Category: Hardware Reviews

ZTE Kis – Initial Impressions

The other day ZTE and Virgin Mobile announced the new white version of the Kis. Their hugely popular “record breaking” Kis is an entry level 3.5″ device and we’ve had it for a couple of days and here is our initial impressions. Starting off with good and bad …

Acer Iconia A110 – Initial Impressions

The Acer Iconia A110 has sort of arrived on the scene with barely an announcement. It was up for pre-order on Ebuyer for a while and then it just suddenly came into stock. A few weeks later and we have one here on our desk. Hailed by some …

HTC Windows Phone 8X Review

HTC have been making fantastic hardware for many years now, and when paired with a high quality operating system you really can get the ideal phone.  Microsoft have now announced the release of their new Windows Phone 8 operating system and this is at the heart of the …

Acer S500 Cloud Mobile – Review

I’ve been using the Acer S500 Cloud Mobile as my main phone for a few weeks now and it’s time to bring you the full review. My initial conclusion was that the Cloud Mobile was a great phone that seemed like it was going to be let down …

Looking for iPhone 5 accessories?

Got your shiny new iPhone 5? Looking for accessories to help it along? So was I, then Mobile Fun got in touch offering their iPhone 5 Ultimate Bundle The device had only been around for about two weeks an accessories were running a little thin on the ground …

Samsung Galaxy Note II – Initial Impressions

One of the surprise hits of late in the mobile handset arena was the Samsung Galaxy Note.  It sold by the bucketload and even now the waxing lyrical hasn’t stopped. It was therefore no shock when Samsung announced the Galaxy Note II and thanks to the lovely people …

Clingo Universal In Car Holder – Review

Car holders for mobile phones aren’t always the best looking or functional accessories. The universal ones are normally big and ugly as they have to accommodate as many phones as possible and they have varying mechanisms for securing the phone. Device specific mounts can be better but they …

Maxell Airstash – Review

Picture the scene, you’re at a party or a friends house or even in a meeting. You have your camera and the memory card is full of pictures. You, your friends or clients are all stood there with your iPhones and iPads looking confused. You all really need …

Motorola RAZR i – My review

So, we took a look at the Motorola RAZR i a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to take another look. First impressions, I have to say, are rather good. I instantly thought the battery wasn’t in the phone when I took it out of the box. …

Gear4 HouseParty Portable – Review

I’ve been trying out numerous speakers for a while now. As most of you will know I am constantly changing phones so I need something that works with almost any smartphone but also my MacBook Air. Have I finally found what I am looking for in the Gear4 …

HTC Desire X Review

My introduction to the Android platform came through the original HTC Desire.  One of my bosses walked up to me knowing my love for phones and showed me his brand spanking new piece of kit, complete with scrolling widgets and all shiny and new.  My search for a …

a-Jays One+ Earphones – Review

Having heard many good things about the a-Jays range of earphones, and with most bundled headsets being very average indeed, I thought, for £40, these would be a great addition to my newly purchased Galaxy Note 2. In actual fact, the bundled headphones with the Note 2 aren’t …

Sony Xperia T – Review

Sony announced that the Xperia S was going on sale during Mobile World Congress back in February, however we are now in October and the S has been replaced as the flagship camera phone by the Xperia T. The Xperia T really is a powerful high end smartphone …

Hands on with the Three DC-HSDPA dongle

Internet on the move is more important now than it has ever been with many people needing to access their online content for both personal reasons and for work.  How many people do you see on a busy train with laptops out and dongles plugged in the side …

Acer S500 Cloud Mobile – Initial Impressions

Acer have made a few nice looking phones recently, the other week we looked at the dual SIM equipped Liquid Gallant Duo and I was very impressed overall. So when I found out they were going to send us their flagship device the Cloud Mobile I was a little …

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Flip Cover – Review

It seems quite a few of the big names in mobile phones these days are producing their own accessories, and cases. Not just as functional protective devices, but that are actually nice to look at too. Samsung are no exception, and produce cases for both the Galaxy S3 and the …

Scosche reVOLT c2 dual USB charger – Review

Back in August we had a Scosche reVOLT c2 dual USB car charger sent to us. Unfortunately it ended up in a “special cupboard” and we’ve only just found it. Many of you will, I’m sure, have a car charger. The Scosche one is of the “low profile” …

Sony Xperia Miro – Review

A few weeks ago we got hold of the Xperia Miro for review and we quickly posted up our initial impressions. The Miro is one of the entry level devices from Sony and in the same way as with the Tipo we reviewed a while back, I was …

Acer Liquid Gallant Duo – Review

A few weeks ago we got the dual sim Gallant Duo in for review from Acer and ever since I have been using it to try and find what’s good and what’s bad. In our initial impressions I was impressed with Acer and their handling of the dual …

Huawei E355 3G/WiFi dongle review

I’ve recently been looking out for a reliable solution for in-car WiFi which would share the mobile broadband connection between a few devices that I tend to carry around while out and about. The base requirement was simple yet somewhat difficult to achieve – it had to be …

Asus Nexus 7 travel cover – Review

It has been a good few months since the Nexus 7 came out and as is always the way, the official accessories take forever to be available. Right, before I start ranting about the lack of pogo pin compatible accessories I’ll get on with the review. The travel …

Review – Tech21 Impact Snap Case for iPhone 5

If you were following yesterday, you’d have seen my iPhone 5 wallet case review. I liked it, but it had a major drawback. Today, I have another case to show you, again from the lovely people at MobileFun.co.uk It’s another flip case, but this time made by Tech21, and this …

iPhone 5 case review – Wallet Case

Without getting into the nitty gritty about scratching, and how vulnerable the iPhone 5 is or isn’t, quite a lot of us choose to use a case. I’ve always fancied the idea of a wallet case for my phone, particularly one that doesn’t add too much bulk..it would …

NFC Demo using the Bond Phone

Now then Bond pay attention………. Here it is then the Bond phone showing of some of it technical wizardry enough to make Q giddy with excitement. One of the great feature of the recent Xperia Line up including the newly announced Xperia T is NFC is built in …

Motorola RAZR i – Review

Today is the day of the RAZR i launch so what better way to celebrate than with a review so you can make an informed decision. Ever since the press conference I have swapped from my Lumia 800 to the RAZRi to see just how far Motorola have …

Acer Liquid Gallant Duo – Initial Impressions

For a while using a phone with two sim cards in has been a bit of a holy grail for me. I could use my normal sim for making calls and my Giff Gaff SIM for my data requirements. Sounds fairly straightforward but various manufacturers have tried their …

Sony Xperia Miro: Initial Impressions

Sony currently have quite a few devices for sale, especially at the bottom end of the pile. The Miro being one of them, it is like the Tipo’s bigger brother, costing a little more and packing a slightly better spec. My initial good and bad points are as …

Review – Apple iPhone 5

So the iPhone 5 has finally arrived. Is it just an incremental upgrade?  Is the larger screen and performance worth the extra cash? Is the maps application really that bad? Having had time to experience what it’s like to actually own this phone, I’ll share some thoughts with …

Motorola RAZR i – Initial Impressions

A few days ago Motorola announced the RAZR i, not long after that we benchmarked it to see how the Medfield CPU held up against some of the big players, and earlier today we announced the pricing for UK carriers.  This is what I thought after a little …

Nokia Lumia 900 – Review

For the last 2 weeks I have been using a Lumia 900 as my main device, the current Nokia flagship device at least until the Nokia Lumia 920 arrives. The announcement of a new device didn’t make the Lumia any less relevant however as it will still receive …

Sony Xperia T Unboxing – The Bond phone

The time has come for one of the first UK unboxings of the new Xperia T. As you may or may not know I am a Sony Mobile Ambassador in my other life (when not working or writing on here). This gives me several perks, one of which …

Sony Xperia Tipo – Review

I’ve had the Xperia Tipo for a few weeks now and I’m really quite impressed with it. We covered the basics of the Tipo with our initial impressions here and now we’ll have a more in depth look at it. Design The Tipo is in that range of …

Motorola Motosmart – Review

Motorola have a clear cut divide between their high end devices (Razr, Proton, Razr Maxx, Razr HD, Razr M) and their current budget devices (Motoluxe and this the Motosmart). When Motorola first introduced the Motoluxe they were full of the fact it was a fashionable well designed piece …

Xperia T review and unboxing incoming

Hi fair readers, Just a wee quick one to say that very soon we will be getting a Sony Xperia T to unbox and review compliments of Sony. I am very pleased to say that due to me being part of the Sony Ambassador program we will be …

Gemini JoyTAB with bluetooth keyboard – Review

The other week we published our initial impressions of the Gemini JoyTAB with bluetooth keyboard. Things looked good apart from a few ill placed logos. I’ve been using it for a few weeks now and it’s time to bring you the full review. Design The JoyTAB is made …

New excitement on Kickstarter

We’re all about the cool and funky here at CoolSmartPhone.com. It’s true to say we love a bit of innovation and being on the leading edge of news. But we also love the art of the possible and have stumbled upon what could quite possibly be the sexiest, …

Sony Xperia Tipo – Initial Impressions

The Xperia range is rather large, covering every possible budget range some of the latest Xperia phones have been in the budget range. Including the Xperia Tipo. The Sony anti naming convention Xperia Tipo. It is a tiny little thing with an almost identical spec to the Motorola …

Samsung Galaxy Beam Review

Announced at Mobile World Congress earlier this year the unique selling point of the Samsung Galaxy Beam against all other mobile phones currently on the market is the built in projector on the top, but we’ll get to that in a minute. First let’s look at the specs. …

Samsung Galaxy Note – Mugen extended battery review

You get a phone, you use your phone, you start to use your phone a lot more as you slowly realise what it is capable of, you then start to carry a charger around with you every day to charge up your new wonder phone. Your battery just …