KAZAM is relatively new to the smartphone marketplace. The OEM has currently offered a couple of ranges at varying price points. They have recently announced two new ranges of phones with different models in each range. These devices include the first LTE offerings from KAZAM. Let’s take a look at the spec sheets and see what they are bringing to market.

[toggle title=”Thunder 2 4.5L” state=”open” ]The Thunder 2 line comes in two different models. The 4.5L is a midrange handset sporting a quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and an Adreno 305 GPU. 1GB of RAM may seem low, however as I learned with the Tegra Note 7 software optimizations and display quality could make this sufficient for anyone. About that resolution, a 4.5″ 854 X 480 TFT display is where your eyeballs will be. Only 8GB of onboard storage is included, however this is expandable by a micro SD card to 32GB more. The device will run Android version 4.3 out of the box. The front camera si a 1.6 megapixel fixed focus unit. The rear shooter is 8 megapixels with auto focus. It’ll support 720p video recording at 30FPS. The 4.5L is powered with a 1850mAh Li-Pol battery. This is removable by the user rather than embedded. It is rated for 180 hours of standby time and 3 hours of talk time. Supported radio bands are as follows (in MHz): GSM: -850 -900 -1800 -1900 3G: -900 -2100 LTE: -800 -1800 -2600[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Thunder 2 5.0″ state=”close” ]The Thunder 2 5.0 is another midranger. This model has another quad-core CPU under the hood, however this one is clocked at 1.3GHz. The GPU is a Mali400-MP2 this time around for better gaming performance. The same 1GB RAM is present as in the 4.5L and the micro SD expandability is identical at 32GB. Notable changes include the drop of onboard storage to 4GB, No word on whether this is available or total, but I’m betting it’s available. The Android version gets an upgrade on the 5.0 to 4.2.2 as does the display. A 5 inch 720 X 1280 HD IPS display is a great improvement for a handset geared for gaming. The cameras are also improved to a 5MP fixed focus shooter on the front and 13MP auto-focus around back. The rear camera supports 1080p video at 30FPS. The battery is also larger, likely because this handset is a bit bigger than it’s little brother. A 2000mAH lithium ion battery is rated for 400 hours of standby and 6.67 hours of talk time. As with the 4.5L, this is user-replaceable. The supported radio bands mirror the Thunder 2 4.5L, however the 4.5 lacks any LTE.[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Trooper 2 4.0″ state=”close” ]The Trooper 2.0 line seems to have something for everyone. We’ll start with the 4.0 model, which is an entry level handset. A dual core 1.3GHz processor, Mali400 GPU and 512MB RAM are present in this smaller unit. 4GB ROM is expandable to 32GB more by micro SD. Android version 4.2.2 ships on the 4.0. You’ll be staring at a 4 inch 480 X 800 TFT display, which promises to keep the footprint of the phone very small. The 1500mAh replaceable battery is rated for 300 hours of standby time and 5 hours of talk time. It supports all the usual GSM bands for 3g, however lacks LTE capability. [/toggle]

[toggle title=”Trooper 2 4.5″ state=”close” ]The 4.5 model of the Trooper 2 mirrors the 4.0 under the hood. It utilizes the same processor, GPU and RAM. Also mirrored is storage, SD expandability and Android version. Also identical are the supported radio bands. The display gets a small bump up to 4.5″ 854 X 480, as does the battery to 1600mAh. The 4.5 also features a sturdy metal frame (see gallery).[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Trooper 2 5.0″ state=”close” ]This phone is also very close to it’s siblings as far as specs go. The major changes here are a huge bump in display to 5 inches and IPS. The resolution, however, is the same as the Trooper 2 4.5. The other major difference here is a bigger battery at 2000mAh. Otherwise, this is a larger version of the 4.5.[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Trooper 2 6.0″ state=”close” ]Keeping this short and sweet, this is another iteration of the rest of the Trooper line (as you’d expect). Internals and radio bands are the same as is display resolution (still IPS here). The only differences here are the huge 6 inch screen and larger 2500mAh battery.[/toggle]

I’m very excited for the next generation of KAZAM phones set to launch in the second quarter. My hope is that smaller OEMs can carve out a market for themselves and make awesome phones, but moreso the service a smaller company can offer it’s customer will be the largest win. All KAZAM devices are covered by their Rescue program. In KAZAM Rescue, their staff can remote access your device to troubleshoot and solve software issues other OEMs require their customers to send in. This reduces hardware shipments for repair by 70%.

It should also be noted KAZAM was the first OEM to offer a one time free screen replacement on their devices. This is a service HTC is just now offering. Having services like this adds peace of mind as a feature of a device and that’s a win. I applaud KAZAM for launching this months ago.

Stay tuned for more news from this great new smartphone manufacturer.