Luxury Android phone from Vertu costs $10,657

How much would you be willing to pay for a smart phone that would truly set you apart?

For some the price of mobile exclusivity would likely be 7,900 euros or approximately $10,657. That’s the price tag on Android-powered Vertu Ti from Vertu Corp. of Church Crookham, Hampshire in the United Kingdom. No, the three-year unlimited talk-and-text plan comes separate.

What you get is a handset with crisp lines etched in grade 5 titanium (typically used in surgical implants and the aerospace industry). You’ll find no Gorilla Glass in this phone its 3.7-inch touch screen is made from sapphire crystal. Forget about Beats, acoustics is “engineered” in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen and the London Symphony Orchestra, and each phone is handcrafted and signed by a “single craftsman” in England, according to Vertu.

Until last year, Vertu was owned by phone maker Nokia and Vertu phones used the Symbian mobile operating system. However when Nokia sold the firm to the private equity group EQT VI last October, its new owners opted for the Android OS.

The Vertu Ti is powered by Android 4.0 and has a 1.7 GHz processor. It has 1GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory. The Vertu Ti has an 8MP rear facing camera capable of 1080p high definition video and a 1.3MP front facing Skype-compliant camera capable of video calling.

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The 180g device is much heavier than the BlackBerry Z10 (137g), Samsung’s Galaxy S III (118g) and Apple’s iPhone 5 (112g).

Who would buy such a phone?

Probably the same people eyeing the $2,000 Porsche Design BlackBerry P9981,  the $6,700 Tag Heuer Link (without diamonds of course) or the $107,000 Dior Reveries Haute Couture handset.

Hutch Hutchinson, the Vertu Ti’s designer, says the company’s biggest market is China. In the firm’s 10 years it has sold just 326,000 smart phones worldwide. Its phones can be bought in 500 retail outlets around the world.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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