14 DAY TRIAL // We talk about mid-end and premium smartphones daily, but luxury devices don’t get so much attention, partly because they come in a limited supply and their user base is quite small, but well defined. UK-based luxury mobile phone manufacturer Vertu has just announced a new smartphone called Constellation.
Right off the bat, we must say that the price of the new phone wasn’t revealed, but expect it to reach thousands of pounds. For such a high price, customers can enjoy “superior performance technology, exceptional build quality, luxurious materials and Vertu's renowned platform of dedicated services.”
As the company said, the Constellation phone has dual-SIM support and works on 34 international bands and protocols. Its display is a 5.5-inch WQHD AMOLED screen with over 3.6 million pixels and 140 carat 6th Generation sapphire crystal screen protection on top. The display also has a 538 pixel density per inch.
Rear camera similar to Google Pixel XL
Rear camera capacity is 12MP with 4k support, slow-motion video capture and panorama features. It has 1.55 micro pixels for delivering clear images in low-light conditions, which often pose difficulties for smartphone cameras.
Vertu designed the camera for social photographers and it’s quite similar to the camera found on the Pixel and Pixel XL, dubbed the best smartphone camera in the world. Vertu’s Constellation phone incorporates Dolby Digital Plus surround sound processing and front stereo speakers at the top and bottom.
HD Voice support and uplink noise cancellation features make sure call quality is pristine. The phone runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 3,220mAh battery. Obviously, it features USB Type-C port and access to iPass, the world’s largest WiFi network.
Vertu also features wireless charging, NFC, secure communications from Silent Circle, and runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, although one would have at least expected 7.0 Nougat at such a high price. Vertu phones are handmade in the UK, which might partly explain their high price.