Category: Hardware Reviews
Yes, I’m being sent drones to review now. What I know about drones can be written on the back of a stamp. I’ve had a play with some cheaper ones in the past and, usually, they take off and then crash. The end. My flying skills aren’t the …
OK, first things you need to know. This, the Wileyfox Swift 2 Plus, is £189 on the Wileyfox website or (as I type) £164.99 on Amazon. SIM free in both places of course. It has a 5″ 1280×720 screen at 296 PPI with 2.5d Corning Gorilla Glass 3. …
I’ve gone through some phases with my smartphones. I switched over to Android with the HTC Hero. It was then a succession of HTC handsets before I switched to a Samsung Galaxy device, but since then I’ve been firmly glued to an LG device. The LG G3 was …
Last year I carried out a review of a new Android TV streaming box called the Probox 2 Air. You can view it here, which in summary, I was truly impressed with. Well, I’ve been asked if I wanted to review the latest version of this streaming box – …
Remember recently when I reviewed the Lenovo P2? I received some excellent feedback and it’s definitely a fantastic phone for an amazing price. However, there is another range of phones from the same company. Lenovo also have the Motorola brand is their cupboard, and for the past few …
Something is happening in your home. We’re already totally lost without the internet inside the house, and we fully expect the same connectivity out of the home too. Trouble is, we’re all turning into phone zombies. We’re staring down at our screens and there’s lots of dangerous driving …
Today I’ve been using the LG G6. Matteo has already taken a look at the handset up close but I wanted to bring you a full review. Before all that, here’s a look at that camera and how it compares to the Huawei P10 that I’ve got with …
Author’s Note: I apologise for the lateness of this article, since the product under discussion was released several weeks ago. To blame is my unfortunate visual impairment. I happen to be colour blind. If you’re wondering what this is all about, head to the product page for the …
I’ll be brutally honest. I mean brutal. I wasn’t expecting much from this. If you go out and try and buy one then you might struggle a little. The 5″ version is available on Carphone Warehouse and at Tesco for less than £100. This, though, is the 6″ …
A short time ago I carried out a review of the EliteWin S 11KT mini 2-in-1 notebook. It was also created by Venturer, and you can view the full review here. Now the company have sent me through the their latest device, the PrimePro 12TS Good Points: Good …
It’s going to be a quick one to review this because, in all honesty, it takes seconds to turn on and get going. Let’s face it, WiFi isn’t always good enough. Sky TV have launched their new Sky Q system and, in order to try and solve the …
Intro I love tablets. I love the idea of carrying something thin and light around that has enough computing power in it to keep me up to speed with all my musings on this very site. I also love being able to just pull out something from my …
It’s not that often that a device comes along that is truly a game changer. That is until now. Today I had the pleasure of unboxing an item that in my opinion is truly groundbreaking, and could potentially change the game in its field. I am, of course, …
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s been a reoccurring theme whenever we review Bluetooth headphones. There’s definitely two types of headphones that I’ve found over the years. The first type will last for ages and they’re usually in-ear, but the sound quality just isn’t that brilliant. …
There are some products, much like a well known paint manufacturer, that simply do ‘what it says on the tin’. This charging station is one such device. It has no bells or whistles, no flashing lights or additional bumpf, it simply charges multiple devices! It comes in a …
At the beginning of November, Huawei released something a little bit exciting – the Huawei Mate 9. I was lucky enough to be given one of these devices for review and as such have been using it for the past few weeks. It is now time for me to …
Having a security camera on your house can be a good and bad thing. Sure, you can keep an eye on things, but it’s also a sign that you want to keep something protected, and thieves might target your house because it’s got cameras hanging off it. So …
Now before I begin my review, I must confess that I haven’t used a windows machine in anger for quite some time. 95% of my work is now done on my Chromebook. I do have a windows media PC, but that’s all its used for. I have been …
It has been a few weeks now since the latest Acer tablet arrived on my desk at Coolsmartphone towers. In that time I have been using it as my main day-to-day device for media consumption. I have not really been using it for very much in the way of work …
There was a time, not too long ago, when phones costing £139.99 were best avoided. “Android landfill” they used to call them. Cheap devices with a questionable build quality, a dire camera and wonky screen resolutions. Here, for your money you’re getting a completely network-free device with an …
I was one of the Kickstarter backers for the original Pebble smartwatch back in 2012. I still actually own that too. Shortly after I purchased the Pebble Steel. However, when the colour Pebble Time watches appeared, I fell out of love with them. I thought the new colour ePaper interface was a …
Here at Coolsmartphone we are approached by device manufacturers from all over the world. I must admit that it is the unheard-of devices from the far-east that intrigue me the most, so I jumped at the chance to review the unknown brand Nomu and their S10 device. ‘Who …
For the last few weeks I have been putting the Google Pixel through its paces. Heres my review of the first phone by Google.
Today we have a new tablet in the house from Acer – the Acer Iconia Tab 10. The Iconia Tab 10 is Acer’s take on the low cost but premium build tablet that aims to be your new multimedia device. The Acer Iconia Tab 10 is currently available …
When I was sent these headphones I gave a sigh of relief – I’m a regular runner and use a bog standard pair of sports headphones. These fit nicely around the ear but have a wire, and for months now the wire has been driving me slowly mad …
Sony has had an interesting year so far. It’s seen the launch of several handsets, including two flagships – the Xperia X and Xperia XZ. The latter of these phones is the subject of this review. If you wish to find out a bit more about the former …
The lower-end of the smartphone market has become very competitive of late. Not only that, but it’s also got better. The build quality is better. The specs are better. So, when I say, “the lower-end”, I generally only mean the price. Bush isn’t a brand that many today …
As the explosion of online shopping continues, more and more of us are having deliveries to our homes (I am now on first name terms with my local Amazon delivery driver, we have so many deliveries). Here lies one of our first world problems, i.e. making sure somebody’s …
Portable speakers are ten a penny these days. You can spend anywhere from a few pounds up to several hundred. The sound quality is often one of the defining features, as is the make and look. Aukey produce a wide variety of products, most of which are …
Back in January, Leigh reviewed devolo’s dLAN 1200+ WiFi ac Powerline adapter and now I got the chance to review the 550 starter pack. The dLAN 500 WiFi is an upgrade of devolo’s current mid-high range offering, the dLAN 500 WiFi. While continuing to offer Powerline transmission speeds of …
Are you in the market for a stylish designed retro looking DAB radio with some added features? Well come on in and have a read of my review of the VQ MKII Retro DAB radio. Good Points: Fantastic sound quality. Well built retro design. Available in 11 colours. …
Meet the OBi MV1 Worldphone “Obi who?” Good question. They are a Silicon Valley smartphone manufacturer founded in 2014 by former Apple Inc and Pepsi CEO John Sculley. Obi Worldphone manufactures smartphones aimed at the emerging markets, rather than very competitive developed markets. Obi Worldphone launched two of their …
Good Points: Easy Setup. Control from Android/iOS app. Dim-able. Used alone or in a group of bulbs. Innovative hidden way to increase WiFi coverage. Bad Points: Large Unit Size No ability to program on/off times Need to connected to same WiFi nerwork for app control. In today’s wireless …
The time has come for me to review the most powerful phone that I have ever used: the LeEco Le Max 2! Whoa there, hold on. Whoa there, hold on. ‘Whoa there, hold on’ – did I just say that? Well yes, I did, but the real question …
You may have seen recently the little photo special our Dear Leader posted on the Honor 5c. Recently Huawei have caused significant disruption in the phone market both with their own devices and sub-brand Honor devices. Devices such as the Honor 6 Plus, the Honor 7 and the …
A few weeks ago I was filling my car at the local petrol station and noticed that if you purchased a certain amount of fuel you could buy a dash cam for £20, which I promptly did. However, this camera can only be described as awful. It was …
You don’t necessarily have to live in a mansion to have WiFi coverage problems. Even “normal” houses will have patchy areas where the WiFi coverage isn’t brilliant. Most internet providers will give you a free router now, and the WiFi range can be questionable at best, especially if …
In today’s world, pretty much every gadget is connected to the internet. Alarms are no different, and I recently got sent this Wi-Fi enabled Home Security System, from Smanos. Whats In The Box: Upon opening the box I was met with the main control unit. It looks like …
The boys from BT.. sorry, EE.. sent me one of their clever TV boxes recently. You can’t just go out and buy one of these things, you have to have an EE Broadband package too. There’s full details here. You basically plug this into your rooftop aerial and …
As you may know, I was recently out in Shanghai and I was lucky enough to be given a Le Max 2 from LeEco for me to use as my own phone. So in the way of a true tech blogger, I decided I would share the unboxing …
