VAIO Announces First Smartphone in Japan

There had been rumours of a VAIO smartphone towards the end of last year, and they continued to emerge at the time of CES 2015. Now we've learned that the so-called device has been officially launched in Japan.

The VAIO handset (VA-10) is a mid-end device with a 5-inch 720p HD screen, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of native storage, microSD card support, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box.

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The 4G capable phone is now available from Japanese carrier B-Mobile. With those specs and features, the first VAIO smartphone is a huge disappointment. It was expected to be a "premium mid ranger", but it turned out to be a mediocre affair.

As rightly pointed out by Blog of Mobile, the VAIO smartphone is a carbon copy of the Panasonic Eluga U2. One can also find a hint of the Nexus 4.

The firm says that the device is "simple and stylish". The VAIO Phone will be available through b-mobile on March 20th in Black colour, and will cost 51,000 yen ($420), which is significantly expensive than what Panasonic Eluga U2 costs ($254). As of now, the VAIO smartphone is limited to Japan: no word on India launch yet.