Kazam Tornado 348 Review: Hands-on
With the Tornado 348, British smartphone maker Kazam has finally created a headline-grabbing handset. Sadly this isn’t due to a wallet-saving price tag or impeccable performance specs. Instead it is making waves for one simple reason – it’s skinny. In fact, at just 5.15mm thick it is the world’s slimmest smartphone.
Pairing this Guinness World Records-verified design with a host of mid-range specs – I’m talking 720p HD display, 1GB of RAM and an 8-megapixel camera – the phone is very much defined by its party piece. Priced at £249, it’s not that easy on your wallet.
I’ve had an early play to see if a super svelte form is worth making compromises elsewhere.
Kazam Tornado 348 Design
The Tornado’s streamlined design is its unique selling point. This ridiculously slim form is neither necessary nor beneficial, however. The phone is undoubtedly easy on the eye, but as a device to live with, I can see it hitting some serious stumbling blocks.
For the most part, the Kazam Tornado 348 looks and feels the part. There is a risk when making such svelte phones that the resulting device feels unnecessarily fragile and flimsy. This isn’t the case here though. The phone’s 95.5g bulk is well distributed across the 4.8-inch, metal framed body. Although I felt comfortable holding the phone for standard use, putting a bit of stress through the device put my nerves on edge.
In the wake of the iPhone 6 launch and Apple’s bendgate woes, subjecting the skinny Kazam Tornado 348 to moderate amounts of pressure caused some subtle, but certainly noticeable flexing. While I was unable to thoroughly stress test the phone during my hands on time, I would be hesitant to put it in my back pocket before taking a seat.
While we’re on the iPhone, Kazam clearly didn’t look too far beyond Apple’s phones when it came to design inspiration.
The Tornado is a skinny mash-up of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 designs. The ‘champagne gold’ metal edging features on both the white and black handset options and, combined with the Gorilla Glass rear, heavily echoes the market leader’s look.
It’s not just aesthetically that the 348’s design echoes its rivals, either. The glass back means the phone, like the iPhone 4S or Nexus 4, slides around when placed on anything but the flattest or most cushioned of surfaces.
Another problem I had with the phone’s design is its button location. All of the handset’s physical controls – volume rocker and a power/sleep command – sit on the phone’s left edge. This creates quite a cluttered look and a sleep control that is uncomfortably low on the phone and awkward to reach.
Beyond simple bending concerns, pushing for such a slim profile has also forced Kazam into making some serious technical compromises.
Kazam Tornado 348 Features
NFC and 4G connectivity options have become a staple of even mid-range phones over the past year. The Kazam Tornado 348 omits both, however, and all in a bid to save thickness.
Admittedly NFC is still rarely used by most and 4G is currently available only in certain areas of the country, but these omissions limit the future proofing of a device which is far from a budget handset.
Another feature overlooked in favour of a record-breaking design is expandable memory. The Tornado doesn’t offer it. Instead, the phone is limited to just 16GB of storage space. Fortunately, Kazam has not skinned the phone’s Android 4.4.2 OS meaning there is no mass of bloatware to further limit its capacity.
All of these limitations put the Tornado at a serious disadvantage when compared with devices such as the Moto G, a phone which also costs £100 less than the Kazam's phone.
Kazam Tornado 348 Screen
One area where Kazam hasn’t cut corners is with the Tornado 348’s screen. The 4.8-inch panel features a typical 1280 x 720p HD resolution. The resulting 306 pixels-per-inch image density ensures images are detailed, although text could be a little sharper. While some similar priced handsets are starting to introduce Full HD displays – such as the Huawei Ascend P7 – the Kazam Torando 348 holds its own against much of the direct competition.
Colours are rich too. The phone’s AMOLED panel brings a vibrancy to content missed by many budget phones. The screen isn’t quite on parity with the Super AMOLED panels found on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, but then few are.
Arguable the phone’s biggest screen-related draw has nothing to do with image quality though. As with all Kazam phones, the Tornado 348 is covered by the company’s free screen replacement cover as standard. That means if you accidentally smash the device’s display within the first 12 months of ownership – and many of us know how easy that can be to do – the company will replace the panel for you without charge.
Kazam Tornado 348 Performance and Camera
Powered by MediaTek’s True Octa MT6592 processor and 1GB of RAM the Kazam Tornado 348 is no slouch.
During our time with it, apps loaded swiftly and with minimal fuss, although those more intensive programmes – such as the camera and some games – were preceded by a noticeable pause. This shouldn’t be of too much concern in day-to-day use though.
After my early use, however, I’m concerned about the Tornado 348’s cooling capabilities. With such a compact, unibody design restricting airflow and trapping heat, I noticed the phone become quite warm to the touch within 15 minutes of performing basic tasks. Due to my limited time with the phone, further usage and testing is required before I can class this as a problem.
Battery life is another area limited by the phone’s svelte figure. Kazam has managed to squeeze a 2,050mAh battery into the frame which isn’t too shabby. This should see you through a full day on a single charge but won’t get you much further.
The phone’s camera has left me disappointed. Trialled in challenging indoor conditions, the Tornado’s 8-megapixel rear-mounted snapper was slow and sloppy with its focus and struggled with the less than ideal lighting conditions. Even the integrated flash did little to assist matters.
Although far from ideal shooting conditions, this has done little to prompt belief performance in bright, outdoor environments will be much better. With Kazam admitting a 13-megapixel camera would have been included were it not for the pursuit of such a slim design, the unnecessary compromises continue to restrict the phone.
A secondary 2-megapixel camera sits on the phone’s front. A listless selfie snapper, this camera suffered from the usual lighting and depth issues of many cheaper phones.
First Impressions
Easy on the eye but not on your wallet, the Tornado 348 is a sizeable step forward for Kazam as a manufacturer but is a phone still flawed in parts. With the decision to put the 348 on the Atkins in a bid to claim that world’s slimmest mantle, important features have been lost.
I would have gladly accepted a beefier device if it added 4G and a better camera.
Next, read our round-up of the best Android phones