The VAIO smartphone is a dead ringer for the Google Nexus 4
The first phone from post-Sony VAIO will launch in Japan later this month
Now that VAIO is no longer part of Sony, it’s free to launch its own smartphones to compete with its former owner’s Xperia line. And here’s the first.
Dubbed simply the VAIO phone, it’s an Android 5.0-based 5in device that, to us at least, bears more than a passing resemblance to the two year-old Google Nexus 4: similar bevelled edges, similar glass-covered rear panel. It weighs 130g and is 7.95mm thick.
It’s a fairly well-specced smartphone, offering a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 4G LTE connectivity and a 13MP rear camera. The storage capacity is a mere 16GB (expandable via microSD) and screen resolution is only 720p, mind you, so this isn’t a handset for anyone chasing the latest and greatest tech.
It may not matter, because at this point we’re dubious that the VAIO phone will launch in Europe at all. It’s arriving in Japan on 20th March priced at 51,000 yen, which converts to £281.
Sam Kieldsen
Contributor 
