Skip to main content

Stop hating on Vertu: There’s nothing wrong with a luxury smartphone

Vertu TI - The new Vertu
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Vertu, the British firm behind a variety of expensive smartphones released over the past decade or so, has just revealed a new phone, the Vertu TI (read our Vertu TI hands on). It’s made of titanium, sapphire crystal and should you so desire, alligator skin, plus it uses Google Android as its OS. It’s a luxury product and as such, has a luxury price tag: at least 7,900 euros or roughly, $11,000. Bizarrely, its arrival has met with considerable animosity, which makes us ask, what’s wrong with a luxury smartphone?

The comments on our news story ranged from the phone being, “A waste of money,” and someone else saying an HTC Evo 4G was, “better.” Reviews of the phone from around the Web question the Vertu TI’s value, its technical specifications, and many seem stumped at who would buy such a device.

It’s as if nobody has ever seen a needlessly expensive product before. Yes, the Vertu TI is ridiculously priced, but it’s hardly alone in the world. We recently ran a news story on the Lotus Evora Sports Racer, a $95,000 two-seat sports car that’s $20,000 more than already pricey base model. Someone left a comment saying, “I would love to put one in my garage.” And where are the comments about the Mazda MX-5? It’s $70,000 less expensive and will probably be just as fast in the real world. Or what about an Ariel Atom? It’s lip-quiveringly fast, provides an equal amount of thrills and starts at $56,000, so why isn’t the Evora labelled a waste of money?

Vertu TI Sketch
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How about home theater? The complete Sonos PlayBar system costs $2,000. Why isn’t that shot down in flames when you can buy a soundbar from a decent brand for $500? Instead a commenter calls it, “Pretty great.” We could go on and on, but you get the picture; in every other product category, luxury, high-price items are revered, admired, and lusted after.

Double standards

So, this weird double standard seems to be limited to the world of computing and mobile. To be fair, it’s partially understandable, because almost every luxury tech product has either been some awful piece of cross-brand marketing like the Asus Lamborghini laptop, or vulgar nonsense from Goldvish beloved only by the terminally tasteless. With hateful filth like that, it’s no surprise consumers are skeptical. However, this problem is compounded by our obsession with spec sheets.

Yes, there are many phones with “better” specifications than the Vertu TI, but anyone who points it out as a reason the TI isn’t “good” is being deliberately annoying or is an idiot. Its specs match up to many high-end phones in the market today. It’s like saying fuel consumption as a reason the new Corvette Stingray isn’t a good car (another example of the double standard, as the tawdry C7 seems to be universally adored), or deriding the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph watch for not having a calculator. How do we put this bluntly? It. Doesn’t. Matter.

Vertu TI Sketch RearNow, if you consider the Vertu TI a waste of money or unattractive, that’s fine. Such products aren’t for everyone, and it’s at least provoking an emotion inside you. But like every other luxury product, value and specification are utterly irrelevant.

Vertu’s Chief Marketing Officer, Massimiliano Pogliani, said true luxury is about subtly, individualism and elegance; like a meal prepared by a two-star Michelin chef. When judged nutritionally, or as a meal for satisfying a deep hunger, there will be other, better options; but as an experience, it’ll probably be second to none. When you buy a Vertu TI, the very first call you receive will be from your concierge, who’ll introduce themselves and make sure your happy with the phone and everything is as it should be. Was Samsung calling you on the phone minutes after you stuck the SIM card in your Galaxy S3?

Built to last

The Vertu TI is hand built and signed by the engineer who did so. It’s made from high tech, expensive materials (each tiny screw holding the titanium side plates in position cost at least 9 euros), all of which are carefully selected and take months to prepare.

The phone comes with your very own personal assistant built in, and it’s not some electronic Siri-like slave relegated to searching Wolfram Alpha or Yelp either; it’s a real, live person. The phone weighs 180 grams because it’s built to last, not to be replaced each year, during which time the leather will a chance to mature and instill the device with some character.

The Vertu TI shuns the increasingly tedious race to be the fastest, thinnest, and lightest smartphone available, rising above the talk of clock speeds and screen resolutions; yet it’s still quite capable of keeping up with the competition.

We need to get over this preoccupation with specs and embrace the Vertu TI. It’s the first truly luxurious, price-is-no-object smartphone, and that’s OK.

Editors' Recommendations

Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Visible just made its unlimited 5G plan better than ever
Visible wireless phones and plans featured

Digital wireless service provider Visible has announced upgrades to its premium Visible+ phone plan. The highlight is a new Global Pass feature that allows Visible customers to use their phones in 140 countries worldwide.

The Visible Global Pass offers unlimited talk and text services, along with 2GB of high-speed data, for a flat rate of $10 per day. Visible+ members can also enjoy a free Global Pass usage day every month. The activation process can be done through the Visible app.

Read more
The OnePlus Watch 2 is the Wear OS smartwatch I’ve been waiting for
Person wearing OnePlus Watch 2 with a green strap on their left wrist.

The OnePlus Watch 2 -- the company's first Wear OS watch -- has entered a market that Samsung dominates. However, OnePlus' popularity as a smartphone brand can be expected to bring small, yet meaningful changes that benefit not only OnePlus users, but all of the Wear OS segment in general.

For almost a decade, Samsung and Apple have predominantly been the default options if you want a smartwatch that is actually useful and goes beyond flashy features. With Samsung shifting gears and migrating from its own Tizen OS to the (relatively) more universal Wear OS platform and Google releasing its own Pixel Watch after struggling with an identity crisis in the smartwatch world, the platform has much more traction than it did a few years ago. As OnePlus carves its way into the segment, it has the opportunity to entice people who don't wish to live within Samsung's limitations when using a Galaxy Watch with another brand's phone.

Read more
Buying an iPad Mini today? You need to know about this deal
The Apple Pencil attaches to the iPad mini magnetically.

If you've had an eye on iPad deals for the latest model of the Apple iPad Mini for a while now, this may be the offer that you've been waiting for -- a $100 discount from Best Buy on the tablet's Wi-Fi, 64GB model, slashing its price to $400 from $500. It's still pretty popular years after its release, so we don't expect stocks of the device for this sale to last long. If you're thinking about taking advantage of this bargain, you better push through with your purchase as soon as possible to make sure that you don't miss out on the savings.

Why you should buy the Apple iPad Mini 2021
The latest generation of the Apple iPad Mini was released in 2021, but it's still featured in our roundup of the best iPads because it's the model that you should buy if you want a smaller and more compact version of Apple's tablets. Its 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display is smaller than the screens of its peers, but it's still big enough to enjoy watching streaming shows and browsing websites, while allowing you to use the device with one hand. Unlike its predecessor, there's no Home button, so the Touch ID sensor is instead built into the power button at the side of the Apple iPad Mini 2021.

Read more