Sony VAIO Flip 13A Convertible Haswell Ultrabook Reviewed – See Specifications, Price and Where to Buy

By Dean Colin 22/06/2020 Ultrabooks 0 Comments

Sony has released yet another 2-in-1 convertible Ultrabook that transforms from an Ultrabook to a tablet – the Sony VAIO Flip 13A. If you can remember, Sony also released a similar convertible Ultrabook called the VAIO Duo 13. But the VAIO Duo 13 has a different mechanism (a sliding one), and I think the VAIO Fit | Flip PC series is much better than the VAIO Duo series. The VAIO Flip 13A is comparable to Lenovo’s popular Yoga 13 and their latest Yoga 2 Pro.

But Sony has a unique mechanism that when you flip the display, the keyboard portion is not exposed when in tablet mode.

It’s well hidden in between the display and the keyboard portion. I find it hard to describe this flip mechanism but you can watch the review video below. The Sony VAIO Flip 13A is powered by the latest 4th generation Intel Core Haswell processor, with a Full HD touch display and uses a Solid State Drive for its storage. Check out the rest of the details below and watch the review.

The Sony VAIO Flip 13A also known as the “Sony VAIO Fit 13A | Flip PC” is their latest 2-in-1 convertible Ultrabook/Tablet. It features a nice 13.3-inch touch display with Triluminos technology at Full HD 1920×1080 resolution. But unlike your typical Touch Ultrabook, this comes with a Digitizer where you can use an Active Pen to write, draw or navigate with precision. It’s also pressure sensitive, which is great especially if you are working with brushes and colors.

Under its hood, it is powered by an Intel Core Haswell processor; either an Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 depending on the model, and paired with an 8GB of DDR3L memory. Storage is taken care of by a Solid State Drive or SSD, delivering ultra-fast read and write speeds, which is way faster than your typical hard drive. The default storage size is 128GB SSD and you can install up to 512GB of SSD storage. The SSD also reduces the bootup and wake up time of the device, and thanks to Sony’s Rapid Wake technology, the Sony VAIO Flip 13A resumes in two seconds from sleep mode.

You can Also Read: Sony Vaio Duo 13

The Sony VAIO Flip 13 also features a front and rear-facing camera. The front camera is an HD web camera with an Exmor R sensor. Meanwhile, the rear-facing camera is an 8-megapixel camera powered by Sony’s Exmor RS sensor, perfect for capturing pictures. You can also use the CamScanner app and the rear camera of the VAIO Flip 13 to take snapshots of a document, letter, or even notes written on whiteboards. And thanks to the OCR technology, it can recognize the text from those snapshots.

Another thing that I like about the new Sony VAIO Flip 13 is that it comes with a built-in Intel Wireless-N 7260 dual-band WiFi card supporting 802.11 a/b/g/n. This is much better than the typical WiFi cards installed in most laptops and Ultrabooks. It also features Near Field Connection (NFC), Bluetooth 4.+HS, and Intel Wireless Display Technology for streaming videos to other display wirelessly. You can learn more about this device from the Sony VAIO Flip 13 review video below.

Sony VAIO Flip 13A Specifications

Model Numbers: SVF13N190X – Core i3, SVF13N13CXB – Core i5, SVF13N17PXB – Core i7
Operating System: Windows 8 64-bit or 8 Pro 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i3-4005U, Core i5-4200U or Core i7-4500U
Memory: 4GB or 8GB DDR3L at 1600MHz (fixed)
Graphics Processor: Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4400
Storage: 128GB SSD, 256GB SSD or 512GB SSD
Display: 13.3-Inch Full HD Touch Display at 1920×1080 with Triluminos Display and Digitizer Support
Camera Front: HD Web Camera powered by Exmor R for PC
Camera Rear: 8-megapixel camera powered by Exmor RS for PC

Connectivity: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 (802.11ac/a/b/g/n) or Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, WiDi Ready, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 + HS
Input/Output Ports: 1x HDMI, 1x headphone + mic, 2x USB 3.0, SD card slot, Dual Array Microphone
Keyboard: Backlit QWERTY with 82 keys, 1.2mm stroke and 19mm pitch
Touchpad: Clickable with Gesture Support
Audio: Intel High Definition Audio with ClearAudio+
Battery: Internal 3-Cell Lithium Polymer up to 6 hours battery life
Dimensions: 12.81″ x 0.56″ – 0.70″ x 8.80″ inches (W x H x D)
Weight: 2.89 lbs with internal battery
Color: Black, Silver
Bundled Software: Microsoft® Office trial, VAIO Care™, PlayMemories Home™, ArtRage® Studio, Sony Imagination Studio™ VAIO Edition: Movie Studio Platinum, ACID® Music Studio, Sound Forge® Audio Studio, and DVD Architect™ Studio and Kaspersky Internet Security 30-Day Trial Offer

Price and Where to Buy

The 2-in-1 convertible Sony VAIO Flip 13A Ultrabook is now available starting at $1,099.99 and up depending on your configuration. It comes with a 1-year limited warranty for parts and labor. By the way, if you ~~go here~~, you will be directed to Sony’s store section where you can customize and configure a VAIO Flip 13 to your liking. I would suggest you get at least the Intel Core i5 processor, since the Core i3 is not that fast, especially when it comes to multitasking. I would also suggest you get at least an 8GB of RAM, a recommended size for a 64-bit operating system.

If you want something bigger or more powerful, a 15-inch model which is the Sony VAIO Flip 15A is also available here, comes with a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M with Optimus graphics processor.