Get Gapps-exit done. Huawei says, “No going back”

The mighty Huawei and Honor have been properly stuck over the last few months. The delightful and totally sane Donald Trump has put the company into the USB security bad books, and has banned them from working with any US company. That means that upcoming Huawei and Honor …

Keeping your old router will cost you dear on BT, EE and Plusnet

Our very own BT has announced that customers will now face a £50 charge if they choose not to return the supplied broadband router once the contract ends. It comes as the company tried to reduce waste and mirrors a similar scheme by Virgin. BT have added a …

Chargeasap launches the world’s most powerful 150W USB-C powerbank

Sydney based consumer electronics brand, Chargeasap, has announced its latest innovation. It’s called “Flash” and is a 20,000mAh powerbank. This has already busted their funding goal on Indiegogo. It’s touted to be the world’s most powerful, most versatile and fastest charging powerbank. If you want to be part …

Moshi Digits Touchscreen Gloves- Review

There’s nothing like the approaching winter to remind you that you need to cover your fingers in a touchscreen-driven world. Upon writing this, here in the UK, we are being warned of a “cold snap” – so time to warm those hands up. In a world where people …

Building a modern, mobile-centric website

Websites, as you have most probably noticed, have changed immensely over the last decade or two. For us here at Coolsmartphone it’s been quite a transition. We had a separate website for mobile phone users, which was a slimmed down and low-tech version. To get the full experience, …

Electric scooters to be legalised in the UK?

Here in the UK these things have a bit of a vague legal stance for most people. If you’ve got a non-electric one, you’re probably scooting along the footpath. Likewise, if you’ve got one with an electric motor inside, you might assume that it’s fairly OK to hammer …

Realme 5 – Review Part 1. The Unboxing.

I’ve been wanting to take a look at the Realme 5 Pro since getting a hands-on with it last October. That phone is available to buy for €199, which works out at £168.45. The “Pro” has a 6.3″ screen with a 2340×1080 (409ppi) screen and measures in at …

Lewis Hamilton gets a little carried away with 5G

So, we know what this is, right? Last year Vodafone recruited Lewis Hamilton to promote their 5G network (because Lewis is fast and – durr… so is 5G, right?) Anyhow, now they’ve got him testing out virtual reality games and it’s pretty cool to see the results if …

Using Pay As You Go? Use it or lose it!

Whilst browsing through my tweets I noticed this exchange between Phones Show producer Steve Litchfield and the Vodafone Twitter account. It relates to a Pay As You Go handset / SIM and the fact that it’s been unexpectedly disconnected… The disconnection of an apparently unused line might seem …

Motorola RAZR up for pre-order on EE

With so many similar-looking phones available on the market, it’s good to see EE picking up the new Motorola RAZR. It’s a classic-but-seriously-modern flip-phone, with 128GB of storage, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 CPU (octa-core with 2×2.2 GHz and 6×1.7 Ghz), 6GB RAM and a dual 16 megapixel rear …

New research shows a shift in mobile habits

Research from Clas Ohlson has today revealed the extent of excessive mobile phone usage here in the UK. It reinforces the suspicions that many of us will probably already be aware of, with the findings showing the damage that can be done if you’re using you phone too …

Which is the best Android TV box?

If you’re looking to turn your TV into a smart interactive device but don’t want to have to spend money on a whole new TV, a set-top box running Android TV is just what you need. You can easily watch videos online and media from external storage. In …

The Nokia 800 Tough. A durable, rugged phone designed for hard work.

Every now and then it’s really quite refreshing to get a press release which isn’t about a smartphone. This one is a bit smart, granted. It has an on-board (non Android) app store and there’s WhatsApp and Facebook pre-loaded, plus there’s WiFi and 4G too. It’s a mere £109.99 on Amazon and …

More goodybag action from giffgaff

The boys at giffgaff (operating on O2 masts) have had a bit of a refresh with their £6, £8, £20 and £25 “Always On” goodybags. Whether you’re a customer / members or not, you can now get unlimited texts and calls on all goodybags plus double data on …

How mobile gaming is taking over

It’s 2020 and today our mobile modern  technology plays a massive part in our day to day lives. However, what many don’t realise is that there’s been a huge amount of attention in this area. Not just the hardware, not just the operating system or the networks, but …

Huawei to use TomTom maps

Following the embargo placed on Huawei, the Chinese phone company can no longer trade with US companies. It’s effectively received a closed door from Google and all its associated services. To be honest most of the Google services can be replaced – in fact most phone manufacturers have …

Honor MagicWatch 2 – Review

I’ve had a number of fitness bands over the years. As the months go by I somehow kill each one. It either drops off, stops charging or breaks down in some other way. Over the last month I’ve been checking out something new – the Honor MagicWatch 2. …

Groov-e Zen ANC Headphones – Review

Good Points: Price Battery life Active Noise Cancelling Good mid-range sound quality Lightweight Bad Points: Plastic build quality Sound distortion at high volume Bluetooth 4.1 Design: The Zen Wireless ANC (active noise cancelling) headphones are the latest in the budget range from Groov-e. Coming in at an MSRP …

My Google “Pixelbook” .. for less than half the money

I’ve gotta admit, I’d love a Google Pixelbook. It’s got an Intel Core i7, either 8GB or 16GB of RAM (depending on the model), a big hard drive and a 12.3″ 2400×1600 (235ppi) panel. Trouble is, despite all my saving, I’m not getting close to affording one. Even …