Vertu is a luxury smartphone manufacturer from Britain. Their cheapest phone start at thousands of dollars and their most expensive model was sold for roughly $310,000. Vertu have just recently announced their new flagship smartphone which makes this the perfect time to take a closer look at this company.

The company was established by Nokia in 1998 and six years later sold to private equity group EQT VI. Vertu have around 400,000 customers all around the world, with the majority of their phones being sold to Russia, Asia, and the Middle East.

Vertu sells their smartphones and accessories both online and also in their own luxury stores. You can find Vertu Boutiques in New York City, Las Vegas, Prague, Beijing, London, and other high traffic and expensive locations.

Craftsmanship

It is important to remember that Vertu smartphones are a luxury items first, and modern smartphones second. Every smartphone is handmade by a single craftsman, and only the most expensive materials are used in their production. Vertu offers a wide range of personalisation options so each phone reflects the personality of its owner.

Customers can choose the color of the phone, add their initials, and even custom engraving.

Services

What truly sets Vertu apart from every other mobile manufacturer (apart from the astronomical prices) is their range of customer services.

Using Vertu smartphone, customers can take advantage of Vertu Concierge service, which offers 24-hour worldwide assistance with everything from finding the best hotel, purchasing concert tickets, to tailoring a suit.

Vertu Life service helps their clients get access to the most exclusive private clubs and events on this planet. This includes cultural and sporting events such as UEFA Champions League, Formula 1, The Ashes cricket, Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and many more.

Vertu smartphones also come equipped with their proprietary privacy and anti-theft protection solution.  This is not something any Android user will envy, as it is extremely simple to install one of the many available apps from the Play Store.

Smartphones

Right now, Vertu offers 5 different smartphone collections. These include Signature, Signature Touch, Aster, Constellation, and Vertu for Bentley.

We will take a look at the new Signature Touch since I believe that people who are going to spend thousands of dollars on a smartphone will want the latest and greatest thing.

Signature Touch starts at approximately $9,400 for the calf leather model and goes all the way up to $20,000 for their most expensive model with golden details.

The smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 810, with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. Its Full HD, 5.2″ display is protected by Sapphire Crystal.

There is a 21 MP camera on the back with f/2.2 and a very disappointing 2.1 MP front-facing camera. All of this is powered by a 3,160 mAh battery.

As you can see, with the exception of some very expensive materials and a great attention to detail, even the latest smartphone from Vertu is really nothing special when it comes it its internal components.

Smartphones and mobile devices progress at such a fast pace that only 3 years from now, the phone will be nothing but a pig dressed in diamonds.

To me, Vertu is a great demonstration of just how much our society values status and what some wealthy people are willing to do to demonstrate it.