Category: General

Vodafone 5G network – growing already.

I spent 16 long years of my life working in Stoke-on-Trent. It was definitely an experience. They love their tea and say things like, “I’m goin’ shop Duck” or “You wanna brew Duck?” Then there’s oatcakes.. oh my days, I could tell you about the oatcakes. You have …

Google Pixel 3a goes unlimited with Vodafone

Fancy getting yourself the Google Pixel, but don’t want to spend quite so much cash? Get yourself the Pixel 3a. We covered it here and it’s now available on Vodafone UK for £36 per month with no upfront cost. Powered by Android 9, it’s got a Qualcomm Snapdragon …

DOOGEE upgrades its rugged S90 to Pro Edition

DOOGEE Hengtong Technology Co. Ltd has been around for a while developing smartphones for those how need their phones to take hard knocks. DOOGEE is taking pre-orders for the upgrade to their S90, which offers the new Android 9.0 Pie which means that the phone uses AI (Artificial …

Microsoft xCloud to add to the smartphone gaming transition

You’ll no doubt already know how mobile gaming is turning the traditional world of consoles on its head. We’ve seen phones become more and more powerful, able to run graphically-intensive games locally and produce a gameplay experience that isn’t too far removed from the likes of PS4 and …

It’s that time of year again folks..

Each year, me and a group of other idiots do a “big ride” for charity. It’s also used as a yearly goal to stop us all getting fat. This time it’s the “Way Of The Roses” route on July 27th. This is a 170 mile journey with 8,085 …

Vodafone UK launches the 5G GigaCube

Imagine if you found a home broadband provider who could offer you super-fast internet speeds for £30. Sounds good? For that you get 100GB of data to use and there’s no line rental or TV and calls package. No engineer, no waiting. This, then, is what Vodafone 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 …

Vodafone 5G – I feel the need, the need for speed.

Imagine you’re the marketing boss of a major network and you want someone to represent your company. Imagine that your network is about to launch a super-speedy new 5G technology which will fire data into phones faster than a bullet. Who would you choose? Usain Bolt? Well yes, …

Lanmodo Night Vision System now getting even better

This is the LANMODO Night Vision camera. It’s been available for a while now and sits rather nicely on your dashboard, offering up a wide-angle video of your surroundings. Ideal for driving safety but especially good for those instances where there’s poor visibility or darkness. The 8.2″ IPS …

Go and Snatch. Win prizes and get fit too!

Fancy grabbing some Snatch action? Now you can thanks to a radical new AR free-to-play mobile game. This one has you engaging with your favourite brands and you get the chance to win some exclusive prizes! To get involved, you download “Snatch” from the App Store or Google …

Liked that Spiderman holder? Try this Crash Bandicoot one then!

If you liked the look of the Collectable Spiderman Smartphone holder but you’re not necessarily a Spiderman fan, we’ve got another option. This is the gadget for all Crash Bandicoot fans. Another carefully crafted collectable figure in full oversized XL glory. His hands hold a Nintendo Switch, Nintendo …

Virgin Mobile SIM only deals. £9 for 6GB and more

Whilst sorting out this “little issue” with Three last night, I spotted this rather tasty SIM-only plan from Virgin. It delivers 6GB fo 4G data, 1500 minutes of calls and unlimited texts on a 12 month contract. A mere £9 for this. Boom! You’ll be sitting on the …

The big Vodafone announcement. Limits are history, baby!

With all these 5G launches happening, it’s easy for things to get lost in the fog somewhat. However, what Vodafone announced recently is really rather interesting. Instead of offering yet more packages with present limits, they’ve instead announced packages which let you grab as much data as you …

Three 5G. Twice as fast as others.

As we’ve mentioned before, Three have a rather big ace up their sleeve when it comes to 5G. During the spectrum auction they managed to obtain one contiguous 100MHz block to deliver what’s termed as “full 5G”. Not only that, but they also have a total of 140MHz …

BT Announce 5G launch plans

BT, who own EE, have announced their very own 5G service. It’ll of course use the EE masts and you’ll get the same coverage. Launching in the autumn, BT Plus customers will get the option to upgrade first. As with EE, the BT 5G network will be available …

Changing networks – Text to Switch Explained

Today marks the start of a new method of changing networks. For all too long people here in the UK have had to call the infamous “Retentions Team”. They will try lots of things to keep hold of you as a customer. Sometimes this process has a good …

giffgaff double the data for £20 and £25 goodybag customers

There’s some new goodybags available from giffgaff now, and the network – which runs on the O2 masts – are announcing that the £20 goodybag will now come with double data. Things kick off on July 3rd, so instead of 20GB, you’ll get 40GB on the £20 monthly …

Neneh Cherry. Buffalo Stance crash at Glastonbury.

Who’s looking good today? Who’s looking good in every way? Not this video screen, that’s for sure. During the Neneh Cherry performance at Glasto this weekend, the laptop running the rear video screen decided to perform an untimely reboot. Strangely, the people responsible for the visuals had chosen …

StorySign from Huawei gets a new Story added

Last year we talked about an app that had been developed by Huawei and the British Deaf Association called StorySign. This is an app that helps young children to read stories via the use of sign language which is provided to them via an Avatar called Star which …

When is it the right time to bin your smartphone?

Back in the day, people used to replace their phone every single year. Once a shiny new model came around, they would toss their old model away. Now that phones are no longer the size and shape of bricks, you may be wondering how long you should wait …

Mi Smart Band 4 now available

Those you who are into your fitness and want a tracker that gives you a little bit more than just some flashing lights or a step count, pay attention. Xioami have now just released the new Mi Smart Band 4 here in the Uk and you can buy …

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 …

70mai Smart Dash Cam now gets GPS information on footage!

The one minor annoyance about reviewing kit here at Coolsmartphone is the fact that, after you’ve reviewed it, they can sometimes fix problems you pointed out. One example is the 70mai Smart Dash Cam that we reviewed just last week. I loved the thing, but I was a …

Three 5G testing under way. Cloud network in place.

Wait though, because it’s not all about 5G. Three are also boosting their 4G, with 3G spectrum now being refarmed for 4G. They’re upgrading the 4G antenna masts on thousands of sites, with Croydon recently seeing new antennas and a reallocation of 10MHz of 3G spectrum (leaving 5Mhz …

Enormous unnecessary Brexit rant and remote mouse killer. Engage!

This was going to be a look at a slightly bizarre gadget. However, I’ve lost all concept of the word “bizarre” nowadays. To be honest here in Britain we’re so far down the rabbit hole right now, everything else kinda seems normal. Boris Johnson? Seriously? The guy flat …

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro – Review

So I have finished testing the standard TicWatch S2 and I was wondering how the TicWatch Pro would compare against this, fortunately, the kind people at TicWatch were able to send me over a TicWatch Pro to test out which was very good of them. For this review, …

BBC iPlayer and YouTube now added to the EE Video Data Pass

Heard about the Video Data Pass? On EE it basically means that you can watch as much video as you like from selected providers without it impacting your allowances. We covered it and the other Smart Plans in detail back in May but now there’s some even better …

Sure, you’ve tried a VPN, but have you tried a proxy?

There’s plenty of reasons to hide your identity online. Now, we’ve covered VPN’s – they hide your IP, and give you an IP of a datacentre or a local point of presence in a country elsewhere. Providers like Surfshark and others are there for you if you ever …

Google Maps – Now with a speedometer

I’m probably going to open up a whole can of worms here, but your car speedometer, some of the time, isn’t right. For the most part, it only needs to be accurate to within plus or minus 5 mph at 50 mph. Here in the UK the law …

Vodafone 5G – Mobile gaming on test

The new, faster 5G network will, when combined with connected gaming, create a whole new world of mobile games. Vodafone have tested their 5G network in Birmingham with Gaming Expert, “Syndicate” and has been checking out some of the cloud-based games from Hatch. The new, faster 5G network …

Xiaomi ROIDMI NEX Incoming. More suck. Added mop!

Last year we reviewed the rather cool ROIDMI cordless vacuum cleaner. We did it in two parts, here and here. Put simply, it’s a high-powered lightweight vacuum (available on Amazon UK and Amazon US) with a 2500mAH battery, multiple attachments and Bluetooth connectivity. You can use it as …

Xiaomi Announce the Mi Smart Band 4 coming to Europe

In continuation of my current obsession with all things wearable, I have just seen that Xiaomi has announced their latest Band product in the form of the Mi Smart Band 4. This is a departure from the previous designs in that it now has a full-colour AMOLED display. …

Alexa will now make calls for you

If you’ve got yourself an Amazon Echo and you’re a Vodafone customer, this is definitely for you. Customers can now make or receive hands-free calls through Amazon Echo with your existing mobile plan. All you need to do is link your mobile number to your Alexa account. This …

Sky Mobile adds free unlimited data for all customers this weekend

Last year in the UK we experienced an absolutely stunning summer. This year, however, it’s done nothing but rain. Sky Mobile customers can at least drown their sorrows this weekend (June 15th and 16th) because the network is giving away unlimited mobile data. Sky Mobile customers can stream …

Played Fortnite recently?

If you haven’t, you probably know someone who has. The game has not only exploded across gaming platforms, but it’s remained “sticky”, with players coming back again and again to play. On your smartphone though, you may be playing a very similar game – PUBG Mobile. This has …

Hyundai testing the transmission of injury information after collisions

We’ve seen cars which auto-dial emergency services when they’re in accidents, but now Hyundai is working on a system which will send across details of the injuries sustained in road traffic accident. All within just within seven seconds of a crash happening. They’re working with a company called …