Category: Hardware Reviews

Ditching Sky. Life after cancellation with Netgem TV.

I’ve had Sky TV installed for about 15 years. I’ve seen it grow from a normal satellite TV box to a “timeshifting” one and then, as on-demand TV increased in popularity, we got more choice and flexibility than ever. However, we consume TV differently now. There’s a huge …

OnePlus Warp Charge 30 Wireless Charger Overview

The all-new OnePlus 8 Pro gets a 4510mAh battery and, in the box, the super-quick Warp Charge 30T wired charger. However, the OnePlus 8 Pro also gets Wireless charging and , if you want, you can place it on the wireless charging units available to buy on the …

OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro – Camera test

Both of these phones have pretty solid cameras and I used them both during the reveal of the handsets in order to snap pictures. Both phones have the same 16 megapixel Sony selfie hole-punch camera. Around back though, things are a bit different. The OnePlus 8 Pro, on …

OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro – Video unboxing

It’s a lovely sunny day and I’m out in the garden to take the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro out of their boxes. This really was my first unboxing of both and, as we’re on lockdown, my quietest place right now is the garden. If you want …

OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro – Everything you need to know

Here’s two smartphones from a company that has been around for almost seven years now. During that time OnePlus have achieved a cult following but, with handsets like the OnePlus 7T (reviewed here, here and here) they’re now gaining more mainstream traction. Today marks the launch of two …

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 …

Asus ROG Phone II – Review

Gaming phones have now become a thing and manufacturers are standing up and taking attention. This all kicked off back in 2017 when Razer released their first Razer Phone. I reviewed it shortly after it arrived on our shores and was very impressed. At the time it was …

Unboxing the Asus ROG Phone 2

So I have been doing this for a while now and in that time I have seen some very cool and very powerful phone’s come across my desk. However, today is a big day as this is the day that I get the chance to unbox one of …

OnePlus 7T Review – Part 3

It’s fair to say that I got a little distracted doing this review. It’s now three parts long (part one is here and part two is here), but I started writing this a month ago now. The truth? It’s become my daily driver. This is a stand-out phone, …

OnePlus 7T Review – Part 2

In our first part of this review the weather was pretty terrible, so I unboxed the OnePlus 7T in the car. During that video I mentioned the camera, so today it’s a deeper look into this. It’s quite a clever setup actually. The main camera that you’ll be …

OnePlus 7T Review – Part 1

I liked this particular phone the minute I saw it at the launch. Sure, there’s a “Pro” model, but I was more impressed with the design of this one. I’m not saying that the other one is bad, because it isn’t – this one was just my preference. …

The OnePlus 7 Pro. Go get yourself one of these.

OK, it’s quickly turning into OnePlus day here at Coolsmartphone. Today we’re going to take another deep-dive into the OnePlus 7 Pro. It’s a phone which has taken up residence at the Coolsmartphone office and yes – we actually got told off by the OnePlus PR people for …

Honor 20 Pro – Review

So you’ve decided that you want to get a top-end smartphone, but you don’t have a spare £800 down the back of the sofa. Well, the good news is that you do have a lot of options these days. You have the likes of OnePlus and Xioami, alongside …

Huawei P30 Lite – Review

Put the word “Lite” into the name of your next smartphone and, well, it doesn’t help with your expectations. It’s like when you’re buying a car. If it’s a Vauxhall Corsa “Life” or a base model Kia Rio, you’re not going to get all the kit and toys …

Honor 20 Pro – First Impressions

Now, normally this is where I would be talking about the unboxing of a new phone and would introduce you to video where I do just that. However, in the case of this phone, I’ll be doing something more. The reason is quite simple. It has been done …

Nokia 1 Plus – Review

We did a really detailed overview a few months back so I’ll just bring you up to speed here. First of all, this is cheap. You can get it right now on Vodafone for a mere £59 when you get it with the £10 Big Value Bundle. Nokia …

Honor 20 – Review

I find myself asking the question sometimes. Why do I spend so much money on expensive flagships? Maybe something a bit cheaper would suffice? When I try to answer this question there is one company that always springs forward as the optimum candidate. That company, if you haven’t …

Honor 20 – Unboxing and mini-review

About a month ago, on a day as similarly hot as it is today, I was down in London attending the launch and announcement of the Honor 20 series. Whilst I was there I was mostly focused on the biggest brother in the lineup – the Honor 20 …

Asus ZenFone 6 – Review

In this review I’m speaking to a select few. You’re special, because if you want this phone you’ll probably not find it at your local mobile phone store. As I type, you’ll need to pre-order and the Asus website is your best bet. They’re offering the 128GB storage …

Asus ZenFone 6 – Battery update

This was never meant to be a battery test. What happened, if I’m honest, is that I forgot to charge the ZenFone 6 one night. This meant that I had to go into uncharted territory. A second day on battery. So that happened, and the 5000mAh battery simply …

Honor 20 Pro – Hands on

So, the launch has happened and it’s now time to get up close and personal with the Honor 20 Pro. Now, before we get into this fully, I would like to thank Ricky West from TechTalk. He has provided us with the close-up shots of the device. I …

Mobvoi Ticwatch S2 – Unboxing

Today we have a new smartwatch to play with. It is the newest Ticwatch S2 from Mobvoi. Yes, I know the watch has been available for a little while already, but up until now, it has only been available in black. We have now got hold of the …

Sony Xperia 10 Review

Oh my days. We’ve got a Sony phone in the office. This is new. Sony seem to have a problem that none of us can really pinpoint. Think about your next smartphone purchase and you’ll probably think Samsung or Huawei. You may even think about Xiaomi, Honor or …

Asus ZenFone 6 – Gallery special

You’ll have no doubt noticed on my unboxing video that I jammed some things into the inner workings of the flip camera system and generally moved it around to see how strong it was. You can move it manually and it will stick in the place you left …

ZenFone 6 – Unboxing and example photos from the camera

Eager YouTube followers may have seen my late-night unboxing last night. However, I’ve now added a far better version so that you can see what this phone is all about. Before that though, if you want one, you need to head to the Asus online store. This one …

Asus ZenFone 6 – All you need to know

Here in the evening sunshine, Asus conducted quite possibly the most relaxed press launch I have ever had the privilege of attending. A large part of the announcement was put aside to detail the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 CPU. A lot was said about it, but I can distil …

Is this the best camera phone? Huawei P30 Pro – Review

The time has come, the testing has been done, the verdict is brewing. Is the phone I currently hold in my hand the best camera phone of 2019, and is it worth you shelling out nearly £1000 for one? These are the two questions I intend to attempt …

Unboxing the Huawei P30 Pro

Normally when we get a phone to review, one of the first things that we do is an unboxing. However, with the P30 Pro we decided to mix things up a bit. Dan was able to use the phone for a short period of time before he departed …

Dell Chromebook 11″ 2-in-1 – Review

I have always liked Chromebooks, as they offer a lot of computing power and bang for your cash. Dell has been making these laptops for while, and in this latest iteration of the Chromebook 11″ they have taken the skills they have learned from the enterprise range and …

MWC -3MK have new cases to show us

So we know that 3MK make some awesome screen protectors that we saw last year whilst we were here. Since then I have been using their screen protection for my various phones since then. They have not let me down and survived the various trails and tribulations that …

OnePlus 6T – Review

  Review device specs Price: £529 Mirror Black 8GB RAM 128 GB Storage Snapdragon 845 chipset 16 and 20-megapixel dual cameras Android 9 pie running oxygen OS 9.0.11 December 2018 security patch Good Points: Lightening fast Great battery life Oxygen OS close to stock Android Gorgeous screen Specs …

Dell USB Type C Monitor – Review

I have been on the lookout for a USB Type C monitor to go along with my Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 for a while now to allow me to optimise my desk setup. Until recently, it has proven difficult to get one that would fit in my smallish …

Huawei P Smart 2019 – Review

I have been using the Huawei P Smart 2019 for a few days now, and itis time for me to put pen to paper and give my opinions of the device. The first thing I want to get out of the way is that this phone shares a …

Dell Chromebook 11 2 in 1 – First impressions

Today I received a new toy to play with in the form of the “Dell Chromebook 11 3189 2 in 1”. Apart from having a ridiculously long name, this Chromebook has some other very cool features onboard. Now as far as Chromebooks go, this is pretty much what …

Honor View20 – Review

I’ll be honest, Huawei and Honor seem to be cranking up the handset launches to a rate where I’m losing track slightly. Honor, let’s not forget, is a sub-brand of Huawei. You get the same quality, the same Huawei processor and the same user interface, albeit with a …

Palm – My thoughts on the mini-smartphone

This diddy smartphone is on Vodafone and you can get one here for £31 per month. In the USA this has been sold as a “companion phone” which I can sort of understand. See, I’m a little confused. It’s like Brexit in a way. There’s really no middle …

Huawei P Smart 2019 – Unboxing

To kick things off for 2019, I have got a new phone from Huawei which went on sale with Vodafone (other networks are available) this morning. The thing that makes this phone all sorts of brilliant is that this is a perfect “New year, New you”-phone. It is …

Galaxy Note 9 – Review

Specs: Review Price: £899 6.4-inch Super AMOLED HDR display Snapdragon 845/Exynos 9810 12-megapixel variable aperture main camera, 12-megapixel secondary 2x zoom camera 6GB/8GB RAM 128GB/512GB storage 4000 mAh battery Android 8.1 S Pen w/ Bluetooth Good Points: Absolutely gorgeous screen Fantastic battery life Build quality Loads of features …

Palm – A hands on overview

Getting hold of one of these, right now, today, in the UK… is… tricky. But we have one, and it’s in my car, so you know what that means. CAR VIDEO! The Palm Smartphone is available right here on Vodafone. As we mentioned just this morning it’s available …