Tag: network

Moto Z2 Play coming to Three UK

Three emailed us recently with some exciting news for gaming fans, but with the mass emails for Mobile World Congress it looks like it was overlooked. Thankfully the news is that the Motorola Z2 Play will be coming to Three UK in April, with an exclusive gamepad thrown …

Virgin Media offering a simply massive SIM only deal

OK, you’ve got until next Wednesday to take advantage of this one. It’s with Virgin Media – a virtual network operator using the EE 4G network, so you’re going to get a nice strong signal with excellent coverage. Right now, whether you’ve got the Virgin TV & Broadband …

Vodafone test 4G mini mast

Filling in those problem signal areas is easier said than done for a lot of networks. The restrictive planning legislation is a massive blocker, but then you also have to consider power, backhaul and buying or renting the land to put the mast onto. All that, plus the …

Three and EE launch Samsung Galaxy S9 pre-registrations

Being careful not to reveal whether it’s the Galaxy S9 or just the Galaxy 9, Three have put their pre-registration site online already. Once the thing is actually announced, you’ll be one of the first to know exactly when you can get it and how much it’ll be. …

Ready for 5G? You’re going to need a bigger package.

Consuming lots of data on 4G? Have you got a large package to cope with the action? Well, according to this giffgaff research, you’re going to need a hefty tariff in a few years time. Customers on the network used an average of 1.72GB of data monthly in …

EE announce new monthly plans

The UK’s largest mobile network, EE, has today announced a shakeup of it’s pay monthly plans, including some new extras. Plans are now split into Essential, Max and SIM Only, and offer different benefits depending on your needs. All plans now include unlimited minutes and texts, making it …

£9 every month for 4GB of data

If you want a big deal, get over to our friends at Total Phone Deals. They always have the latest offers, whether you’re looking for a contract deal or a SIM only one. Right now we’re looking at SIM only offerings, and for just £9 of your hard-earned …

Three and EE 5G legal battle gets decided

Spectrum is what all networks need plenty of to be able to offer the best speeds and services possible. With 4G well underway, networks in the UK are looking towards 5G as the next milestone. This is where the arguments start, both EE and Three lodged a legal …

Switch mobile networks without fuss. Coming soon!

Many people have likened their favourite mobile provider to their bank, and they’ll stick with that same provider for some time. Loyalty, though, doesn’t always get you the best deals or the best coverage, so it’s good to try comparison sites and look at the options. Now Ofcom, …

Three ditches roaming charges in 11 more destinations outside Europe

Whilst not everyone will be heading to Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Vietnam or Mayotte; those that do will now benefit from worry-free roaming on the Three network. The UK network now has an impressive 71 destinations worldwide included in their “Feel …

Smartphones – Opening the door for you and to you

I mentioned recently how smartphones can pose a danger to kids. This is because of the ease and the instant nature to which live video feeds can be pushed out onto the internet. Gone are the days when smutty websites were the only ones offering webcam content. Now …

Wait a minute. Unlimited data? £20 per month?!

Until about 10 minutes ago, if you wanted unlimited data on a SIM only plan I would’ve pointed you to this Three UK deal which delivers unlimited data with 200 minutes of chatter and unlimited texts. However, Virgin Mobile have just added another Black Friday deal. I really …

OK, we’ve got a better one. 6GB per month for a tenner

Just last week we found a SIM-only deal on Plusnet which gives 5GB of data for £10 per month. Now though, Virgin Mobile have gone one better with 6GB of data for £10 per month on a SIM only deal. This one runs until December 20th and Virgin …

EE hits 2.8Gbps on 5G test

If you live in the UK you may remember EE being the first network to launch 4G to customers and starting things off. Well 4G is old news…we are now starting to hear about what 5G can offer us, and EE have already started testing the capabilities. During …

Vodafone updates plans to make life simpler

After the launch of the O2 Generation Flex and their very own “Youth network” (Vox), Vodafone have announced a new set of fresh ideas to add a bit more flexibility. First, something called “Vodafone Passes”. These let contract customer use some data-intensive apps without chopping away at their …

Planning a break abroad? Check out Data Passport on Three

With the summer well and truly over here in the UK, some people including myself still plan on a well earned break abroad. Roaming has been a big topic of discussion this year with networks scrapping their EU roaming rates. Three UK were one of the first to …

The iPhone X is now ready for pre-order

A little bit of me still whinces when the price tag on a phone is four digits long, and I can’t buy an iPhone X myself because it would be worth more than the car I’m driving. That’s just weird. There’s no getting away from the iPhone X …

Mobile networks overcharging loyal customers

It’s fairly obvious to many. You go and buy a new mobile phone. It’s on a two year contract. You probably pay about £38 per month for it. As you near the end of the two years, you’re itching to upgrade to the latest handset. Unless you’re with …

Got a fiver? Grab a SIM-only 1GB plan here.

OK, I’ve got to be quick with this one as iD Mobile have, after pushing out lots of bonkers adverts, gone a bit nuts with this one particular deal and I’m going to make the most of it. If you’re looking for a low-cost SIM-only plan for a …

EE sticks a mast in the sky to cover biking event

Yesterday things weren’t going so well for EE. They had problems routing calls to other networks all day and it seemed to be causing quite a bit of grief for their customers. They can, however, boast about their coverage. They’re aiming for 95% 4G coverage by 2020, and …

On EE? Having problems today? You’re not the only one

We first heard of EE voice call problems this morning, but problems still seem to exist late into the afternoon, with customers unable to make our receive calls to other networks. EE have told us that.. Some of our customers are reporting problems when trying to make calls …

Sony Xperia XA1 now available on Vodafone

It seems a long time since we first saw the Sony Xperia XA1. It has a bigger brother, the XA1 Ultra, too. The XA1 has now popped up on Vodafone has a 5″ screen 720×1280 pixel screen. It’s powered by Android 7.0 and has a 64-bit MediaTek Helio …

EE launches Enhanced HD Voice

There’s a lot of technical gobbledegook behind this particular story, so if (like me) your eyes glaze over, the take-home message is basically that you’re going to be getting a really clear and high quality line when using EE. For the more technically minded, it goes a bit …

Quick Friday offer for SIM only data junkies

I’ll keep this brief, because I’m hopefully talking to those who want a massive slice of data on a network with great coverage. This one is with Virgin Mobile, who use EE. Their SIM-only offer will give you a massive 20GB of data plus 5000 minutes and unlimited …

giffgaff iPhone 8 pricing announced

OK, as you know giffgaff are a bit different. They run on the O2 network and you can either pay outright and pay for a phone or pay monthly via their peer-to-peer lending system. You should therefore remember that the pricing below is without an airtime contract. With …

iD Mobile – SIM Only deals

Earlier this morning I wrote a piece about getting a brand new iPhone on the cheap. It was basically because iD Mobile had put a few offers online. However, if you’ve already got yourself a phone, or you “accidentally” purchased one from the window of CEX or Game; …

Quick – £6 SIM-only Plusnet plan with 1.5GB of data

Want the EE coverage and reach for a SIM-only deal? Want to pay just £6 every month for 1.5GB of data? Well, if you’re quick Plusnet have a deal which does just that. The PR peeps, who offered me a cookie to pimp this plan, tell me that …

EE converting airwaves from 2G to superfast 4G

I found a Nokia 6210i in the drawer at the weekend. I’m yet to find the charger for it, but I think my son will probably stifle laughter as I show him the “Snake” game and the 2G data connectivity we had back then. Anyone remember WAP? Anyone …

New UK network, SMARTY, hopes not to be pants.

Two UK networks have both announced new offerings today. Three and Vodafone. First, it’s Three…. well, actually it’s a new network called “SMARTY” – and yes, that’s all in capitals. They piggyback off the Three 4G network and they tell us that they are going to be the …

Unlimited texts, unlimited minutes, 4GB of data – £11 on Three

The key to writing a good article and getting it indexed, getting it noticed, getting a good SEO rating and lots of comments, is to make it either shocking, argumentative and of a certain length. Now, if I just revealed the core of this particular news item in …

How to unlock your Sony Xperia XZ Premium

Try as I might, I’ve been unable to loan a Sony Xperia handset so that we can give you a review. At the launch during Mobile World Congress I was, however, very impressed by the build quality and the sheer speed of the thing, which in tests could …

Vodafone reveal continued increase in data usage

A trading update? That’s normally quite a dry document and not one we’d feature here on Coolsmartphone, but the latest one from Vodafone has a number of pretty interesting points. Amongst mentions of “Q1 organic service revenue” and “acceleration in AMAP”, it also shows that data traffic has …

How to unlock Samsung Galaxy S8

How to Unlock Samsung Galaxy S8 If you’ve got one of these sexy new handsets then you’ll have probably gone with a contract deal that has tied you to one network. Some people, though, don’t necessarily want to use the Galaxy S8 on the network they purchased it …

Three UK are the only network to hold roaming prices post-Brexit

Can our hung parliament and chaotic government really “take back control” from the EU? Who knows, but it does raise an interesting question. What will happen with our newly-acquired EU roaming deal? After Brexit, if we ever get it sorted out, will Brits see a return to the …

Vodafone Smart N8 now available

Vodafone have today launched their latest own-vranded smartphone, the Smart N8. In a time where you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a great feature-packed device, Vodafone have been producing some of the best for a while now. This is the latest in the range and, …

EE get the exclusive on the silver Galaxy S8 and S8+

We’ve seen both the Galaxy S8 and the S8+ side-by-side and we’ve covered both in great detail here. If you’re after either, but you want the Arctic Silver one, only EE will be selling it. There’s a bit of a wait if you want this particular shade though, …

2021 – EE and BT to get beefy

We spoke to EE CEO Marc Allegra back in March and we were intrigued to know whether the recent BT acquisition would mean any EE branding changes. At the time, it was a definite no, and BT seemed content to run EE as a separate brand. After all, …

Roaming – It’s all about to change

Unbelievably, it’s nearly June. That means that big sporting events like Wimbledon are now only a month away. Before that though, there’s the Epsom Derby, the Champions League final, a couple of World Cup qualifiers, Argentina v England in the Rugby Union, the US Open, Royal Ascot and …

Sony Xperia XZ Premium now on pre-order with Three

Want to get a shiny new Qualcomm 835-powered Sony Xperia XZ Premium? If you’re looking to get one with Three, you can pre-order it right now. It’s available to buy from June 2nd. Three are offering the handset on their  “Advanced Plans”, which means that you can get the …