Category: Reviews
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 …
Case Mate recently offered to send me a selection of their cases for review, one of which I’ve done – the gold sparkly Glam iPhone case. Which is it’s great case with a fun look. I also got the Android Mike for the HTC One X. It’s another …
Truphone specialize in cheap or free international calls. A common claim in the current global telecoms market. But Truphone are a little different. They are an MVNO, they produce their own specialized sim card which can use multiple international numbers simultaneously and they make the oldest VoIP (voice …
One type of app that there seems to be a never ending supply of, on every platform, is weather apps. Some are better than others and some stand out. Umbrella 8 is a weather app for Windows phone that falls into the later category. Lots of apps illustrate …
Will the iPhone 5S come in gold? That’s the big question on someone’s lips, somewhere. Who cares, when you can have a gold iPhone 5 case and save yourself the hassle of changing phones? OK, so it’s not ‘champagne’, and it’s not aluminium, and it’s not subtle, but …
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 …
Level Up Studios have got into the app drawer market with the idea of revolutionising the Android icon grid. Have they made the must have launcher add-on of the decade, or are they trying to fix something that just ain’t broke? You may have heard of Level Up …
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 become a bit of a battery pack convert recently, choosing to charge up wherever I am and not worrying about where the nearest power socket is. I recently purchased one of those huge 13000 mAh battery packs which is fine when you can carry a large weighty …
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 …
6tag, the new Instagram client for Windows Phone by renowned developer Rudy Huyn is now available from the Marketplace. Any Windows Phone user knows the ongoing saga of no official Instagram app on the platform, so 3rd party apps have to fill the gap for now. 6tag is …
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, …
Good alarms are hard to find… If it doesn’t work properly, or have the necessary functionality then no matter how pretty the app is, or whether the app conforms to the Holo style guide, its dead to me. Enter Neon Alarm. Good Points It is pretty intuitive. A …
Touchnote is the popular send-a-postcard-from-your phone service. This article deals with the mechanics of the app, my experience of the app and some details of the company behind it including some feedback directly from Touchnote. This review is based on my use of the application on a Nexus …
Forget WhatsApp, leave Viber alone, and move along Google Hangouts. Yep, yuilop is here to let you talk, text, message and group chat as much as you want. For FREE! Wellll, almost. When you hear something that’s surely too good to be true, you have to wonder, so …
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 …
The upcoming US only Motorola Moto X has quite a few nice software features. In my eyes the rather fancy lockscreen notifications are a great idea, allowing you to quickly see what the latest notification is without having to turn your phone on. As I have a few …
Come Padawan. Let me talk to you about something. Phones, as you’ll probably know, are ruddy expensive. I know you really, really don’t want to, but whacking a cover on your device is the best way to protect it. But hey, it’s boring isn’t it? A little bit. …
A few days ago I posted an article about wireless charging. It was all about some receiver cards that attach to the battery in either your Galaxy S4 or Note II. I bought one for my Note II and I’ve spent the last few days playing about with …
I’ve not been the biggest fan of flip cases over the years. They tend to fall into two brackets, either cheap nasty leather things or stupidly expensive and supposedly premium quality. This isn’t the best frame of mind to be in for this review. Tech21 make a range …
A few weeks back I got my hands on a Sony SBH-20 stereo Bluetooth headset, and after using it for a little while I decided to jot down my views onto paper (or rather type them onto a laptop). Key features: Small unit with controls and built-in microphone …
Speakers. We’ve seen a few of them now. Slowly the idea of a radio sitting in your kitchen is becoming old fashioned and portable Bluetooth speakers hooked up to tablets and smartphones are replacing them. The is the Soundship Micro and immediately it’s a rather interesting design. Almost …
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 …
Morning all. I’ve got two bits of good news for you today. First, it’s Friday. Secondly, we’ve got a beautiful red HTC One for review. Yay! Now, I’ll let you into a secret. Come, follow me around the back of the Coolsmartphone servers and we’ll have a quick …
Now and again in life something makes it way into my hands that just feels amazing. The last time this happened to me was the day I held the HTC One for the first time. This week it was when two phone cases found their way onto my …
I do love a good hand sized tablet, which is probably why I use my Nexus 7 every single day and also why I’m probably going to get the new Nexus 7 when it appears in this country. Can an alternative manufacturers offering tempt me away from the Google …
Now and again a phone comes along that impresses me. It’s normally when the price, design, specifications, software and something special all combine to make something great. I’ve been using the Acer Liquid E2 for a few weeks now and am I impressed? Yes, but there are a …
Bluetooth headsets are something I’ve avoided for years, choosing to use wired headphones bundled in the box with the phone instead. I’ve taken this route mainly because of ease of use, you just plug them in and you’re done. In the past I’ve found Bluetooth headsets have been …
I’ve dabbled with external battery packs before, you know the sort. An unbranded 3000 mAh battery that refuses to work after a few weeks. It was after my wife and her friends went to a festival down south a few weeks ago and all of their phones died …
The HTC One is the best handset that HTC have made, in my opinion at least. Now they’ve shrunk it down, but only a little bit. Whilst writing this review I’ve shown this new HTC One mini handset to three HTC One owners and they’re all pretty impressed …
Fans of Despicable Me, listen up! As is so common with new movie releases nowadays, the makers behind Despicable Me have released a mobile game. Do you also like Temple Run? Blimey, this is your special day! Gameplay The game see’s your character taking on loads of obstacles …
It’s no secret, I love this thing. I’m using it right now to write this very story and it has a lot of the features that I also love about the iPad. Firstly, the design. Somehow this tablet is better than the Xperia Z phone. It’s beautifully built …
The Tabletwear Advanced Case for the Xperia Tablet Z is a budget stand style case to clad and protect the slender lines of Sony’s finest bit of Android gear. This is my second featured review of cases for the Sony Xperia Tablet Z, the first was of the …
Acer have been flogging away in the tech industry for many years now, in the mobile tech industry they are onto about their fifth generation of mobile devices and the Liquid E2 sits firmly in the mid range budget bracket. I’ve got one for the next few weeks …
Sunglasses … with a frickin’ hidden camera. Honestly, it’s like something out of Austin Powers. I don’t know where to start. Back in 2002 I was happy to review a phone that had a colour screen. Now I’ve got a pair of sunglasses which look and feel like …
Well, this is simple enough really. It looks like a little green robot and parks itself neatly around a UK electrical socket. Once you plug it in it’ll hold your phone and keep the endless cables nice and tidy in the clever little fingers in each “hand”. Made …
Looking to get yourself the HTC One mini? Well, we’ve already got some up-close shots, but today a man in a van dropped off the handset so that we can have a bit of time with it. If you’re a long-time reader then you’ll probably remember something we’ve …
We do get some slightly strange requests here at Coolsmartphone. BeeWi have sent us a car. Yes, an actual car. There was a bit of a fight to review it. Sadly it wasn’t a full-sized motor but a remote controlled Mini Cooper Coupé. Now, while we wait for …
Believe it or not I’ve never managed to use a Nexus 4, I’ve been near a smashed one once but that’s as close as I’ve got. My recent manoeuvres have been with slightly smaller phones than my regular Galaxy Note II, I’ve bought a Motorola RAZR i and …
Getting the Nexus 4 the other week left me a little nervous, I’ve seen more pictures of shattered back panels than any other phone ever. Needless to say I wanted something to protect it, whilst looking through the dozens of different styles I decided that this time I …
