British Phone-maker Vertu Shows Off £4000 Phone

Upgrading your smartphone is a big decision, mainly because of the cost. At anywhere from £350 to £700, these devices do not come cheap. Still, having the latest and greatest tech is enough of a reason for a lot of people. So what about a phone that doesn't have the highest specs but still costs a boatload? Who buys those? The filthy rich, that's who.

UK luxury phone-maker Vertu's latest smartphone is called the Constellation, and it comes with a £4090 price tag. The Constellation packs a 4.3-inch 720p display, and the front of the device is covered with a layer of sapphire crystal to protect against scratches. The case is polished titanium with a genuine calf leather on top. Under the hood you're looking at a 13-megapixel camera, a dual-core CPU clocked to 1.7 GHz, 32 GB of storage and a 1,800 mAh battery. What it doesn't have is a Full HD display, an option for expanding the storage, or support for 4G LTE (seriously!).

Still, Vertu, which used to belong to Nokia, claims the phone (which is handmade in the UK) has tested well in focus groups in China and Russia. And really, not being crazy rich ourselves, who are we to say who this phone will appeal to?

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  • For those "just because I can" folks.
    Reply
  • acadia11
    You are an idiot to buy this phone? Seriously no LTE? Come on
    Reply
  • JimmiG
    With those specs, you'd have to be stupid in addition to filthy rich to even consider this phone.
    Reply
  • Vorador2
    I guess the sapphire crystal screen was casted off a whole sapphire in order to justify the price, right?

    Right?

    Oh. At least i hope this one doesn't come with fucking symbian.
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    Vorador2, even though the article neglects to mention the OS (bad girl Jane, BAD GIRL!) the address bar says "expensive-android-luxury-phone-vertu-constellation" so I think we can assume Android, but still would have been nice to have it in the actual story.
    Reply
  • cypeq
    Some things are used to reinforce one's status, rollex watch, luxury car and so on.
    If the brand is recognised as premium and expensive, quality is on second place.
    Screen made of Sapphire and 4000 pounds price point tells general folk a lot,
    where qhd ips, and quad cortex a9 are just meaningless clumps of letters.

    It's the only reason apple is able to sell regular devices at premium prices.
    Reply
  • Bloob
    That's actually a good looking Vertu phone for once.
    Reply
  • back_by_demand
    Sapphire means nothing unless it's natural crystal, seeing as all Sapphire is composed of is aluminum oxide you can bet your ass this is artificial
    Reply
  • shin0bi272
    does it come with a midget to carry it for you too? Maybe a hooker?
    Reply
  • WyomingKnott
    OK, I'm a Yank. I thought that a four thousand pound phone weighed two tons until I looked closer. Please don't ask how my poor brain read the £ symbol and "pound" and didn't realize that it was currency. My brain is tired.
    Reply