Tag: audio
At CES we covered the new Audeara headphones. These hit the Kickstarter campaign target within 15 hours and more than $460,000 was raised. The specially-designed headphones are made to combat any form of hearing loss you may have. Here’s what their press release says Everyone has a degree of hearing loss. …
Social media. We’re all over it. InstaTwit, SnapTube, FaceGram and YouBook. We’re on it and we’re, like, proper experts and that. If Facebook is your thing, just head to .. www.facebook.com/coolsmartphonedotcom …and we’re there. You can find us easily by just searching for @coolsmartphonedotcom on Facebook too. …
It is mid-February. We are approaching a significant shopping event (Saint Valentines Day). The Coolsmartphone Team love you all unconditionally. Our Podcast Editing Porgs worship you like gods, and sacrifice themselves for the production of the podcast. So what better gift can we give you other than one …
This is a hard-wearing speaker from a company called VAVA. It’s rated as “IPX6” so should, in theory, cope with a blast of water from a jet plus dust and sand. Basically, they’re offering a speaker that you can attach to you bag and go camping with here, …
We all knew that this problem was coming the minute that the 3.5mm audio port got dropped on the iPhone 7. Of course, despite our cool Bluetooth headphones, we have to admit that battery life will always fail just when you need it. So, how about using traditional …
Like the LG G6 yeah? Heard about the new version? Well, it’s just been announced.There’s 128GB in this version and it comes with premium B&O PLAY headphones for the on-board 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC. They’ve also chucked in wireless charging in some countries. It’ll be called the LG G6+ and …
You may remember my indestructible Audi A4. She’s an old girl now and has been on the road for a decade. I bought a Bluetooth OBD gadget to plug into it just so that I could find out what all those error lights on the dashboard are. Yes, …
After the insanity of the Mobile World Congress, a lot of my colleagues have collapsed with exhaustion. So, with time at a premium and a distinct lack of coffee or holiday time, I’ve decided to record a special edition of the Coolsmartphone Podcast. Long-time listeners may remember how …
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s been a reoccurring theme whenever we review Bluetooth headphones. There’s definitely two types of headphones that I’ve found over the years. The first type will last for ages and they’re usually in-ear, but the sound quality just isn’t that brilliant. …
A brand new waterproof phone without a 3.5mm headset? No, it’s not that one. This is a new handset from HTC, although I should call it new-ish because it has already been on sale in the USA as the HTC Bolt exclusively on Sprint. The phone arrives with …
After being rumoured for a while, and then available through a beta build, WhatsApp continues on its quest for global domination of its messaging platform with video calling. Whilst it is arguably the biggest cross-platform messaging service, with a 1 billion users, WhatsApp has fallen behind competitors such …
If you’re after some “proper” over-ear headphones with noise cancelling tech, these could be on your shopping list. First though, perhaps the biggest plus point for me is the price – just £18.89 on Amazon as I type, which is really rather good. The headphones have the usual …
Your iPhone can connect to the iCloud to backup, but what if you want to backup your photos yourself? What if you want to put files ont your own personal USB stick? Or you want to quickly transfer them? Well, heres the SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive – and …
I pointed it out after the announcement but, if I’m being honest, it’s not going to be a massive deal-breaker for most iPhone owners. See, I can understand to some degree because Apple give you just a single USB-C port in the MacBook Pro. It looks neat, it …
The launch was another theatrical masterpiece. From the moment you saw James Corden bopping along with Tim Cook to the eventual iPhone 7 announcement, you could virtually taste the excitement. The audience had been whipped up into a hot quivering mess with a Nike Apple Watch, Super Mario …
Out of the box this looks no different to any other USB stick. It’s got a little cap on to cover the USB port itself and there’s a very tiny switch on the other end. Turn it on and it’ll start recording. Turn it off and it’ll stop, …
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are being announced later today. All the breadcrumbs at IFA pointed to it. We’re pretty much certain of it. But what do iOS users think? As good as we are here at Coolsmartphone.com we’re not mind readers yet, but thankfully we …
3.5mm headphone jacks. They’re a standard, right? Well, as we saw earlier, it definitely looks like Apple are going to be doing away with it when they announce their new revolutionary handsets next week. After this post showing a new iPhone 7 cover earlier in the week I’ve …
ZTE. Definitely not last in the smartphone race despite that alphabetical challenge. The IFA 2016 ZTE Press Conference is happening, so let’s get down to the happenings. Adam Zeng, CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices tells us that ZTE is globally the sixth biggest shipper of smartphones, and the …
You may remember how I created a way to get the Android version of Skype working on a Chromebook. It’s 10 steps, but to be honest it should be a lot easier. Thankfully, since I wrote that, things have progressed somewhat. Firstly we Android apps coming to Chromebooks …
A random Chinese company got in touch with us today. To be honest this happens every day. Companies seem to think that we’re a shop of some kind and we want to buy their things. We’re not, but sometimes they do tell us about some pretty weird and …
Well, this is small. I’ll give it that. You can bag one on eBay for $28.99 in the US or £21.99 in the UK. There’s a blue one or this green one. In the box you’ll get a USB-to-microUSB cable for charging and a 3.5mm-to-microUSB cable should you …
Well, the title of this post has pretty much explained everything hasn’t it? Basically this is a brand new item, being sold by Currys / PC World through eBay. The Chromecast Audio works in the same way as a regular TV Chromecast, but it’ll instead blast the streaming …
Hey you Coolsmartphoners! If you guys and gals have been out in the wilderness over the Bank Holiday weekend partying, here’s a great deal that might not have caught your bleary eyes. The ever-fantastic Chromecast Audio is out there for a mere 15 quid again, if you missed …
If you want to carry around a device which is no bigger than your standard USB pen drive but want to record audio, listen up. You need this thing. The Allreli USB voice recorder arrives in a slim unassuming box and has a snug top to cover the …
The music streaming service has unceremoniously closed today, with very little detail about the reason behind the decision. A statement on their site simply reads.. We are very sorry to say that MixRadio has closed We would like to thank everyone who has helped make the last 17 …
Headphones you say? Without a cable that’ll get snagged in my coat / zip / neck? Yes, I’ll have a look at that thanks. These, unsurprisingly, are headphones with Bluetooth built in. Getting them paired up with your phone is the first step, but before we talk about …
Your phone is brilliant. Trouble is, the speakers on your phone are complete pap. Some of the Bluetooth ones you buy are a bit weedy too, so when you’ve got a chunky and expensive hi-fi system sitting in your house, you kinda want to use it. Whether it …
Currys / PC World have halved the price of the Chromecast Audio this weekend. The gadget, which plugs into your stereo or amplifier, will let you cast tunes and YouTube videos from your phone simply and easily Normally it’s £30 but they’ve dropped it to £15 until Monday. …
Modern cars tend to have a lot of sound proofing, especially if you’re driving one of those diesel cars. It’s to reduce engine noise, but despite how nice your tyres might be, there’s still road noise to deal with. Ford have been thinking of new ways to sort …
Your phone will no doubt have all your tunes on it, but when you get in your car there’s just a few methods of getting those tunes pumping out of the powerful speakers in your car. First, you could perhaps use one of those FM transmitters. They’re usually …
Simple and easy this. It’s a miniature speaker for £13.99 which you plug into via a 3.5mm audio cable. It’s just like those amplifiers you’ll see on stage at rock concerts, but this mini amp speaker is powered by AA batteries or a USB port instead of directly …
A new Chromecast you say? One that looks like this? One that supports more apps and streams quicker? One that still costs the same £30? Yes indeed, and the new puppy isn’t a “stick” any more. Now we have a round “puck shape” with a HDMI cable so …
A minor bug-bear for us Brits can be the fact that we have to force technology to speak to us in proper English. If you use Word, you’ll need to fiddle around to switch it to “English UK” and we have to put up with devices called “Honor” …
So, we have another Bluetooth speaker. This one is made by Kinivo and it’s called the BTX270. In the box you also get a 3.5mm audio cable, so if your device doesn’t do Bluetooth then you can instead plug it into a 3.5mm output and off you go. …
Prologue If you’ve ever taken a class on ancient literature, mythology, or even anthropology, you’ve probably run across “the oral tradition”, mankind’s earliest form of storytelling. Perhaps I’m getting to heavy here, but I’m basically saying that listening to stories rather than reading them was the norm at …
Let’s face it, your smartphone has got a proper weedy speaker. It’s not going to fill a room and, despite what the “yoof” think, walking around the streets with your phone playing tunes at full volume is nothing when compared to the classic ghetto blaster. When you’re at …
I’ve become a bit of a fan of the Rock Jaw headphones. They’re premium quality build, excellent sound and yet they don’t cost the earth. We’ve already reviewed their Hydra headphones, the Arcana ones and the Alfa Genius set. All of them received glowing reviews and they delivered …
There are times in life when you want to actually hear things the way they were intended. Be it a piece of music that brings back memories of a momentous event or you want to immerse yourself in a horror film or really loose yourself in a game. …
If you’re a fan of our weekly podcast then you’ll probably already be aware about the delights that can enter your ears on a regular basis. However, if you’re on the bus, in the car or stuck on a train and want to even more audio entertainment, how …
