Author: Ian Furlong

Doogee introduces the S88 Pro rugged phone

Meet the new, life-proof Doogee S88 Pro. This is a fully-featured smartphone which will easily fight off any daily drops or accidents. Its got a 10,000 mAh battery, unique LED lights, a triple camera and that IP68 protection. This means that you can dunk the phone into a …

YouTube Music gets a transfer update as Google Play Music shuts down

Ahead of plans to shut down Google Play Music later this year (so unlike Google to just shut down services isn’t it?), starting now, Google Play Music users will be able to move their libraries, personal taste preferences and playlists to the newer YouTube Music service. To do …

Newton Mail to return from the ashes

Back in December 2016, I reviewed a unified e-mail solution called Newton Mail, and for me Newton Mail was just perfect. You see, my current email solution is in a right mess. I’ve got three email accounts all syncing to my devices. Two are Gmail based, and one …

DOOGEE introduces the ultra-affordable X95 smartphone.

In today’s world of £1200, £1300, and even £2000 flagship phones, its nice to hear that phones at the other end of the scale are still being produced with some surprisingly good specifications. Today Chinese phone manufacturer DOOGEE has announced the launch of its latest phone, the DOOGEE …

Apple closes all stores outside mainland China

A full closure of all Apple shops and stores outside of China will now kick in for two weeks. This is happening immediately, and they not reopen until March 27th. It comes as the spread of coronavirus continues, with countries closing borders, stopping flights and going onto lock-down …

N100 from DOOGEE comes with a huge 10,000 mAh battery

The China-based phone manufacturer DooGee today announced the company’s latest smartphone, the N100. The DOOGEE N100 is an affordable smartphone packed full of features including a whopping 10,000 mAh battery, giving a claimed 100 hours of talk time and 350 hours of standby. Other specs include: 5.99″ full …

We might see the Surface Duo sooner than expected

In October last year Microsoft released to the world its dual-screen, Android-powered phone, the Surface Duo. It was stated that this device would be officially unveiled during this October’s Surface event and hit the market during the 2020 shopping season. Well, we are hearing rumblings that we might …

Samsung Galaxy S20 Prices rumoured.

As we get closer and closer to the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event, more and more leaks and rumours are flying around the interwebs. One thing we do know is that this new Samsung flagship isn’t going to be cheap. Trusted leaker Max Weinbach (of XDA Developers) has already …

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 …

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 …

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 …

BT Broadband packages now come with Google Stadia

BT (British Telecom) has announced that it is partnering with Google to launch a range of broadband plans that come with the Stadia cloud gaming service bundled in the package. BT, which is the biggest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the UK, is planning to offer the free …

Bose closing all European and US stores

Here at Coolsmartphone w’ve heard that top audio brand Bose is going to close a significant number of its brick and mortar stores. It’s believed the move is due to the popularity of online shopping and the reduced consumer interest in traditional stores. The closures will also impact …

Chrome OS to get Android 10 Gestures.

Lots of us here at Coolsmartphone use Chromebooks as our primary computing device, and now we’re hearing from the folks over at Android Police that they can be used in “tablet mode” with a gesture input. This is very similar to the one you’ll use in Android 10. …

Chromebooks – Now showing Bluetooth device battery level

Here at Coolsmartphone towers, a number of writers use Chromebooks as our primary devices. But one thing thing I find annoying when using my Chromebook is guessing at the battery level of my headphones, keyboard and mouse, but a few months back, it was discovered that Google was …

Microsoft’s anti-trust case was the reason it lost the OS race.

According to Bill Gates that is…. The Microsoft founder today stated he believed Microsoft’s antitrust issues in the early 2000s was the reason for Windows Mobile not being the OS that people use today. When asked about the impact of the Justice Department’s antitrust case. He came out …

Excessive battery drain on your OnePlus – WhatsApp might be the culprit.

Some OnePlus smartphone users are reporting excessive battery drain on their devices, and investigation has revealed that WhatsApp is killing more than 40% of the battery, even with limited use, in the following conditions: OnePlus devices running both Android 9 and 10 are being affected by the high …

Tribit Flybuds Wireless Earbuds – Review

Good Points: Bluetooth 5.0. Noise Cancelling. IPX 5 Waterproof rating. Up to 36hrs of listening time. USB Type C charging. Simple Pairing. Stylish carrying case. Lightweight. Ability to sync with 2 devices. Bad Points : Profile a bit large for some people. Bass quality lacking. What’s In The …

DooGee introduces the S95 Pro

Fancy getting a rugged and tough smartphone? The S95 Pro is the newest addition to the modular S range and gets a 48 megapixel triple camera, 5150mAh long lasting battery and a speedy Helio P90 Processor. You get the chance to bag the phone a bit cheaper too …

Honor Band 5 – Review

  Good points: Price Battery life Really bright screen Comfort Packed with features Bad Points: No easy connection to Google Fit Difficult to differentiate between notifications Specs: Size: 43 mm x 17.2 mm 11.5 mm Weight: 22.7g Display: 0.95″ colour AMOLED Display 120 x 240 px RGB Battery: …

USB Type-C audio adapters by Moshi – Now available

Last week Samsung’s latest flagship arrived – the Galaxy Note 10. However, there was a problem – one missing port. Yes, I’m with Steve Litchfield on this one – I love the 3.5mm audio port. I know that you can get USB Type-C wired headphones, but what if …

Google Play to start auto-playing videos.

Following the white redesign of the Google Play Store another, and what I deem more annoying update, is due pretty soon. Yes, the Play Store will start playing promo videos in the app listings automatically. According to Google the videos in the app listings will “help more users …

Mobile phone delivery scams on the increase.

So you’re sitting at home and there’s a knock on the door. A brand new top-of-the-range phone has been delivered to your house. The package has your name on it, but you don’t remember ordering it. Then there is another knock at the door and a courier asks …

Fingerprint unlock finally coming to WhatsApp.

Back In February this year, WhatsApp had rolled out the authentication feature for iOS beta users, making it possible to use Touch ID to unlock the app. Now finally after more than six months, the feature has finally been made available for Android beta users today. The Fingerprint …

EE named as best mobile provider 2019

Rootmetrics, a US based company founded back in 2008, has one sole purpose – to provide mobile network performance information. Today they have published the results for 2019 testing of the UK networks. By using a batch of store-purchased Samsung Galaxy S9  smartphones, the testing itself was conducted …

Fancy a colourful laptop for a change ?

Let’s be honest, most laptops are either Aluminium or Black. If you want to stray from this then it normally means putting a skin on your device. I try this but have to buy two as I always manage to bugger the first one up. Well, we have …

Note 10 prices leaked

It’s not too long now until the latest device in Samsung’s Note series, the Note 10 will be announced at an Unpacked Event on 7th August. I for one am eagerly awaiting to see this new device, with a view to upgrading my current Note 9. The internet …

Groov-e Soundbuds Review

Specs: Earbud 2 x 1.5 x 1.5 cm ; 5g Case 7.5 x 2.5 x 4cm ; 45g. Up to 4 hours music playback and up to an additional 10 hours using the changing case Music controls and answer/reject calls Long press for your relevant assistant. Bluetooth V5 …

Huawei respond to concerns and queries

Following the problems created by Emperor Trump, sorry President Trump, Huawei have decided to keep in contact with their customers and try to address some of their concerns. It’s a good sign really, because we’re all a bit worried about our shiny Huawei or Honor handsets and, following …

Ezviz CTQ6C Wireless Security Camera – Review

Have a look at most UK homes and there is normally an alarm box situated at the front with the blinking LED. Let’s be honest though, how many of us actually go and investigate if the alarm starts blaring? Truth be told, not many. “Well my alarm sends …

More Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Leaks Emerge.

Yet more leaked images have emerged of the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note 10, and these latest renders have come from Steve Hemmerstoffer and 91Mobiles. Looking like a change in direction for Samsung’s Galaxy Note lineup, the upcoming flagship ditches the horizontal camera setup found on previous devices …

Uno USB Type-C magnetic cable review.

The Sydney-based consumer electronics brand ASAP technologies has sent me through the Uno USB type-C magnetic cable for review. This cable is currently on Kickstarter, and has apparently already reached and surpassed its funding goal with days still to go. The beauty of this cable is its interchangeable …

Groov-e Launch Wireless SoundBuds With Assistant.

Here at Coolsmartphone Towers, we have reviewed Groov-e headphones on a few occasions, and have always been impressed with the sound quality at their competitive price point. Today Groov-e has announced their latest product; the SoundBuds. The SoundBuds feature a ” push to talk feature” which give users …

Universal Translator – One Step Closer With Pocketalk

Today saw the launch of Pocketalk. It’s a portable, AI-powered instant voice translation device which is able to seamlessly translate 74 (at present) languages bidirectionally in real time, making it easy for users to understand others and be understood by others. The Global SIM embedded, “Built-in Data” model …

Galaxy Fold release postponed

The revolutionary latest folding device from Samsung, the Galaxy Fold, was due to hit the market this Friday.  Earlier we’d told you how the launch had been delayed, but now been postponed indefinitely. Apparently Samsung has e-mailed customers that have pre-ordered the device, stating that orders may well …

OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro pricing revealed

Chinese phone manufacturer OnePlus will announce their latest flagship device on the 14th May, and following other manufacturers it is believed there will be more than one version. Soon enough we’ll be seeing the OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro and a 5G model too. The new phones will launch at …

I hope your password is better than 123456

If you stop and think about your online presence, just think how many different sites and apps you log into on a daily basis – each needing a unique username and password. Let’s be honest, most of us use a username that’s also our email address, so for …

Possible May release date for the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro

If you’re a long-time reader, you’ll probably already known that I am an avid OnePlus fan. I’ve had every device from the Chinese manufacturer and, if the the company are keeping to their previous device roll-out schedules, the next “Flagship Killer” shouldn’t be that far away. As always …