Sony Vaio Duo 13 in the flesh, first impressions

Sony’s approach to a hybrid tablet and ultrabook resulted into the Sony Vaio Duo 13. The 2nd-generation model now comes with Intel Haswell chips though it looks like the 13.3-inch model got the upgrade while the 11.6 remained with Ivy Bridge.

The Vaio Duo sliding mechanism has changed and is now smoother, more flexible and is no longer as jerky than the first model. It also feels thinner and lighter, thanks to that combination of carbon fiber and aluminum materials used for the body.

The Vaio Duo has two native form factors — in the tablet form, the keyboard is completely covered by the lid while in the laptop form, the lid slides out to a 70-degree position exposing the keyboard behind it. While the full keyboard works like the regular one, the trackpad seems a bit narrow.

The hardware configuration is pretty much similar to the Vaio Pro although the Vaio Duo has much better rear and front-facing cameras. There’s also a built-in stylus pen for sketching or drawing.

Sony VAIO Duo 13 specs:
13.3” full HD 1080p IPS Tri-Luminous display @ 1920×1080 pixels
1.8GHz Intel i7-4500U dual-core processor
Intel HD Graphics 4400 or 5000 w/ WiDi
4GB or 8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 RAM
128GB, 256GB, 512GB SSD
2MP EXMOR RS camera
1080p video recording
SD/Memory Stick Duo card reader
NFC
Optional LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
2 x USB 3.0 ports
8MP rear Exmor RS camera
2MP front-facing Exmor R camera
Li-Ion 6,320mAh battery
329.94 x 210.05 x 19.56mm (dimensiosn)
1.32kg (2.93 lbs.) weight
Windows 8 64-bit

The regular configuration we saw was selling for 152,800 yen. there’s also the special limited edition color red that was selling for over 200,000 yen.

Sony Philippines is set to launch the Vaio Duo and Vaio Pro sometime next week (probably on the 12th) so we can get more details on local pricing, configurations and availability.