Category: Reviews

Samsung Ativ S Review

By the sheer number of handsets sold Samsung are the world leader in mobile devices.  The Galaxy range of devices have become a massive hit and from the excellent Note II to the Galaxy SIII, their range of Android devices have taken the world by storm. It comes …

Otterbox Commuter Glacier case for Galaxy Note II – Review

I’m quite a fan of large phones, I’ve owned both of the Galaxy Notes and before that I owned a Dell Streak. With each and every one I always found myself balancing the phone on a narrow edge or just shoving it my rucksack to carry it around. For …

Asus Nexus 7 Audio Dock – Review

Do you know that feeling when you just have to have something? Well during my time with the Nexus 7 I have experienced it three times. First of all when the damn thing came out. The thought of a Nexus branded tablet was too much for me and …

Nokia Lumia 620 – Initial Impressions

Nokia seem to want to cover all sectors of the mobile market. From the lowly Asha range right through to the top end Lumia 920. The Nokia Lumia 620 sits somewhere smack in the middle. At first I thought the Lumia 620 was going to be a drastically …

Movpower Portable Charger – Review

So on Tuesday we added a post about the Movpower 5200 Portable Charger. I decided to get one. There’s another version available but this baby has a capacity of 5200mAh. That’s quite a bit. The Samsung Galaxy Note has a 2500mAh battery, which is hefty enough, so this …

Android App Review – Podkicker Pro

For years people have sat around listening to others chat about a varied range of topics on the radio.  The invention of the podcast changed the way that many listen to such conversations  and gave us the ability to hear said recordings where and whenever we want. Of …

Review – Speaktoit goes Premium – Extra features added

So, we’ve asked you why Siri isn’t missed on Android but there are still some very clever alternatives. We’ve covered one in particular – Speaktoit – a while back now, but they’ve recently had a pretty major overhaul. First up, there’s a new “teach” facility. You tell your …

Snugg iPad Headrest Holder – Review

Picture the scene, you’re on a long car journey with one or two kids they’re sitting in the back, asking “Are we there yet?” You’re not. You’re no-where near. You’ve not even got off your drive yet and they’re already bored or fighting each other. How do you …

Samsung Galaxy Camera – Review

Cameras are a part of our lives these days. Be it taking photos of your lunch and posting it to Instagram, taking photos of your ugly children and posting them to Facebook or even taking photos for a living.  I take a lot of photos every day, normally …

Seagate GoFlex Satellite – Review

About two “Gadget Show Live” events ago I was approached by a man carrying a iPad with a HD film playing on it. Nothing new there I thought, but as I was walking away, he showed me a small portable hard drive which he had in his pocket. …

VAVO Universal Kickstand – Video Review

I love Kickstarter, it’s a great website. Since I backed Pebble almost a year ago I have been backing other projects all over the place, I just can’t control myself. Someone in the same position as me described the Pebble as a gateway drug that fueled their addiction …

Samsung Ativ S – Initial Impressions

There is always one late comer to every party.  In this case, Samsung announced the Windows Phone 8 touting Ativ S back in August of 2012 but didn’t actually manage to release it until December, almost a whole month after the Nokia Lumia 920. Still as the saying …

Power Jacket Case for iPhone 5 – Review

Regular listeners (and now viewers) of our podcast will know that I recently moved from a Galaxy Note 2 back to the iPhone 5.  I won’t go into the reasons why here, as it’s worth a good article on it’s own. On the whole, I’m happy with that …

RHA MA450i Earphones Review

This is the third in the RHA series that we here at Coolsmartphone have reviewed following on from the MA350’s and the CA-200 headphones. Both the 350’s and the CA200’s were impressive with the RHA-MA350’s being particularly good. So, how do the current top of the range MA450i’s …

Samsung Galaxy S III Mini – Review

We finally managed to land a Samsung Galaxy S III Mini in the palm of our hands. Thanks to the guys at Mobicity for the opportunity. Good points Good size Good battery life Good screen Bad Points 5 MegaPixel Camera OS can be laggy The Galaxy S III …

Huawei Ascend G330 – Review

Huawei are quickly becoming a major force in the mobile world and their latest budget offering, the Ascend G330, has a lot of pressure on it to continue the impressive trend of affordable handsets that punch above their weight. The Ascend G330 is the replacement for the Ascend …

Android App Review – Simple Dialer Widget

I never thought that I wouldn’t be using the stock Google dialer. But, I am now using the Simple Dialer Widget instead. Simple Dialer Widget (or SDW since I hate typing the whole name!) is a very straight forward widget and is surprisingly convenient. It has the dialer …

Notification Weather app

The notification bar is one of the key strengths of Android. It is the main place where we keep track of what is going on in the foreground and it is also where we are notified of, you guessed it, notifications. We are able to put information in …

XYFI Personal Hotspot – Review

I know what most of you guys are thinking. “Why do I need a MiFi?” or perhaps even, “What is a MiFi?” Put simply, it’s a gadget you stick your SIM card in. It’ll connect to the internet through the mobile network and then beam out a WiFi …

Tile Launcher Beta app review

Tile Launcher Beta is an awesome app! I absolutely love it! And, yes, that is how I am opening this post. I am too excited :-). Tile Launcher Beta is a replacement for your good old stock home screen. The basic idea of it is using tiles for …

Spigen SGP LeatherGrip for iPhone 5 – Review

  I like a nice leather case. They have a tendency look both classy and smart, much like myself. The Spigen SGP LeatherGrip falls into this category nicely. It’s a snap on the back style case with a soft touch lining for protection. The leather is genuine and …

Archos Gamepad – Review

The Gamepad is a unique device, it is like nothing I have ever used before. In the past my mobile gaming had been done on a Nexus 7 or a Galaxy Note, so using real buttons was going to be something new for me. with the Gamepad I …

Android Game Review – Judge Dredd vs Zombies

A film tie in game and some zombies, could this game start off any lower down the credibility ladder? Judge Dredd vs Zombies has been out a few months and I initially missed it, the only reason I installed this game is because there is a version for …

Lightwedge Verso Artist Series Case Review

Last week you’ll remember we announced the winners of our Kindle Fire Accessories give-away. To make sure you guys with the older Kindles aren’t left out MobileFun sent me a case for my Kindle Keyboard to show to you guys. Press play, sit back and enjoy the video. I’ve had this for …

Spigen SGP Slim Armor for iPhone 5 – Review

The trouble with phone cases are that its long been disputed which is better for protection. Hard cases, or softer silicon/TPU cases. The solution may be hybrid cases which is where the Slim Armor for the iPhone 5 comes in. The Slim Armor is a 2 part case …

Spigen Glas.tr for iPhone 5 – Review

Yes, I am reviewing a screen protector but I am going to start with the conclusion for a change. This is the best screen protector I have ever used. Rather than being your typical piece of flimsy plastic film, the Glas.tr is an actual piece of incredibly tough …

Review – AppBlaster

Today we’re having a look at a gun. Now, before you call the police, this is a toy gun. I’ve actually got one of these for my 9-year-old nephew and he loved it, so I figured it was worth a review. We all know that kids love iPhones, …

Want infinite cloud storage for your device? Bitcasa – A review

You want online storage, you normally head to Dropbox. However, if you’re looking for more storage, you might want to check bitcasa.com. They provide “infinite” storage, yes – you heard right. Currently there’s no limits so you’re free to download the app (currently Android only, but an iPhone …

iPad Mini Case Comparison

Looking for a nice case to go with your new or indeed now not so new iPad Mini? Well here we have a quick look and comparison of 2 of the best. The Snugg iPad Mini case and the STM Skinny for iPad Mini. Both these cases sell …

Pong Case for the Samsung Galaxy S III – Review

We’ve already seen the Pong iPhone 4 / 4S case and recently had a nose around the iPad case too. A case, you might think, doesn’t take a great deal of explanation or reviewing. However, the people at Pong are quite clever. All of their cases, including this …

Huawei Ascend G330 – initial impressions

The popular budget Huawei Ascend G300 has now been replaced with the G330, and I have one for a fortnight to see how it fairs. Huawei are dragging their reputation from cheap ‘n’ cheerful to serious contender in impressive style, not least because the G300 was such good …

Samsung ATIV Tab – Review

Samsung ATIV Tab, a Windows RT based tablet, is this to be an Apple or Google competitor? My personal opinion, no. Purely because I believe that a full blown version of Windows needs to be on a desktop machine, not a tablet. Anyway… Good Points Well Built Excellent …

Tech21 Impact Snap with Cover for iPad Mini – Review

Tech21 are somewhat famous in the case industry both for their cases and for their appearance on Dragons Den showing off their D3O technology. This case has that very tech included as you can see in the picture, its the orange stuff. Essentially what d30 technology does is …

Android Game Review – Pudding Monsters

Cut The Rope was great, I loved slicing bits of rope to feed Om Nom. So when I heard Zeptolab were planning on making a new game I was fairly excited. The release came and as usual the game was released for iOS first and then during the …

Vodafone Sure Signal network booster – Review

Do you have a bad mobile signal in the one place you want to use it most? It’s a more common problem than you may think. Whilst networks do their utmost to provide the best service they can, it’s hard for them to legislate for people with basement …

Battery Widget Countdown – See how long your battery has left

The boys at Z3t4 Apps gave me an email over Christmas. They wanted us to point out their new Battery Widget Countdown app. As the name suggests you can drag it onto your homescreen and it’ll display a little battery along with the percentage remaining. Normal stuff, but …

Gemini JoyTAB GEM7008 review

What can you get for £80 these days? The surprising answer is an Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablet with Play store compatibility from a British brand. Sub £100 tablets are nothing new, but on the whole they’re poorly built, slow and sold under a name nobody’s has ever …

Nokia Lumia 920 and the tale of déjà vu

Exactly a year ago, thanks to the lovely team at Nokia Connects I’ve had an opportunity to review the Nokia Lumia 800 – the first Nokia-designed smartphone running the Windows Phone operating system. Putting all ramblings whether Nokia’s sudden strategy switch was right or not, the Lumia 800 …

iPad mini – Review

It's hard to ignore the iPad juggernaut. Apple launched their version of the tablet computer back in 2010 and since then it's gone from strength to strength in almost every way. Others have joined the market since but have never really managed to replicate Apples success. A couple …