Panasonic's Lumix CM1 phone/camera hybrid is coming to the United States

Back in September of 2014, Panasonic announced their new Android smartphone/high-end camera hybrid. It’s called the Lumix CM1, and it boasts a better camera than anything any Android manufacturer has tried to put out. For those who have never heard of it: I know what you’re thinking. Remember Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and K Zoom camera hybrid devices? This device is miles better, thanks to its huge 1-inch sensor, an f2.8 Leica lens and a 20MP sensor. On the Android phone side of things, it’s not bad either. It has a 4.7-inch 1080p display, a Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and runs Android 4.4 KitKat.

So, why is all of this important? At the Photokina event where this device was announced, Panasonic made it very clear that this device would only launch in the European market. But that’s all changing, thanks to Panasonic’s press event held at CES 2015. The company has just announced that the phone is making its way to the US this summer. In a report from Gizmodo, the phone will reportedly come to the States for $1,000 as a GSM unlocked device, meaning you can use it on either AT&T or T-Mobile’s network.

This is great news for true fans of photography that want something more out of their smartphones. The 4K video recording, manual controls for ISO, exposure and aperture should get most people excited, along with the not-so-horrible Android experience on the other side of the device.

Now, $1,000 seems like a lot for a mobile device, but is the added functionality of the high-end camera worth it? Who out there is planning on picking one of these up this summer?