Kazam Tornado 348 review

Thin when you're winning

Kazam Tornado 348 review
Does this slim smartphone have any weight behind it?

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As I've already mentioned, the 4.8-inch 720p AMOLED screen is one of the best parts of the Kazam Tornado 348 and as a direct consequence, media is a highlight.

The 16GB storage limitation means you'll likely be streaming video, rather than loading it onto the hard drive and watching offline, but the result is just as impressive.

High definition video and gaming run beautifully on the screen and you can get really sucked into the content if you put the brightness up.

Sound is a little less impressive and after a while I was longing for the BoomSound speakers of the HTC Desire Eye. Like the in-call experience, the volume isn't as loud as I'd like and the speakers can't really get around the range requirements for a true audio experience.

Kazam Tornado 348 review

Gaming is fun on the AMOLED screen

You can overcome this to a certain extent with a decent pair of headphones and it's not a bad compromise because of the quality of the screen. You'll want to use this phone for video and gaming.

If you're just interested in music then 16GB goes a bit further than it does for video. You can fit a decent number of tunes onto the Tornado 348 and play them back through the standard Google Music player.

The service will also let you upload 20,000 of your own songs to Google's servers for free and stream them back over an internet connection. Music playback can be controlled directly from the lock screen which saves you having to navigate to the player when you simply want to skip tracks.

Kazam Tornado 348 review

Music and video are handled through Google's apps

As with all Google-certified handsets, you can also purchase songs or videos from the various online Play stores. Google has broken it down into separate channels, including books, magazines and games alongside the aforementioned movies and songs.

Apps for the various sections come pre-installed on the Tornado 348 and are tucked away into their own Google folder on the homescreen.

One point to make is that the Google Play Movies and TV app won't play any of your native video files directly – it'll only handle purchased films and episodes. Instead, you'll find your videos in the Gallery photo app in a separate album to your pictures and photos.

Kazam Tornado 348 review

A couple of times the Gallery app crashed on me

Gaming, like video, benefits from the 1,280 x 720 AMOLED display and 306 PPI – especially if you're playing graphical 3D games like GTA 3.

Rounding out the media credentials are two extra Google apps: FM Radio and Movie Studio. The first is pretty self-explanatory, using wired headphones as an antenna and the second lets you make rudimentary cuts and edits to videos you've shot. Both are pretty standard apps but you'll have to live with them because there's no option to uninstall.

The Kazam Tornado 348 is a refreshing blank slate when it comes to media. There's no third-party options forced on you, so you can use the Google Play store to find whichever tools you want to play or download your media.