You can now buy a Panasonic Lumix CM1 sans phone... for about $850

Panasonic is likely one of the last brands you think of when looking for a new phone. And it’s for a good reason; this is not a company you would normally associate with mobile devices. But there is one thing they are very good at – cameras.

And so the manufacturer tried to venture into a niche market last year. One in which a smartphone and a camera were squeezed into a single device. The spawn of this interesting combination came in the form of the Panasonic Lumix CM1. It has a 4.7-inch screen, a Snapdragon 801 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage and a camera that features a 1-inch sensor and an f/2.8 aperture.

But are people willing to let go of their more capable smartphones for a better camera, when other phones also have great shooters? Why not just get a Samsung Galaxy Note 5, LG V10 or a Nexus 6P? Arguably, no phone can compare to a 1-inch sensor and Panasonic’s Leica optics, but Panasonic’s phone is also $1,000 freaking dollars!

We must understand that the Panasonic Lumix CM1 is not here to please all smartphone users and camera owners. It’s here to cater to a specific type of users who would like to have Android’s sharing and editing abilities right in their camera. Panasonic has finally understood that it’s better to focus on that concept, so they are releasing a Lumix CM1 without the phone internals and capabilities.

Related content:

• Hands-on with the Panasonic Lumix CM1
• Panasonic’s Lumix CM1 camera/phone hybrid is coming to the USA

Everything else in the device will be identical, but we still feel like they are not getting the price right. The WiFi-only version of the Panasonic Lumix CM1 will cost 100,000 yen, which equates to about $860 USD. Let me tell you, at that price you can get yourself one very capable camera. Sure, it may not have full Android, but there’s plenty of cameras that can connect directly to your smartphone.

Regardless, this will be another option for those who are willing to pay up for the commodity of having a camera running Android well enough to be considered a high-end product. Regardless, Panasonic knows these won’t exactly be flying off the shelves, so they announced they plan to produce about 500 a month.

Interested? The Panasonic Lumix CM1 will be hitting Japan come February 25th. No details on a global release have been confirmed, but I don’t think this is a Japan exclusive. Are you thinking of getting one?