Category: Reviews
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, …
BlackBerry are a brand that have been around for countless years and have a huge reputation when it comes to security on mobile devices. So much so they are still, to some, considered the industry leader – even in 2016. With the introduction of the iPhone and countless …
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 …
Have you ever dropped your phone, and then had that moment of panic before you pick it up when you think “Oh s*!t How much is that going to cost me to fix?” If you have, then this is the review you need to read. The Moto X …
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 …
Recently I was at the Honor 5X European launch in Munich, Germany. Since then, as well as recovering from a Red Bull Cola high, I’ve been working on the review of the Honor 5X. In this article I’ll give you my review of the hardware and my impressions. …
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 …
I love it when I get to review Action Cams and enter the Kitvision Escape 4KW. Action Cams are great, they allow us to capture our must rugged of family adventures, and as technology advances the price has dropped making them readily available to a wider audience. Yes I …
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 …
Lenovo had a slightly smaller presence at MWC this year. but nonetheless we still went out to see them and to see what other new products they were announcing. Phone-wise we have already seen most of their stuff for this year. That is taken care of under the …
The white Kingston MobileLite Wireless G3 provides you with a rechargeable 5400 mAh battery in addition to a USB and SD Card storage options. The black Pro version also includes 64GB inbuilt storage and increases the battery to 6,700 mAh. Whilst not the lightest mobile battery I have …
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 …
The first Linx tablets shook up the market place when they were first released, they were available in 3 screen sizes, offering good Windows performance at a very reasonable price, they were also easily upgradable to Windows 10. Consumers no longer had to spend a fortune on Windows …
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 …
I would say that 80% of my mobile phone use is listening to media. Specifically podcasts. I can’t even walk up to the shop to buy a loaf of bread without popping in some headphones and listening to my favourite episode. One of the first apps I load …
Today is an exciting day. I have received a new phone to review. One that comes with a very bold claim. It apparently has a shatterproof screen. Yes, I’m talking about the new Moto X Force. This is a phone that, at first glance, looks unassuming and mild-mannered. However, …
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 …
As Microsoft launch the new flagship Lumia 950 XL, it’s easy to forget the other end of the smartphone market, for example the BLU Win 4.5″ JR which was recently available for just under £40 from Amazon, but what do you actually get for your money a decent …
Powerline adaptors that allow you to extend your network have been around for a while, and potentially provide the perfect way to extend your network range. When these first launched on the consumer market, I purchased a pair to extend my extremely poor WiFi coverage. My home WiFi …
Let’s have a look at this then. First up, it’s a well-built Android 5.1.1 tablet with an 8″ 1280×800 IPS screen. Inside you’ll also find a 1.3GHz quad-core CPU plus a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front one for those selfies. GPS, Bluetooth and, of …
We finally have the Lumia 950 XL on our testbed. We had to wait a long time for this one – it has been nearly two years since the last flagship-spec device from the Microsoft brand. Many people were hoping for a direct Lumia 1020 upgrade, which has …
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 …
Here at CoolSmartPhone Towers, most of us enjoy a spot of gaming, but as the mobile gaming arena is a bit dull at the moment and as remote gaming is becoming more popular, we are going to start looking at mainstream console and PC games that make an …
Canary is more than a simple surveillance camera for your home. From the very moment you purchase your Canary for £159, you’ll instantly notice the quality. Canary was launched back in July 2013 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo. There was clearly a market demand, as within a month over …
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 …
We have one in the house – the infamous Lumia 950 XL from Microsoft. The kind people at Lumia Voices have decided to lend us a review kit with not just the Lumia device, but the full package. This includes a Lumia 950 XL of course, but in …
Mini PC’s are quite the thing at the moment and seem to be popping up everywhere. Now for a while, these were nothing more than Netbook components being shoved into a small box. However, with the recent developments in Android and, to a lesser extent Chrome, there has …
