Mobile Technology

The Vertu Ti: a $10,000 Android phone

The Vertu Ti: a $10,000 Android phone
The Vertu Ti brings the luxury phone maker into the world of Android
The Vertu Ti brings the luxury phone maker into the world of Android
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The Ti's crystal sapphire screen is virtually scratch-proof
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The Ti's crystal sapphire screen is virtually scratch-proof
Vertu's Concierge Services are included in the $10,000 price tag
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Vertu's Concierge Services are included in the $10,000 price tag
Pressing a single key on the Vertu Ti connects the user to the 24-hour live Concierge Service
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Pressing a single key on the Vertu Ti connects the user to the 24-hour live Concierge Service
The 3.7-inch screen is reportedly the largest ever engineered of crystal sapphire
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The 3.7-inch screen is reportedly the largest ever engineered of crystal sapphire
The back of the Vertu Ti
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The back of the Vertu Ti
A sketch of the phone front
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A sketch of the phone front
Sketch of the Vertu Ti side view
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Sketch of the Vertu Ti side view
A sketch of the phone back
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A sketch of the phone back
Sketch of the Vertu Ti side view
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Sketch of the Vertu Ti side view
The case is made from polished titanium that's said to be five times stronger than the cases of other smartphones
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The case is made from polished titanium that's said to be five times stronger than the cases of other smartphones
The Vertu Ti from the side
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The Vertu Ti from the side
The Vertu Ti brings the luxury phone maker into the world of Android
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The Vertu Ti brings the luxury phone maker into the world of Android
View gallery - 12 images

Technically, Android is a free and open source mobile operating system, but there's still plenty of opportunities out there to pay gobs of money for an Android phone. The most exorbitant way to show you're both a member of the Android faithful and a big spender is with the new Vertu Ti.

Vertu is perhaps the leading maker of "luxury" smartphones and the Ti is the company's acknowledgement that the global demand for Android phones is impossible to ignore, and perhaps that focusing on Symbian phones – Vertu was once a division of Symbian phone King Nokia – is a strategy for an earlier decade.

The Ti runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich inside a polished titanium case with leather accents and a "virtually scratch proof " sapphire crystal screen, all for just €7,900 or about US$10,500.

Vertu claims the sapphire screen is the largest ever engineered at 3.7 inches, and resists impact four times better than other smartphones. The titanium case is also reputed to be five times stronger than the competition, making it a better candidate for a fill-in hockey puck than the iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3 (although I still wouldn't try that at home).

The materials that make up the innards aren't quite as impressive. Key specs include a 1.7 GHz processor, 8MP rear camera with auto focus and twin LED flash, a 1.3MP front facing Skype-compliant camera, 64GB internal memory and NFC. That's a decent component lineup, but not too different from what you'd find today in phones that cost one-twentieth the price of one Vertu Ti.

What Vertu does offer that no other competitor can claim, besides the titanium and sapphire crystal, is what amounts to a live personal assistant on-call at the press of just a single button. Vertu's Concierge Services outsource a lot of the functions – such as booking exclusive hotels and dinner reservations – that the rest of us do via apps, to a live person on the ground in the same region of the world.

Pressing a single key on the Vertu Ti connects the user to the 24-hour live Concierge Service
Pressing a single key on the Vertu Ti connects the user to the 24-hour live Concierge Service

While Vertu customer service can be outsourced to just about anywhere in the world, the manufacture of the phones still takes place in England, where a single craftsman makes each unit by hand at the company headquarters in Hampshire.

If a $10,000 smartphone doesn't quite sound like your style, don't worry. You can add some bling and upgrade to the "Titanium Red Gold Mixed Metals" variant for a grand total of nearly $20,000. Always good to have options.

Source: Vertu

View gallery - 12 images
6 comments
6 comments
Realmcoyoneone REalmcoyoneone
If i didn't read this article id mistake that phone for a cheap Asian phone, We have a lot of them here in South Africa.We call them dual sims
Er. A.K.Mittal
Vertu has never been a phone for the faint hearted , whether today or since the first model ! So beware before commenting . With blings , it can cost way beyond $ 20,000.00 ! ! Well done VERTU Guys . Keep up the good work .
bergamot69
Vertu has never been a phone for those with any kind of good taste... Gullible fashion victims with far more money than sense (and who presumably need a grown-up to book a table or a hotel room for them because they lack the skills necessary to do it for themselves) will no doubt flock like brainless sheep to this breathtaking piece of kitch. The sort of people who need to buy handbags with the designer brand's name in big letters in order to tell the proles that they are rich and very stupid...
Oh well, if you feel you have to keep up with the Kardashians or the Beckhams...
Joe Sobotka
just plain silly,,, I hope its at least water resistant like my RazrM (which I think is an awesome feature).
jayedwin98020
This product reminds of a old adage, which would seem to be appropriate.
"A fool and his money are soon parted"
OuldBill
Worst part: With technology changing about every 30 seconds now, you're going to be stuck with a $10,000 antique phone, just about a minute after they've already cashed your check.