Stuff has long been fascinated with the products Vertu comes out with, and the company’s new AlphaFold is no different. The luxury brand tends to include premium features that have nothing to do with hardware and everything to do with the size of your bank account. And its foldable really lives up to that pattern.
The thing is, unlike the Louis Vuitton earbuds (and much like the Xor Titanium), this is a completely customised device. It’s not simply a repainted phone, like the Steve Jobs Edition iPhone. If you want one of Vertu’s foldables, the starting price is R112,000. It only goes up from there.
Know when to AlphaFold ’em
You’re not paying for the phone’s specs, obviously. If that’s all you’re after, you can snag an equal or better smartphone from Samsung for R40,000 to R50,000. But it’s not going to feature calfskin, alligator skin, or Himalaya alligator in its frame anywhere. Nor will there be actual gold or diamond incorporated into the phone — though for that, you can expect to pay Vertu upwards of R550,000.
Vertu’s phones, including the AlphaFold, also offer a 24/7 concierge service, which is what you’re really paying for here. Plus the precious metals and compressed carbon. Additionally, the company is also packing something it calls Hermes Agent, an AI that “learns, evolves, and understands you over time.” Samsung promises something similar with its latest handset, but Samsung doesn’t have an alligator hunter on staff that we know of.
If you’re looking at one of these $6,880 to $34,200 smartphones, you’ll nab an 8.03in inner display, a 6.53in outer display, and a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Vertu doesn’t list RAM or storage, presumably because they don’t have to, but there’s a 6,500mAh battery. Someone on your staff will probably keep it charged. Twin 50MP cameras (one is an ultrawide) and a 5MP telephoto handle camera duties. Whether the folks who buy there will even use the setup remains to be seen.
Vertu will sell you an AlphaFold no matter where you are in the world, as long as you can afford the price tag. There’s a pricier version, for $46,800 (R760,000), that we can’t seem to find listed anywhere. That’s fine. It’s not like we’ll ever afford even the basic model.
