Panasonic Eluga available on pre-order, but without warranty

Panasonic Eluga available on pre-order, but without warranty
Panasonic are back with a phone you can take in the bath

The Panasonic Eluga marks the return of the electrical giant to the mobile phone arena and you can now pre-order the handset online, but be warned, it won't come with a warranty.

Panasonic has been absent from the mobile market for some time and it is set to roll out a new range of handsets in 2012 starting with the Eluga, followed by its bigger brother, the Eluga Power.

The Eluga packs a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, Android 2.3 (with Ice Cream Sandwich update coming later) 4.3-inch qHD screen, 8MP camera and NFC technology into a slender 7.8mm frame, weighing just 103g.

Not available in the UK until June

Even though you can pre-order the handset from Expansys today for £365, it won't be officially available in the UK until June. A word of warning for any of you in the UK who are tempted to pre-order, the Eluga won't be covered by a warranty.

TechRadar contacted a Panasonic spokesperson who said: "The Panasonic Eluga is not officially available in the UK until June and any Eluga purchased through French site Expansys before then will not be covered by our warranty."

Take it for a swim

That's right folks, you can take the Panasonic Eluga into the pool, sea or even the bath with you, as it has been made fully dust and waterproof, as we found during our hands on review – see the picture below!

Panasonic Eluga

Splish, splash, Eluga was having a bath

We expect to get a review unit in next week, so keep an eye out for our in-depth Panasonic Eluga review, which will be online soon.

From Expansys

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.