Vertu launches $6600 leather-backed Android phone

By Alex Dobie
published

If the Galaxy Note 3's faux-leather back just isn't leathery enough for you, the Vertu's got you covered with its second high-priced Android phone, the Constellation. The luxury electronics company has today unveiled the device, which packs a dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU, Android 4.2 and a calf leather and titanium body. The leather extends around the body of the handset, and unlike the $10,000 Vertu Ti, the $6,630 Constellation is more traditionally smartphone-shaped.

On the front is an unremarkable 4.3-inch 720p display behind strengthened sapphire glass, which Vertu says can withstand the impact of a 200-gram steel ball being dropped from one meter. The Constellation also gains a higher-specced camera than Vertu's earlier offering, with a 13-megapixel unit being included. 32 and 64GB storage options are available, but according to Engadget there's still no LTE support. To compensate, Vertu plans offer each customer unlimited global Wifi through a partnership with iPass.

The Vertu Constellation will be available from selected Vertu boutiques from next month. If you want to arrange a private viewing (yes, that's actually a thing) you can do so through the manufacturer's website.

Source: Vertu (opens in new tab), Engadget (opens in new tab)

Alex Dobie
Alex Dobie
Executive Editor

Alex was with Android Central for over a decade, producing written and video content for the site, and served as global Executive Editor from 2016 to 2022.

60 Comments
  • I am sorry but these things are laughable. Leather for $6600.... not to mention the design and available colors are just plain ugly.
  • Foe those who don't know what to do with their money. Give it away. Posted from the surface of the Moon; yes we did go there.
  • This. There are plenty of charities, out there, that sure could use a $6600 donation. Anyone that buys this should be ashamed of themselves. Posted via Android Central App
  • No LTE? For that kind of money? Is this a joke?
  • Still better value than an iPhone.
  • This has 2012 specs and we're in Q4 2013! Not to mention how ugly this device is. And $6000 for a phone with leather parts?
  • FINALLY SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS 7 GRAND I DONT WANT!
  • Tell me about it! lol
  • Dual core? Posted via Android Central App
  • Last years common specs for 10 times the price?? I get the awesome craftsmanship, but when it comes to tech, what's inside matters.. Now if they offered to give that accent/leather treatment (preferably in black or dark blue) to any phone for under $800 bucks, I just might, maybe, possibly do it..
  • Would love a sapphire glass screen Posted from the ONE
  • Should had donated to the Ubuntu Edge project.
  • I hope someone makes a real leather back cover for the Note 3. I have no interest in a leather case (adds too much bulk imo), but I'd be game for a real leather battery cover. Or even fake leather, as long as it doesn't look & feel fake.
  • There were plenty of places making fake ones and selling them on eBay for the Note 2. Give it a few weeks and you'll be able to find one and ship it from China.
  • Can I sign a 10 years contract with carrier to get this phone for $199 ? Posted via Android Central App
  • a fool and his money are soon parted.
  • For people that can afford these phones, $6-10k is pocket change. They won't miss it.
  • a fool and his money are soon parted.
  • $6600? What is this, a TracFone for poor people? Goldvish or nothing.
  • I dont think poor people can afford to spend $6,600. Posted via Android Central App
  • You must be fun at parties.
  • This Posted via Android Central App
  • Oh yeah, he's a riot lol Posted via Android Central App
  • Virtu Phones are people my friend! Posted via Android Central App
  • I met someone with a Vertu once!! It was awesome. Like seeing an extinct animal in the wild. I was at Fashion Week NYC (as a photographer) and a small squat woman tugged at my arm asking if I saw her friend with a yellow jacket on. I couldn't find her so she actually called her Vertu personal assistant, had them call her friend and told her to stick her arm up so I could identify her!
  • So, instead of simply calling her friend herself, she called someone and asked them to call her? That makes no sense at all.
  • That's exactly what she did! It was more like a panic call like, "Help, I can't find my friend!" and the assistant calmed her down and came up with the solution. The main point was this woman's first reaction was: call assistant. Those are the people buying these phones.
  • I'd like to know who Vertu sends when she uses the toilet before realizing there is no paper.
  • A genius! Posted via Android Central App via HTC One Motorola Droid Bionic Has Been Stolen and has been recovered! Yey!
  • Wow, just wow. Utterly helpless. Folks like this will be the first to go when the zombie apocalypse comes.
  • What amazes me is the fact that those people managed to get wealthy or land someone wealthy in the first place.
  • They probably inherited their money. Posted via Android Central App
  • But is it a Nexus? If not no deal Posted via your wifes, girlfriends phone
  • Average Joe's working at the soup kitchen, being charitable, and folks out there are dropping this kind of money on a phone? A POS phone at that? Very sad panda.
  • I would love to see a premium phone. Maybe in the $1500-$2000 range with top quality materials, top specs, attention to detail, and great customer service. I couldn't afford one myself but there are a ton of people that would jump on it and I think there is a market for it. The Vertu phones are way over priced and have horrible specs and poor user experience.
  • I need ten for my family.. Anyone have a number Posted via Android Central App
  • Sorry, it's a secret. If you don't already have it, then they don't want you to call.
  • In for 2 °____• Posted via Android Central App
  • Is this stock Android on it or some kind of Vertu skin? Can someone confirm or deny this?
  • I deny! Posted via Android Central App via HTC One Motorola Droid Bionic Has Been Stolen and has been recovered! Yey!
  • Doubt anyone in this forum has ever bought one Vertu.
  • Whot the phoque! Posted via Android Central App via HTC One Motorola Droid Bionic Has Been Stolen and has been recovered! Yey!
  • The price is mostly for the butler which is part of the user experience when buying a vertu phone. The sort of people who buy these phones could drop £6000 plus and not be bothered a great deal
  • Proof that idiots will buy anything.
  • Its kind of annoying that these overpriced things literally never end up being good phones. "Let's be blatantly obvious that we're targeting suckers by always using outdated hardware of some kind." Its always a phone with meh specs that gets designed with overpriced touches like leather or an Aston Martin logo (never forgetting that one). Posted via Android Central App
  • I've thought the same thing. At least if you buy a Ferrari, you're getting a high-performance car. With these phones, they wrap a mediocre device in high-end materials and then sell it at a premium.
  • It doesn't annoy me at all. If it makes me feel anything, it's smugness. "The only person who could miss with this gun is the sucker with enough bread to buy it." Posted via Android Central App
  • Vertu as a lifestyle brand has been around for ions so the price isn’t a surprise to me but there’s a lot of negativity towards these phones and the specs which I find interesting. Essentially they sell well enough for them still to survive when the likes of Blackberry has to hold on for dear life. My thoughts are... Do specs really matter when you can press a button and a person on the end of the line will sort out whatever request/task/need that troubles you at any given time? Android is a base platform and its branches can go in all directions but wouldn't it be the craziest thing if the owners of these ridiculous, outdated specifications devices actually had a higher usage satisfaction than any current android flagship owner or any iPhone fanboy? It’s merely a thought :)
  • I'm sure if you had the money you can get someone to custom design your own phone with sapphire titanium and top not internals. Probably will run you about 10k Posted via Android Central App
  • I guess you're paying for the "service" and not the actual device.
    Still a huge ripoff in my opinion.
  • Am I missing why this costs so much? Posted via Android Central App
  • I am so going to get one of these. Wait how much , never mind.
  • If Apple were to do this with the Iphone it would sell out in an hour, Itards!
  • CrackBerry Kevin will be getting one and giving it away in a contest on here
  • I'll wait for the Google Edition. Posted via G2 Android Central App
  • Cant wait Posted via Android Central App
  • Complete joke Posted via Android Central App
  • I don't even want to speak to anyone who would buy one of these. Luckily, chances are I'll never get the opportunity to. Posted via Android Central App
  • WOW! Posted via Android Central App
  • What kind of phone is that.?????¿????????¿???????????¿????????????¿ Posted via Android Central App