[ ](http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/24/sony-coats-xperia-p-in-24-carat-gold/)
Outside of [custom projects](http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/13/pharrell-tires-of-gilded-blackberry-targets-iphone-next/), the cardinal rule for draping phones in [exotic materials](http://www.engadget.com/tag/mobile,gold/) is that they must never, ever be truly high end devices: at best, they should involve [mid-tier hardware](http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/25/nokia-oro-is-covered-with-18ct-gold-on-the-outside-tinged-with/) that could be eclipsed by a garden-variety smartphone at a fraction of the price. Sony's maintaining that all too time-honored tradition by producing a gold-coated, 24-carat version of... the [Xperia P](http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/03/sony-xperia-p-review/). Yes, rather than spruce up a flagship like the James Bond-approved [Xperia T](http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/21/sony-xperia-t-review-a-new-4-5-inch-smartphone-flagship-that-is/), Sony has instead given the luxury treatment to a smartphone with a strictly middling 4-inch display and dual-core 1GHz processor. In fairness, the company sees this as an experiment rather than a [Vertu-like](http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/12/nokia-finishes-offloading-vertu-with-android-switch-rumored/) business model, with the intent strictly to emphasize the unibody design. A maximum 15 have been built as a result -- and rather than count on impulse purchases from oligarchs, Sony hints that it's offering at least some of its gold Xperia P stock to followers on Facebook. As long as there's no pretenses of living the high life with what's really a very ordinary phone underneath, we're satisfied.
Filed under: [Cellphones](http://www.engadget.com/category/cellphones/), [Mobile](http://www.engadget.com/category/mobile/), [Sony](http://www.engadget.com/category/sony/)
**[Comments](http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/24/sony-coats-xperia-p-in-24-carat-gold/#comments)**
**Source:** [Sony](http://blogs.sonymobile.com/2012/11/23/project-24k-gold-xperia-p/)
URL: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/24/sony-coats-xperia-p-in-24-carat-gold/
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