Category: Hardware Reviews
I’m old enough to come from a different world. A world before mobile phones. When they did appear, phones like this one were expensive and bulky. Children never had mobile phones. A mobile phone was used by successful professionals in the city. Bankers and traders used to lug …
So these days it seems that every man and their dog is making an Android slate. Now although this is a very good place to be as it give the consumer a multitude of options, it is also a potential minefield for the 1st time buyer. This buyer …
Introduction I have been a fan of the iPhone ever since the iPhone 3G, but find that after around 12 to 18 months of using a phone I get very bored. The issue with iOS is that it looks and feels the same no matter which device you’re …
When reviewing the Nexus 5, I’m extremely conscious of getting caught up in the excitement phase that accompanies receiving a new phone. After looking back at last year’s review, I actually feel that my assessment was mostly fair. But still, the passing of time has allowed that device’s …
Just how bad is the LG skin? Is it worse than TouchWiz? How is that button on the back? That’s what people say to me when the see I’ve got the LG G2. The LG G2 is one of the most unique devices of recent times and as …
It’s kinda hard to start with this one. This is a classic 1960’s-style phone. If you’re old enough you may remember seeing one of these on a special table at home. A few decades ago people would rent these from the telephone company. I know, it seems strange …
Let’s face it, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the new flagship for Samsung. No longer does the Galaxy S range sit at the top of the pile. With the original Note it was very similar to the S2, with only the screen size and the design being …
This is a review of the ThL W8S. You can read my initial impressions post here. I purchased the phone from Pandawill, a China based exporter and it cost $295 (which converted to £185.67 on the day). It is now listed at $279 with only one battery and …
The Huawei Ascend P2 was a device we first spotted back in Barcelona some months ago and, finally, it’s here. Inside there’s some pretty decent specs. Decent? No, that’s not the right word. Very good. Firstly you have that 4.7″ 720×1280 pixel screen. Resolution is great – the …
Over the next few weeks you’ll be seeing more from our “Gift Guide” series. We’ll be covering the best accessories, gadgets and smartphones to stuff into the stocking this festive season. First, gloves. Gloves are great. They’re obviously practical at this time of year. Winter is on the …
The last few weeks have been interesting, I’ve been using the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q phablet as one of my main devices and it’s about time for the main review. My initial impressions are here if you’re interested. The GOCLEVER is one of those devices that look identical to …
HTC have been making pretty good hardware for a while now and their latest range of ‘One’ handsets have been some of the most impressive phones of the year so far. However, large phones are becoming more popular now. We’ve already seen the Samsung Galaxy Note range and …
The Nokia Lumia 1020 is an amazing camera, that in the right hands can take some truly stunning photos and it can easily replace your point and shoot. But at what cost? Does Windows Phone support the Lumia 1020 enough? From the day I first saw the leak …
The LG G2 has a tough market to compete in, the high end Android arena has a lot of big players in it currently. We have HTC, Samsung and Google all with devices around about 5″ so the G2 will draw lots of comparisons. I’ve only had the …
It would seem that they are all jumping on the bandwagon. It started with Amazon and the Kindle Fire who had the place to themselves until Tesco came along with their Hudl and it was announced yesterday that Argos are to start selling their own version of an …
What can be said about the Nexus devices that hasn’t already been said? What once stood for a developer orientated device is now a high street brand that you can pick up in your local branch of PC World. Which isn’t a bad thing, it means more people …
As mentioned in this weeks podcast, 2013 has very much been LG’s year. With the relative success of the Nexus 4, the rumoured Nexus 5 and the release of the much vaunted LG G2 what was a bit part player in the Android ecosystem has become a big …
With a lot of people now taking more and more photos on their mobile phones, a decent camera has become something we all look to have. Until now, the megapixel race hit a wall around the 13 megapixel mark. To be honest this resolution is really good for …
Small things have a place in life, small phones definitely do too. Not everyone wants a huge device and not everyone wants a super complicated device covered in widgets and shortcuts. Good Points DTS Audio Small and compact Several different launchers designed for kids and the elderly Dual …
Tesco have worked quite hard in the recent past to increase their digital offering. They have bought Blinkbox for video streaming, We7 for music streaming and Mobcast for digital books. They have created Clubcard TV and merged their acquisitions in order to create an all in one streaming …
The LG G2 was announced on the 7th of August in New York and in true LG style the UK sort of got left behind, the G2 is only just starting to appear at retailers and networks. Last night we attended the UK launch party in …
I’ll come out and say it, I love enormous phones, call them phablets, small tablets, massive phones or just plain old stupid. I’m a convert, I’ve come to terms with the fact I’m never going to be able to wear super skinny jeans and own a large phone. …
The iPhone has become somewhat synonymous with quality, it’s seen by some as the ultimate status symbol. I’ve never bought into that idea, almost resisting it, just because rather than by choice. But now and again I do like to see how the latest iPhone shapes up. Whether or …
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 arrived on my desk a few days ago. The Note 3 marks the third generation of the Galaxy Note range, it also marks the third Galaxy Note that I’ve owned. So as is often the case with a new device here at Coolsmartphone …
So, Samsung then. We should skip a few chapters straight off. It’s a Samsung handset, so you know it’s going to be a well-built thing and the UI is going to be a polished and elegant place to be. The Galaxy S4 got a huge amount of attention …
Don’t get me wrong, I love writing reviews, but of the large quantity of Android phones on my desk I was quite happy to at last see a tablet. The MediaPad is, for me, a perfect size. It’s easy to hold with one hand and weighs about the …
A few months ago I had a HTC One for review, ever since it went back my life has been different, I’ve been constantly looking for a new phone to fill the 5″ 1080p Aluminium unibody sized gap in my life. I’ve played about the Galaxy S4 and …
Apple have done something different this year, they’ve bucked the trend, they’ve gone and released two new iPhones. The slightly cheaper iPhone 5C and the premium iPhone 5S. We’ve got the iPhone 5C for the next week or so and to start things off here are our initial …
Tablets are becoming more and more popular these days with new features and different screen sizes allowing for all types of customer. Small tablets are great for travelling and for taking to work, where as the larger ones can almost act as a laptop replacement for lots of …
The current generation of Acer devices are pretty impressive, at the top of the pile is the “S” range, which is the flagship device range. The Liquid S1 phablet is a great big thing with a 5.7″ screen and specs similar to the Galaxy Note II. I’ve had …
Review contributed by Richard King I first become a follower of MIUI back in 2012 when I was searching for a stable rom to put on an HTC Sensation XE. I was fed up with constantly finding bugs in other development ROMs that I was using, so I searched …
The Acer Liquid Z3 could be called the “Liquid E2 Duo Mini” but not every manufacturer has to follow the Samsung rules. The Acer Liquid Z3 is a budget sub £100 dual core device and I’ve got one for the next few weeks. So to start off proceedings here …
Yes. Fair comment, we do review a lot of Bluetooth speakers here at Coolsmartphone. It’s the new thing though. Gone are the days of kitchen radio, CD and tape players. Now it’s a speaker which you pair with your phone or MP3 player. What about FM radio though? …
I saw what appeared to be a cracking deal on a decent spec’d smartphone whilst surfing the web a couple of weeks ago, took the plunge and ordered directly from China. I’d never seen or heard of the brand-name ThL or the W8s phone before and to be …
So I’ve mentioned this new handset already. Out of the box it’s a corking design. Glance at it from the sides and you there’s a whiff of iPhone about it. Before I start though, I should also mention something else. I’m becoming increasingly impressed with Huawei. Sure, no-one …
The original Nexus 7 was something special, up until then small 7″ tablets had either been awful or stupidly expensive. The original Nexus 7 showed us that you could have a well specified device at a reasonable cost. It quickly became the most popular Android tablet ever, I …
I’ve always been a fan of large oversized phones and also dual SIM phones, so imagine what I was like when a large white device with dual SIM slots arrived on my desk. I opened it up and I did a double take, I was hit with a …
The 7-8″ tablet market is a rather competitive one, with Apple and Asus at the top of the pile. The iPad Mini and the Google Nexus 7 are undoubtedly the market leaders and there are many other manufacturers trying to get in on the action, Acer, Amazon, Gemini, …
Many people are doing away with their digital cameras and are instead taking more photos on their phone. Samsung have decided to test the waters with this, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. It’s a device which merges a digital camera with an S4 Mini. Unfortunately I didn’t have …
Videos, we love them. Take the HTC One for example. You’ve seen our HTC One overview and demo and a full look at how it’ll control your TV. It’s a fantastic phone and we’ve got a full HTC One review here. When the HTC One mini arrived we …
