Back in 2002, when I started this site, I was writing about one smartphone. It was a little tricky because, as you know, I was just a toddler back then and couldn’t type proper good like what I does now. However, times change and now we’re getting emailed …

Think HTC and you’ll invariably think of the HTC One handsets. They’re beautiful. They’re well-built and they’re feature-rich. However, they’re also pretty expensive, so what about those who want a taste of HTC but don’t quite have the cash? The Desire 626 is a device I’ve had as …

Back in May we covered the launch of free mobile provider FreedomPop. They promised to launch here in the UK this summer with £0 per month plans but, as we head into September and the kids return to school, we’ve still not heard anything on a launch. Despite …

With Apple now allowing ad-blocking technology into Safari browsers on iPhone and iPad, Adblock have announced their return to Android, with their ad-free browsing system now allowed back onto Google Play. The system kills revenue, even for websites displaying well-behaved advertisements such as ours, and means that content …

If you’ve got yourself an Android handset then I can safely bet that it’s silently tracking your movements. Even if GPS is off, the network location will be logging your position. We’ve covered the fact that you can access this stored data before, but after logging in last …

OK, so you’ve got your clever Nest Thermostat. It’s working great and saving you money, but it can do so much more when it’s hooked into other clever gadgets. One such system is the Myfox Home Alarm. It’ll tie in with the Nest Thermostat and the Nest Protect …

Acer didn’t just have phones to release at the their event during IFA, they also unveiled the Predator Gaming Tablet… This is a very unique proposition. It is a tablet that has been designed primarily for gaming. It runs Android 5.1 on an Intel Atom X7 and is …

The connected fridge-magnet notification system known as Triby has appeared yet again. This time we’ve got some pricing, with Amazon offering it for $199 with deliveries beginning on October 30th. Here in the UK, although that works out at around £132, it’s £159 on Amazon.co.uk, but you can …

I’m not totally sure how this video has gone viral suddenly, because it’s around three years old now. Anyhow, this happens all around the world. Nobody is perfect and I’ve seen drivers across Europe, America, China and here in the UK doing it at the wheel. The familiar …

Despite efforts to reshape and refocus, HTC has today fallen from the bottom of the TWSE 50 Index, which lists Taiwan’s 50 largest firms. The fact that this has happened could further damage the HTC share price, which has taken a beating recently following a big drop in …

A couple of years ago we covered the original iKettle. The WiFi-enabled kettle allowed you to start boiling up a storm from the comfort of your armchair – saving vital minutes of TV viewing-time or basically letting you fire up the kettle for your tea while you’re still …

We’ve all seen those portable chargers. You boost them up from your wall charger, put them in your pocket and then you can transfer the charge to your smartphone to keep those much-needed tweets and Facebook updates rolling in. However, if you stick a solar charger onto one …

Acer had lots to talk about at IFA, so I decided to pay them a visit and get some hands on time with their new products. Now, traditionally we tend not to see that many Acer phones in the UK – with the exception of their M220 that …

I have been lucky enough to have been given a brand new Mate S for review so, as is the norm, here is the unboxing. The unit I have been given is the 32GB standard version, not the premium version (apparently I am not special enough). 😉 So let’s …

Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Oppo (which a number of our team members have had devices from), has today announced that they are now taking pre-orders for their latest flagship device: the Oppo R7. Specs of the Oppo R7 are: 6-inch, 1080p AMOLED display. Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 chipset. 32GB internal …

We get fed some rather interesting news and rumours via our contact form. Today we’ve had a tip that Three are about to give their customers a rather nice little present. Rumour has it that their chunk of 800MHz spectrum will be switched on from September 10th, which …

You’ve seen our Xperia Z5 hands-on and now, understandably, you might be wanting to get either the new Sony Xperia Z5 and Sony Xperia Z5 Compact yourself. Well, good news my friends, good news. Those lovely people at Three, who are definitely going to send all the team …

It’s time for another one of my “around £100” phones. This time it’s the XIAOMI RedMi Note 2, which is available in a 16GB version for $168.85 (around £111.35) or a 32GB version for $205.85, which is about £135.75. Available in either black or white this is a …

To people like me, this could be a tough sell. It’s a smartphone which has cloud storage – around 100GB – to keep your files on. No more running out of space on your handset, at least in theory. Yes, there is actually storage on-board, some 32GB of …

Welcome to the Coolsmartphone Podcast episode 153. In this episode John is joined by Gary – live from Berlin for this IFA special. Gary discusses the highlights of the show including: The Tado Smart Thermostat The Sony Xperia Z5 range The Huawei Mate S & Huawei Smart Watch The …