumer technology shows on the calendar, attracting thousands of visitors through its doors. The appeal of the show is obvious – a great venue in the Birmingham NEC, access to the TV shows presenters and …
Seen our hands-on with the HTC One M9? If not, the video is below. About a month ago Vodafone started pre-orders and now it’s available to buy on the network. A quick note though, if you did pre-order, you’ll be able to redeem one of 1000 pairs of …
Well, that certainly didn’t take long. No sooner has the Apple Watch been announced and we’re already getting emails telling us about apps that’ll run on the thing. That’s expected I guess, but when betting apps also set to arrive on the thing, you know it’ll probably be …
Home automation is something that is only really limited by your imagination, possibly what accessories you can buy and possibly also by how much money you have. You get the idea though…. One of the more intriguing things I saw at MWC was the Piper NV, it is …
EE have today announced that WiFi calling will launch on 10th April with the introduction of the S6 and S6 Edge and also the Lumia 640 and 640 XL. Whilst Apple announced compatibility back at their iPhone 6 event, it is Samsung that are getting in there first …
I do get some very odd emails here at Coolsmartphone, and daily you’ll find an email from some random Chinese manufacturer sitting in my inbox. Usually these are to sell Bluetooth speakers, keyboards or GPS trackers. For some reason they think I’m a buyer for a UK store, …
iFit is one of the most popular fitness brands, and today they have formally announced that their services will be integrated into the Sony SmartWatch 3. iFit provides a complete fitness ecosystem to try and mentor you to a healthier lifestyle and they partner with well-known companies such as …
Some of you may be aware that I have been harping on about a Kickstarter project called Remix Ultra Tablet, well it has been a huge success on Kickstarter so much that the actually sold out the entry level tier of $39 in seconds and the next one …
I’ve always been a fan of the OnLive service with its ability to stream cloud hosted PC games to mobile devices, computers and smart TVs. It seemed like a natural progression in gaming technology. So it was with a little sadness that I heard that it was announced …
I am a father of a young boy and even though I do actively try and minimize his time using gadgets it is an inevitable part of live theses days that they will use them. The other day I came home from work and he saw that I …
EE has announced the launch of a new reward scheme for its customers – EE Power. The new scheme is available for all active EE customers, both mobile and broadband customers. According to a YouGov poll commissioned by EE: Almost 60% of smartphone users find their battery doesn’t …
Hello there, welcome to the “listen in live” page for our podcast. Joining me this week should be Dan and Ian. This weeks topics should be about Dan and his week with the new HTC One M9, me struggling without 4G, the Archos Platinum 52, Ian ordering a …
It’s the news you’ve all been waiting for (if you’re heading to Spain for your holidays and you have a Three handset that is). Three customers can now head to Barcelona, Ibiza, Benidorm, Majorca, Tenerife and every other Spanish island, city and town without having to worry about …
This weekend, while you’re enjoying an Easter break painting fences / wallpapering rooms or perhaps even spending several days in the pub.. if you’re lucky. Today Honor, a Huawei owned company, have announced the pricing and availability. As you lovely people know already, it’ll have a network exclusive …
This is not an April Fool Those of you who were following our MWC coverage will already be familiar with Valedo. for those of you who wern’t following our exploits at MWC here is a recap1, Valedo is a wearable that will help you improve your back health …
The world’s second biggest telecoms equipment maker Huawei said profits jumped a third last year, its net profit was 27.9bn yuan ($4.5bn; £3bn), up from 21bn yuan in 2013. The Chinese firm, which is also a major smartphone maker, saw revenues rise by 21% over the year. Our cash …
Independent phone retailer Carphone Warehouse, has been taking pre orders for the HTC M9 for some time now, but today the retailer has announced that you’ll be able to get your hands on the device now. The latest flagship from HTC is listed on contracts that start from £37.50 …
Usually, headphones are a difficult item to review and at the end of the day, you the reader have to take my word for it. We’ve had the KitSound Clash Bluetooth Headphones in for review recently and we’ll start the review off with my good and bad points. …
Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Oppo looks set to release a handset with jaw dropping bezel free display. The new smartphone has been anonymously leaked online, flaunting almost no bezels on either side of the screen and Running Oppo’s own operating system ColorOS. The only other handset without a curve that …
HTC has sent out invites in which it clearly teased a new HTC One M9 variant with the One M8 Duo camera set up. Tie this in with the leaked images from the normally spot on @Upleaks on twitter, and could this be the rumoured HTC M9+? From viewing …
This is a handset which has received a fair amount of criticism because it doesn’t look hugely different to the previous One M8. Almost a year ago Scott Croyle, chief of design, left HTC and now Industrial Design Lead, Jonah Becker, has left. However, I know plenty of …
Once upon a time our gadgets weren’t particularly complicated or vibrant and their batteries used to last for what seemed to be a life time from a single charge. Then tech got smart, connected and colourful and battery management became important, shortly followed by battery anxiety. It’s happened …
