Introduction and design

You may not of heard of the ambitious mobile start up, but Kazam has got itself the headline grabbing accolade of "world's slimmest smartphone" with its latest offering, the Kazam Tornado 348.

It's a record the company claims it isn't going to rave about, instead it says it wants to keep things simple and gimmick-free, although I find that a little hard to believe as that's just what the title it's claiming is.

Do we really need a handset that's just 5.15mm thick? Some will say no.

The Kazam Tornado 348 is planned to touch down in the UK and some other European markets on November 15 bearing a SIM-free price tag of £249 - which sounds relatively reasonable.

For that you get a 4.8-inch 720p display, 1.7GHz octa-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 8MP rear camera, 5MP front snapper and Android 4.4.2.

There's no microSD slot, so you could find storage a little limited if you have a large music collection or like playing games on your phone, but Kazam does throw in a free screen replacement if you break it within the first 12 months of ownership.

Take one look at the Tornado 348 and you'll be struck by that unmistakable feeling of deja vu... where have you seen this phone before?

It looks remarkably similar to Apple's new iPhone 6, plus some features such as the arrangement of the camera and flash on the rear mimic that of the Sony Xperia Z3.

Kazam has confirmed that the core design of the handset was created by a third party vendor in China, which goes some way to explaining the familiar aesthetics on display here.

Sitting on a table the Tornado 348 does look respectable, this isn't just a cheap hunk of non-descript plastic which adorned previous devices by Kazam.

I was surprised just how light the Tornado 348 was when I picked it up. At just 95.5g it's one of the lightest smartphones on the market, and if anything it feels just a little too lightweight.

Couple that with a plastic-feeling (but actually glass) rear and the Tornado 348 feels a little toyish in the hand - there's no reassuring heft to tell you that this is actually a piece of tech you're holding.

A saving grace is the metal band which runs round the circumference of the device in a similar fashion to the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, and while this provides a more premium finish it fails to feel as good in the hand as its more expensive rivals.

That said, I did find it sat nicely in the hand, with the dimensions and weight ensuring my palm had no trouble getting to grips with the handset and reaching the power/lock and volume rocker on the left of the device.

Kazam has opted to stick with touch-sensitive navigations keys below the screen, rather than sticking them on the display and they are easy enough to hit.

On the right you'll find a microSIM tray, while the headphone port is located on the base (just like on the iPhone) along with the microUSB port and internal speaker.

With such a slender frame there is always the risk that the handset may be structurally weak, but after applying some heavy pressure I could only get the Tornado 348 to flex slightly. It should be able to avoid any #bendgate embarrassments then.

Design, interface, camera and early verdict

The 4.8-inch display has a 1280 x 720 HD display, which is more than acceptable at this price point and the 306ppi screen makes text and images look good.

The Kazam Tornado 348 uses AMOLED technology to help enhance colours, and I found it provided a pleasing on-screen experience - although don't expect the vibrancy of Samsung's Super AMOLED tech to be on display here.

It may not run the very latest version of Google's platform, but Android 4.4.2 KitKat is pretty close, although Kazam wasn't able to provide any assurances on whether or not the Tornado 348 will be getting an upgrade to Android L once it has launched.

During my brief hands on time I found that Android skipped along at a nice pace, no doubt partly thanks to the eight core MediaTek processor and 1GB of RAM under the hood, with apps loading swiftly and transitions between screens smooth and fluid.

More intensive applications, such as the camera, did take a little extra time to boot up, but it's nothing that you should need to worry about.

The camera itself didn't perform well during my hands on time. Images were pretty grainy and the focus was a little off in most shots.

To be fair to the Tornado 348 most photos were taken in an oddly lit room, but it didn't do anything to convince me that you'll be taking stunning pictures on a daily basis.

In terms of connectivity it's got the basics such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS, but newer options including 4G and NFC are absent here, putting a mark against its name.

A 2050mAh battery resides inside the super slender shell, and that's actually not bad especially when you take the dimensions into account, and it should hopefully provide a decent amount of life.

Early verdict

All in all the Kazam Tornado 348 is a proficient, if unremarkable, smartphone delivering you all the basics required for a modern mobile experience without breaking any new ground.

There is though, one big problem. The competition.

At £100 less the Moto G (2014) represents a very real threat to the Tornado, boasting a quad-core processor, 8GB or 16GB of storage with a microSD slot, similar 5-inch 720p display, 4G connectivity and a guaranteed upgrade to Android L.

Kazam is hoping that the premium design of the Tornado, its offer of a free screen replacement within the first year and dedicated customer service will help tempt people towards to its proposition, but if you're on a budget the Motorola just feels like the better deal.

Hands on gallery