VAIO is back from the dead – sort of
You may remember Sony’s mainly PC and laptop brand VAIO before it was sold off in 2014, but following last year’s Phone Biz, a new VAIO smartphone has just been announced.
Yes, VAIO is back once again, but in the form of a phone rather than a laptop. The VAIO Phone A is an Android-powered handset that comes packing almost identical hardware to the Phone Biz, without the Windows 10 OS.
That means it’s a distinctly mid-range offering, coming with a 5.5-inch HD screen, 3GB of RAM, and a Snapdragon 617 processor.
Related: Sony Xperia XZ Premium
Since the Phone A runs Android, it should be more of a real contender in the increasingly packed smartphone market, presenting some possible competition for Sony in Japan – though Sony probably isn’t too worried.
Judging by photos posted on Engadget Japan, it looks like the new handset will run a stock version of Google’s mobile OS, too.
The Phone A doesn’t look any different to last year’s VAIO Phone Biz, with the only major difference being the addition of dual SIM card support.
Other specs include 16GB of onboard storage, a 13-megapixel rear camera, and an aluminium body. Here’s a translation from the official site:
“Body design, quality control, and of course high basic performance. VAIO will never compromise if you are the longest-educated mobile tool.”
The new handset is unlikely to launch outside of Japan, so if you want to celebrate the return of VAIO, you’ll be hard pressed to get your hands on the Phone A – at least at first.
Let us know what you think of the new VAIO phone in the comments.