Category: Hardware Reviews
At the beginning of November, Huawei released something a little bit exciting – the Huawei Mate 9. I was lucky enough to be given one of these devices for review and as such have been using it for the past few weeks. It is now time for me to …
Having a security camera on your house can be a good and bad thing. Sure, you can keep an eye on things, but it’s also a sign that you want to keep something protected, and thieves might target your house because it’s got cameras hanging off it. So …
Now before I begin my review, I must confess that I haven’t used a windows machine in anger for quite some time. 95% of my work is now done on my Chromebook. I do have a windows media PC, but that’s all its used for. I have been …
It has been a few weeks now since the latest Acer tablet arrived on my desk at Coolsmartphone towers. In that time I have been using it as my main day-to-day device for media consumption. I have not really been using it for very much in the way of work …
There was a time, not too long ago, when phones costing £139.99 were best avoided. “Android landfill” they used to call them. Cheap devices with a questionable build quality, a dire camera and wonky screen resolutions. Here, for your money you’re getting a completely network-free device with an …
I was one of the Kickstarter backers for the original Pebble smartwatch back in 2012. I still actually own that too. Shortly after I purchased the Pebble Steel. However, when the colour Pebble Time watches appeared, I fell out of love with them. I thought the new colour ePaper interface was a …
Here at Coolsmartphone we are approached by device manufacturers from all over the world. I must admit that it is the unheard-of devices from the far-east that intrigue me the most, so I jumped at the chance to review the unknown brand Nomu and their S10 device. ‘Who …
For the last few weeks I have been putting the Google Pixel through its paces. Heres my review of the first phone by Google.
Today we have a new tablet in the house from Acer – the Acer Iconia Tab 10. The Iconia Tab 10 is Acer’s take on the low cost but premium build tablet that aims to be your new multimedia device. The Acer Iconia Tab 10 is currently available …
When I was sent these headphones I gave a sigh of relief – I’m a regular runner and use a bog standard pair of sports headphones. These fit nicely around the ear but have a wire, and for months now the wire has been driving me slowly mad …
Sony has had an interesting year so far. It’s seen the launch of several handsets, including two flagships – the Xperia X and Xperia XZ. The latter of these phones is the subject of this review. If you wish to find out a bit more about the former …
The lower-end of the smartphone market has become very competitive of late. Not only that, but it’s also got better. The build quality is better. The specs are better. So, when I say, “the lower-end”, I generally only mean the price. Bush isn’t a brand that many today …
As the explosion of online shopping continues, more and more of us are having deliveries to our homes (I am now on first name terms with my local Amazon delivery driver, we have so many deliveries). Here lies one of our first world problems, i.e. making sure somebody’s …
Portable speakers are ten a penny these days. You can spend anywhere from a few pounds up to several hundred. The sound quality is often one of the defining features, as is the make and look. Aukey produce a wide variety of products, most of which are …
Back in January, Leigh reviewed devolo’s dLAN 1200+ WiFi ac Powerline adapter and now I got the chance to review the 550 starter pack. The dLAN 500 WiFi is an upgrade of devolo’s current mid-high range offering, the dLAN 500 WiFi. While continuing to offer Powerline transmission speeds of …
Are you in the market for a stylish designed retro looking DAB radio with some added features? Well come on in and have a read of my review of the VQ MKII Retro DAB radio. Good Points: Fantastic sound quality. Well built retro design. Available in 11 colours. …
Meet the OBi MV1 Worldphone “Obi who?” Good question. They are a Silicon Valley smartphone manufacturer founded in 2014 by former Apple Inc and Pepsi CEO John Sculley. Obi Worldphone manufactures smartphones aimed at the emerging markets, rather than very competitive developed markets. Obi Worldphone launched two of their …
Good Points: Easy Setup. Control from Android/iOS app. Dim-able. Used alone or in a group of bulbs. Innovative hidden way to increase WiFi coverage. Bad Points: Large Unit Size No ability to program on/off times Need to connected to same WiFi nerwork for app control. In today’s wireless …
The time has come for me to review the most powerful phone that I have ever used: the LeEco Le Max 2! Whoa there, hold on. Whoa there, hold on. ‘Whoa there, hold on’ – did I just say that? Well yes, I did, but the real question …
You may have seen recently the little photo special our Dear Leader posted on the Honor 5c. Recently Huawei have caused significant disruption in the phone market both with their own devices and sub-brand Honor devices. Devices such as the Honor 6 Plus, the Honor 7 and the …
A few weeks ago I was filling my car at the local petrol station and noticed that if you purchased a certain amount of fuel you could buy a dash cam for £20, which I promptly did. However, this camera can only be described as awful. It was …
You don’t necessarily have to live in a mansion to have WiFi coverage problems. Even “normal” houses will have patchy areas where the WiFi coverage isn’t brilliant. Most internet providers will give you a free router now, and the WiFi range can be questionable at best, especially if …
In today’s world, pretty much every gadget is connected to the internet. Alarms are no different, and I recently got sent this Wi-Fi enabled Home Security System, from Smanos. Whats In The Box: Upon opening the box I was met with the main control unit. It looks like …
The boys from BT.. sorry, EE.. sent me one of their clever TV boxes recently. You can’t just go out and buy one of these things, you have to have an EE Broadband package too. There’s full details here. You basically plug this into your rooftop aerial and …
As you may know, I was recently out in Shanghai and I was lucky enough to be given a Le Max 2 from LeEco for me to use as my own phone. So in the way of a true tech blogger, I decided I would share the unboxing …
Just a few weeks ago I rather hesitantly went to meet with Sony, and there I was given the replacement to my trusty and long-suffering Xperia Z5 in the form of the Xperia X. Now to say I wasn’t thrilled with this exchange was an understatement as I …
There’s now four own-branded smartphones in the Vodafone armoury. We looked at the entry-level Vodafone Smart first 7 the other day and we’ve reviewed the mid-range Vodafone Smart prime 7. Now it’s the turn of the Vodafone Smart ultra 7. However, if you want an even higher-spec smartphone, …
Imagine having a smartphone made of metal and glass, beautiful design, a great quality 16 megapixel camera, 2K resolution display and a fast fingerprint reader on the back. Now think what a device like that might cost you? £400? £450……….. Well, what if I said you can have …
Honestly. £20. It’s all bonkers isn’t it? This, as I’ve said before, is an Android phone that would’ve cost you £100 only a very short time ago. Now you can purchase a smartphone for a mere £20. Let’s get some things out the way. This is entry level. …
They only announced that this would be available the other day, but us being eager beavers here at Coolsmartphone (and with me being in Shanghai), I thought it would be worth a visit to ZTE. Before we get into that though let’s see what this thing is all …
OnePlus seem to have been in the news quite a lot recently, and this time it seems to be for all the right reasons. No over the top, morally and ethically questionable campaigns or events this time. It’s all about the OnePlus 3, the third flagship from the …
A smartphone can be a scary proposition for some. It’s like being asked to perform brain surgery for a certain section of society and it’s something that they’ll run from. Why? Well, they’re older. Age will happen to all of us, but put a modern smartphone in front …
It has been a bit of time since we last heard any news from Jide (the makers of Remix Ultra Tablet and the Remix Mini). They have been working very hard on a few different projects and building their portfolio up. So, what have they been working on so …
Glory, glory. Hallelujah. I had to spell check that last word. Anyhow. We’ve got another battery pack here. This one is a chunky monkey too. Not chunky as in physical size (it’s 123mm long by 69mm wide and 16mm thick. Basically it’s about as thick as a standard …
The great thing about the Android operating system is manufacturers in all shapes and sizes can produce some decent hardware at a low price. This is enabling networks to jump on board too, and they’re making some of their own branded phones. Network-branded smartphones are not a new …
On first impressions you have to wonder why. Is this a product that didn’t need inventing? What was wrong with the way we do it now? Noke was founded in 2014 after a very successful Kickstarter campaign when it launched its ‘Smart Padlock’ product rating over $652,828 in …
I write this shortly after reviewing the Huawei P9 and, I have to say, the first thing I noticed is how much heavier the HTC 10 is. The P9 is 144g and the HTC 10 is 161g. It might not sound much, but boy – I noticed it …
There is a new Sony hitting the shelves today, it is the much awaited Xperia X that was announced at MWC 16. This is slightly scaled down version of what went before in the form of the Xperia Z5 range. It shares a lot of features of its …
Acer’s newest Windows phone is about to hit the prime time, and I have been able to have a bit of a play around with it. First off lets have a look at the unboxing video.. The phone feels good in the hand due to its slightly curved …
I’m going to take a slightly different approach to this review and note down everything as I unbox the device. First, the specs. This is the Huawei MediaPad M2 10.0 and it’s available in either “Luxurious Gold” or in this fine shade – “Moonlight Silver”. It weighs in …
