Category: Accessory Reviews
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 – …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
First, a big hello to Lawrence Daniels. He’s the PR guy for Tech Armor. Now, apart from their company name obviously being incorrect (it should, of course, be Tech Armour), they’re pretty good as a company. I partially have to say that because they sent this particular screen …
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 …
Check me out ladies. I got me a spy watch. I’m just like James Bond, but with an added belly and some questionable reasons for actually owning one. This, it has to be said, does exactly what it says on the tin. There’s two batteries inside – one …
We’ve head quite a few security cameras cropping up here at Coolsmartphone. This one is from Annke and you can control and move it from anywhere via your smartphone. First up, the plus points. Although you’ll spot an ethernet port on this, it connects very easily via WiFi …
We recently took a look at the Syllable A6 Bluetooth headphones and now we’ve got the sportier D700 ones. They’re available on Amazon USA for $19.99 and here in the UK for £13.99. Initial impressions are very good. I tried these on at the gym and they hooked …
This is just £12.99 on Amazon and, I have to say, I quite like this. It’s definitely my preference when compared to the gaming keyboard we looked at fairly recently. This is the aLLreLi KA150G Wireless Keyboard and it comes with 18 multimedia function keys too. Out of …
If you want to carry around a device which is no bigger than your standard USB pen drive but want to record audio, listen up. You need this thing. The Allreli USB voice recorder arrives in a slim unassuming box and has a snug top to cover the …
So, this is how the conversation went on this one.. “Hello, Coolsmartphone HQ?” “Yes, this is Allreli. We make gadgets and things. Can we send you a gaming keyboard?” “Err.. well, we don’t really cover PC gaming ?” “It’s really good though, it has a really cool design …
Cables can get frayed and worn out pretty quickly when you use them regularly. It could be you, your kids or your dog doing the damage, and it usually means a broken plug or a torn cable. My wife is pretty skilled at wearing out the connection on …
Two weeks, I finally caved in and accepted that my Nexus 4 wasn’t just a little old and creaky; it was beginning to malfunction. I replaced it with another Nexus because there are few models I could point to and be impressed by their reliability… and naturally that brought …
Every few years, it seems that certain trends become the “in” thing in the mobile and computing space. For the last few years, it was “wearables”, smartwatches etc. Starting last year, and really taking off this year is Virtual Reality. HTC announced their Vive last year, and this …
Headphones you say? Without a cable that’ll get snagged in my coat / zip / neck? Yes, I’ll have a look at that thanks. These, unsurprisingly, are headphones with Bluetooth built in. Getting them paired up with your phone is the first step, but before we talk about …
We got sent this “Nature Series” case by Slicoo. It’s just £9.99 from Amazon at the moment and we did let them know that we hadn’t actually got a Samsung Galaxy S7 to test it with, but they said not to worry. The full name for this is …
The purpose of dash cams is varied. Some would say that they’re an essential tool for reporting exactly what happened in those moments before a crash. Others would tell you that they’re a great tool for showing terrible driving on YouTube. Personally, from what I’ve seen on YouTube, …
The people at nonda got in touch with us and wanted to send us a car charger. We said yes. Then, because it was a car charger, it kinda went into our review queue and I didn’t really look at the great additional feature this thing has. Nonda …
More car chargers for you today, and this time it’s for those of you with a USB Type-C device. This puppy has a standard USB port with Quick Charge C3.0 AND a Type-C port to fit the latest smartphones including the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Lumia 950, Lumia …
We get sent some stuff here at Coolsmartphone. Lately it’s been cables and in-car chargers, so expect to see a lot of reviews featuring these. To be honest there’s not a great deal you can write about them. This is the Tronsmart USB Rapid Car Charger and is …
Your phone is brilliant. Trouble is, the speakers on your phone are complete pap. Some of the Bluetooth ones you buy are a bit weedy too, so when you’ve got a chunky and expensive hi-fi system sitting in your house, you kinda want to use it. Whether it …
As I’ve said before, my main use for my smartphone is to listen to media. I’d say that 90% of that listening is podcasts and (bear with me) 75% of that podcast listening is through headphones. Even on a 5 minute walk to the shop I’ve normally got …
Taking snaps on your phone is something everybody does. Taking artistic ones, well… that’s maybe a bit tricky unless you have something like this. Now, you may have seen these clip-on lens gadgets before. It’s a simple idea. You use a clip which is almost like a soft …
I mentioned this rather handy gadget back in December last year. Vodafone, like a few other networks, are offering up some rather clever connected gadgets now and this, the findxone, is one of them. In effect it’s a little box that you can hang onto something or put …
Putting your phone in a case, especially if it’s an iPhone, has now become a requirement if you want to keep your handset looking pristine. However, if you want to take it out with you on a bike or perhaps a boat, canoe or speedboat, you’re going to …
Cables. To be honest you’ve probably got a quite a few. However, after a bit you may have a frayed, bent or broken cable. Tech Armor, who I will probably spell correctly at some point in this review (it should be Tech Armour of course) have taken the …
Here’s a neat option of those who like to listen their music whilst they exercise; the Trail Sports Wireless Earbuds from KitSound. The Age Old Problem I was cautious when approaching this review as I generally don’t get on well with earbuds, but in for a penny, in for a …
Here at Coolsmartphone towers, a number of us use Chromebooks. I’m writing this from my Asus Chromebook Flip, which is a gorgeous device with its flip screen and brushed aluminium body. But the main problem with Chromebook is their lack of internal storage. It’s generally limited to a paltry …
Now that I am using some very shiny phones I have found that I am in need of a car charger that will keep up with the rapid discharge rate of these high-end handsets. Thankfully CheoTech have come to my rescue with the CheoTech Quickcharge car charger. So …
Here’s me, sitting in my house, trying to figure out how to get to Mobile World Congress. It’s a huge show about mobile phones. However, a few hours ago I was testing something from a company called Hozelock. They make those yellow things that connect to your hosepipe. …
Imagine the scene. You’re driving along and you put the radio on. You tune around, but every station is either pumping out the same tune or there’s a never-ending barrage of adverts for local window companies and the like. You dig around your CD’s but they’re either scratched …
When I was young I really didn’t, for one minute, think I’d be reviewing chargers when I grew up. Never mind though, because we’ve got ourselves a charging station from Tronsmart. We found it under the name of the “family size” multi-port charging station here in the UK …
I’m terrible at backing things up. I mean, really terrible. I like technology because it makes my life easier, but sometimes it does make you a tad lazy. Backing up the photos, videos and messages isn’t too difficult if you’re technically aware. You can hook up your Google …
Woof. It’s a strange name for a speaker, granted. Does it bark? Does it give lamp posts liquid refreshment? I hope not. That’d be weird. What it is, of course, is yet another Bluetooth speaker. Here it in Coolsmartphone HQ we’ve started calling it “the shiny one that …
These are the S500i earbuds. They’re quite nice actually. Surprisingly nice. My very first foray into using RHA was from the very base version of their earbuds, say about 4 or 5 years back (FYI, they were called MA150’s. To put it in context, they’re no longer sold …
The guys from Annke sent me this very dash cam. It’s just £59.99 which is a lot less than it used to cost. Yes, yes, I know there’s lots of dash cams out there and this one might seem a bit on the expensive side, but it’s actually …
This is a cable which is going to solve that daily charging problem. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a massive problem, but it’s one of those repetitive and annoying little niggles. You’re about to plug in your phone and… doah… the micro USB cable is upside down. …
