The first VAIO smartphone is just a rebranded Panasonic Eluga U2

Earlier today, VAIO announced its very first smartphone, which will be launched in Japan on March 20 for around $420. As it turns out, the VAIO phone is not exactly an original product, but a rebranded Panasonic Eluga U2.

The Eluga U2 was released by Panasonic last month in Taiwan for about $255, so the VAIO handset clearly carries a premium price tag compared to it.

Apart from the different branding, the VAIO phone and the Panasonic Eluga U2 are identical when it comes to both design, and specs. The handsets run Android 5.0 Lollipop, and are powered by Qualcomm's 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor. Other features include a 5-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixels, a 13 MP rear camera, and 2 GB of RAM.

As of last year, VAIO is a standalone Japanese company (after Sony sold the brand to a local investment firm). Panasonic is also a Japanese company, and yet both the VAIO phone and the Eluga U2 are manufactured by Taiwan's Quanta (which builds devices for many other major companies, including Apple).

Most likely, the VAIO phone will not be released outside of Japan, and we don't know anything about a wider availability of the Panasonic Eluga U2, either.


via: Blog of Mobile (translated)