Bentley Mobile Phone: Want To Buy A Phone For £10700

 British business Vertu has launched a smartphone in collaboration with Bentley at the whopping price of £10,700 - the same as 20 new iPhones. What, exactly, do you get for your money?

Vertu was founded by Nokia as a fashion brand: the phones themselves are technologically average, but sold on their design and craftsmanship. Each is handmade by a single worker in the company's Hampshire headquarters. That person's signature is etched onto the inside of the back cover.

Internally, you'll get an Android smartphone with a 64GB memory and a 2.3GHz processor. Nothing that can't be matched by something like the Samsung Galaxy S5 for much less cash.

But on the outside you get - according to chief executive Massimiliano Pogliani - the "contemporary embodiment of English craftsmanship".

The phone, simply called "Vertu for Bentley", is swathed in quilted calf leather, in the classic Bentley shade of Newmarket Tan, and stitched with the same diamond pattern you would find on one of the seats in a Continental GT. The case is made of lightweight titanium, with diamond knurling like you'd find on the dashboard of certain models.

Cheap plastic phone this is not. It's well-built, even if not to everyone's tastes. Vertu's previous models have sold well in Russia, Asia and the Middle East.

You also get the Bentley name, of course; Vertu has signed a five-year partnership with the luxury car maker and this phone, designed by engineers at both companies, is the first product to emerge from it. That might be quite neat if you already drive a Bentley.

Each handset has a metal ‘B’ wings motif on the face of the handset. The complimentary case also depicts the Bentley logo, embossed on yet more Newmarket Tan calf leather.

But the real advantage of the phone is the concierge service that comes with it: this will allow owners to access a range of exclusive assistance, 24 hours a day. Want tickets to that sold-out show? A reservation at the hottest restaurant in town? Vertu’s staff will be able to help, they say.

They can even help buy gifts for friends or family and arrange “money-can’t-buy” events, whatever that means. You can either talk to the concierge on the phone or discretely send them a text chat from your seat on a private jet, yacht or boardroom conference table.

So, is it worth it? If you drive a Bentley, hate buying Christmas presents, have £10,700 to spend on a phone and really like calf leather, probably so. Personally, I'll be keeping my iPhone 5C until it gives up the ghost.

Specifications

Size: 145mm, 69mm, 10.65mm
Weight: 192g
Operating system: AndroidTM 4.4 (KitKat)
Processor: Qualcomm SnapdragonTM 801 2.3GHz quad-core
Screen: 4.7in, 1080p, 473dpi, protected by sapphire crystal
Cameras: 13 mega-pixel (rear), 2.1 mega-pixel (front)
Memory: 64GB internal
Battery: 2,275mAh Li-ion (up to 15hrs 30mins talk time)
Accessories: leather case, headphones, polishing cloth

Posted in: Market,Mobile Technology