Category: Hardware Reviews

Google Nexus 7 review – Final Conclusion

By now you will have hopefully read our selection of reviews for the Nexus 7. General consensus is that it is a great piece of kit. Jelly Bean is great. People are just going to go mad buying these. Amazon are screwed unless the next Kindle Fire is …

Google Nexus tablet group review – Video Comparisons

We have written a lot about the Nexus 7 recently, we have looked at every aspect of the device and even took looked at how to hack the thing as well. But how does it compare to other devices? It has been well documented that Google are not …

Google Nexus 7 review – Software

Software review (by Ravi Patel) I’m here to put a slight downer on things. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Nexus 7. Pound for pound it could very well be the best gadget ever. But it isn’t perfect (what is?) and I wanted to point out some …

Google Nexus 7 review – Photo special

We have talked quite a bit today about the Nexus 7, we have looked at every possible aspect of it & we have compared it on video to whatever other tablets we could get our hands on. One thing we haven’t looked at is some pictures of the …

Google Nexus 7 review – Hardware, Design and Performance

Continuing the Coolsmartphone group review of the Nexus 7 tablet. Now we have Stephen and Garry covering the hardware side of things. Nexus 7 Hardware & Design (by Stephen Murray) Well, where do I begin…? Maybe the bit I found most surprising. The Nexus 7 is light, it …

Google Nexus 7 review – Introduction

It is now time for us at Coolsmartphone to review the Google / Asus Nexus 7 tablet. Over the years we have been sent devices for review, we have blagged devices from suppliers for review and heaven forbid we have even bought devices ourselves for review. With this …

Review – Nexus 7 SD Tabletwear Stand & Type Case

A few days ago we bought you news that the guys over at Mobile Fun have started to stock Google Nexus 7 Cases and Covers. One of the lines that is currently available is the SD Tabletwear Stand & Type Case and we here at Coolsmartphone have managed to …

Hannspree HANNSpad SN70T3 review

After using the HANNSpad for a few weeks now it’s time for the full review. I thought I should get this review published before my Nexus 7 arrived as that would just ruin my experience with the HANNSpad. First of all I feel I should point out this …

LG Optimus 4X HD Review

Quad core phones are the new benchmark in Android at the moment and LG have just launched the Optimus 4X HD. The specs are impressive, Android 4.0 Quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, with 4.7” 1280 x 720 Screen 8.9mm thin 8-megapixel camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 21Mbps HSPA, 802.11 …

Huawei Ascend P1 Review

I’m going to start this review in a rather unconventional way. Bear with me. Straight away. Gotta admit it. This really isn’t bad. I mean sure, when I hold the Samsung Galaxy SII, then switch to this, there’s an ever-so-slight quality difference. The camera sticks out ever-such-a-little too …

Review – Bugatti Leather Cases

My hands smell of leather. It’s a strange pleasure, and I can perhaps see why there are those who wear special “driving gloves”. We asked Bugatti whether we could “review” the Veyron, pictured below.. ..they said no. Perhaps it had something to do with the two cars I’ve …

Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi R205 Review

So, what exactly is a Mi-Fi? It sounds a bit complicated but in reality it’s not that hard to grasp. It’s a small (and in this case, rather pebble-like) unit with a SIM card inside. The sticker on the front of the box sums it up best – …

Gear4 StreetParty Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Review

If you’ve been reading our reviews recently then you’ll know we have tested a few speakers but none of them as yet have been able to become my own personal”Daily Driver” no pun intended. Recently I have ben testing the Gear4 StreetParty Wireless Speaker, a bluetooth speaker with …

LG Optimus L7 Review

The LG L7 forms part of the “L Style” range. When we saw the L3, L5 and this at Mobile World Congress. This is at the very top of that range but it’s still not one of the most powerful devices we’ve seen from LG. First impressions are …

SoundWave SW50 Bluetooth Speaker Review

Whilst many smartphones now come with in-ear headphones and on-board technology to make your tunes sound better, there’s still a certain amount of disappointment when you use the external speaker on your phone for playing music. Sound quality is also a bit pants when using the external speaker …

Vodafone Smart II Review

  So, if we’re looking at budget Android handsets we have to look at this – the Vodafone Smart II. It’s going on sale for just £70 and is powered by Android 2.3. Inside it’s actually an Alcatel device – the charger and battery gives it all away …

Samsung Galaxy S3 MHL HDTV Adapter Review

So, you have a quad core beast of a handset, and it seems a shame to contain all that power to one (admittedly rather large and beautiful) mobile phone display. Step in the official Samsung HDTV adapter for the Galaxy S3.. The included video demonstrates the capabilities of the …

Sony Xperia P Review

The Xperia P sits squarely in the middle of the new Sony Mobile NXT range. The Xperia S has a 4.3″ screen (720×1280), this Xperia P has a 4″ and the Xperia U gets a 3.5″. Inside this is powered by a 1GHz dual-core CPU and there’s an …

HTC Desire C Review

With Nokia switching most of their efforts to Windows Phone there’s very few “featurephones” coming onto the market. It’s left the door open for cheaper Android smartphones which, despite dropping a few specs here and there, still give owners access into the large range of apps and games …

Galaxy S3 Cases from Mobilefun

So you’ve managed to get your hands on a shiny new Galaxy S3 handset. OOooh, shiny! You want it to stay that way, so that means a case. Below we take a look at two great choices from Mobilefun. First up, the Genuine Samsung Galaxy S3 Mesh Vent …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII – Day 6

One other feature we’ve not covered in the SIII just yet is “Pop-up video”. It’s perhaps a “nice to have” rather than an essential feature, but it’s still worth taking a look at. Here’s me loading a video and then watching it anywhere within the OS. It can …

Samsung Galaxy SIII Review

There’s really no doubt about it, the S3 is a gorgeous looking thing. You can hardly stop yourself from flipping it around in your hand. It’s beautifully sculpted and really does feel like a smooth pebble in your hand. As far as specs go you’re all set. A …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII – Day 5

It’s Friday! Yay! Well, if you’ve been watching our “Week with..” you’ll have noticed that there’s one feature we’ve not covered yet. S-Voice, the voice-recognition system built into the Samsung Galaxy SIII. Many have compared it to the Siri function on the iPhone 4S. Here, I do my …

House of Marley Redemption Song Earphones Review

Can eco-friendly, wooden clad, celebrity endorsed earphones really cut it when it comes to multi-platform mobile entertainment, and being a hands-free kit? After reading Simon’s excellent review of the Klipsch S4a Android earphones I was tempted to grab myself a pair. In fact, there was a pair in …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII – Day 4

Every day this week we’re bringing you a little bit of Samsung Galaxy SIII fun. Today it’s the turn of the camera and video. You may have seen “DLNA” mentioned quite a bit in your local branch of Currys and it can perhaps be a little confusing. Various …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII – Day 3

We’re doing a special week with the Samsung Galaxy SIII and yesterday we noticed that the screen brightness was a bit dimmer on the SIII when compared to the SII. We’ve got to admit that this is actually due to the Battery Saving technology which is built into …

Picture Special – Samsung Galaxy SIII – Pebble blue vs white

So, the Galaxy SIII. What’s your favourite colour? Well, don’t ask us. It’s not like we can just rustle up the Samsung Galaxy SIII in white and blue is it? I mean, next you’ll be wanting some up-close shots comparing both of them together. You’re kidding, right? These …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII – Day 2

This one is a little tricky to show, but the Samsung Galaxy SIII has a feature called “SmartStay”. I actually found this to be disabled out of the box, but after turning on it uses the front-facing 1.9 megapixel camera to see if you’re looking at the screen. …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII

So, this week I’ve got myself a Samsung Galaxy SIII. It’s been loaned to us from UR-Mobile and we’ll be giving you a daily dose of this hot new handset. Simply check back at 9.30 AM every day for the latest video. I’ve had quite a bit of …

Orange San Diego first 24hrs

I went out and got a Orange San Diego yesterday so that I could be one of the first to own a Intel powered mobile phone; on attending the press event the other week I was pretty taken with the handset and had made my mind up pretty …

BlackBerry 9320 Review

The BlackBerry Curve 9320 is the most recent BlackBerry available and comes with the latest version of BlackBerry OS, 7.1. Aimed at the lower end of the market and priced at around £150 this phone is the natural successor to both the Curve 8520 and 9300. Having owned …

Huawei Y 100 Review

  The Huawei Y 100 is a pretty cheap smartphone. It’s only £79.99 and is a diddy little thing which could be the ideal first smartphone for youngsters, pensioners and those that have been scared off smartphones by the price. Specs then, and we start off well with …

Motorola Razr Maxx Review

Recently we reported on the launch of the new Motorola RAZR Maxx, Motorola’s new flagship handset and we have very kindly been donated a review model to have a play with. At the beginning of the year Dan reviewed the first RAZR to carry the Android operating system.  …

Speck Candyshell, Flip and Satin, Review

Speck have been manufacturing cases for iOS devices for many years and have earned themselves a reputation as somewhat of a veteran in the market. Not a company to rest on its laurels they are constantly refining old designs whilst simultaneously releasing new ones. Read on for my …

Samsung Sound Horn Review

So, whilst I can’t review any Galaxy SIII accessories yet, I can at least review some Galaxy SII accessories instead. This is called the Samsung Galaxy S2 Sound Station Sound Horn, but I’m just going to call it the “Sound Horn” because it’s a lot better for my …

AbsolutePower Dual USB Wall Charger Review

We get a number of accessories to review here at Coolsmartphone. This one has taken a while to arrive, but it’s simple and effective. It won’t take a great deal to describe and there’s not a great deal of complexity about it, but that’s always a good thing …

STM Scout Review

I’ve been on the lookout for a bag to cart about my gadgets when going places. I needed something that wasn’t obviously a laptop bag (for fear of being mugged) but something that offered just as much protection. The STM Scout is the bag I chose to try …

Gemini JoyTab 8″ Tablet Review [updated 02/08/12]

Not so long back we announced that Gemini had become a new name in the Android tablet world. Aimed squarely at the entry level market, the Gemini JoyTAB range aims to bring the full Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich experience to a price point that has, until recently, …