Hands on: KISA Phone review

The Kisa Phone doesn't exactly have too many features. To make a call after the phone is turned on, you simply press on a name and then press the call button (top left).

Phones calls made on this phone only last for 15 minutes, automatically turning off after that time.

This does mean that the phone won't be left on by accident, and that call charges won't be high.

Of course, it will likely be annoying if you want to have longer conversations, but the phone is designed for emergencies and you can always call back…

Kisa has beaten the odds and become a Vodafone MVNO to offer specialised mobile plans for this reason.

The signal strength for calls can't exactly be determined, and it is limited to Vodafone's reach. But as it doesn't require 4G, it is likely you'll have a signal throughout most areas.

The sound quality of calls isn't so great, however, with the voices sounding very tinny. You can push the volume up to the highest for the best sounds, but even that is limited.

You can also put the sound up using the back buttons to loud speaker, forcing the sound to come out of the back speaker. Overall it is usable, but nothing to get excited about.

One the other hand, the sounds the phone makes might surprise you when turning it on or off, as it is rather loud.

Speaking of loud, the SOS button at the back is a handy feature to call emergency services in an emergency for say if the user has fallen down. It is very loud. Very, very loud.

You'll need to hold the button down for a few seconds to activate it, but from there, it will make a loud siren noise, flash an LED and put you through to emergency services on loud speaker.

Kisa says the phone has actually helped limit the amount of elderly calling emergency services for things like having fallen down, as it is easier to just call a loved one with the press of a button.

The ringtone is loud enough as well, but note that it can't be changed.

In terms of battery life, the Kisa Phone can last 7 days on standby, and can make 4 hours of calls on a single charge, so you won't need to charge it every day.

Support

With such a specialised phone that can't be customised by the user, Kisa has made ongoing support available for users free.

We did call them up to change a phone number, which was a simple process that took no longer than 5 to 10 minutes.

They ask for your customer ID or account name, then ask what number you need changed, and that's about it – the changed number could be used after at least 5 minutes of the change.

Kisa can also remove a number from your phone as well, but that will require you to contact them and request for a new phone.

They will get your change request, send out a new phone, after which they will ask you to post back your old handset.

You can get all you billing details online or over the phone as well, with Kisa storing all your phone's customisations so that they can easily and quickly change things on the back end if they need to.