It’s getting to the point where we’re actually getting accustomed to Vertu’s decadent brand of madness. There’s only so many times you can release multi-thousand pound phones made of unicorn skin before we simply get desensitised. That said, this new handset is a slightly different type of ridiculous.
The Vertu for Bentley has a price tag of £10,700 and, as you may have guessed, is created in partnership with the classic British luxury car manufacturer. So what sets it apart from every other pricey Vertu offering?
Well the main attraction is that you get the same level of bespoke Bentley craftsmanship you would find in each of its high-end vehicles, but within a smartphone. The handset is crafted from titanium and wrapped in quilted calf leather. It’s Newmarket Tan in colour – the same you’d find inside a Bentley, in case you couldn’t tell by looking.
It’s all handmade and if you open up the case you’ll find the signature of the person who created yours. It’s undeniably silly, but a nice nod to how each Bentley automobile is still handmade and will often have the head workman’s signature somewhere inside the bodywork. Oh, and you’ll find a little Bentley ‘winged B’ badge just under the handset’s screen.
It’s a pretty decent phone in its own right, too. It runs Android 4.4 Kit Kat, has a 4.7-inch 1080p sapphire crystal display, a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor and 64GB of internal memory. The audio is handled by Bang & Olufsen and the 13 megapixel camera by Hasselblad.
You may be thinking that, despite all those niceties, it still doesn’t really justify a cost of £10,700. And you would be right – the bulk of that cash goes towards the inclusion of Vertu’s concierge service. Ring the number any time you like, day or night, and Vertu will deal with whatever fancy request you may have.
One of the key features of the Vertu for Bentley is it’s functionality with Bentley’s latest pride and joy. The Bentley Flying Spur is a ridiculous feat of engineering: 616 bhp, 590 lb.ft of torque, a max speed of 200 mph… it’s a truly remarkable car. This smartphone will also act as a remote control for the Flying Spur’s in-car entertainment centre. Pretty cool, although we’re not sure how much use that is to you if you’re the one driving it. That said, chances are if you can afford a Flying Spur you won’t be the one driving it.
The Vertu for Bentley is being produced in a limited run of 2,000, so you better act fast if you want one. Or don’t, come to think of it – there’s barely even 2,000 Bentley Flying Spurs on the road right now so you should be alright when you feel like picking one up.
