Vertu unveils AlphaFold, its first book-style foldable and boasts about its Hermes AI agent

Vertu is on a foldable phone kick – following the Quantum Flip, the luxury brand has now launched the AlphaFold globally, its first book-style foldable. And while it has the requisite premium materials, this phone’s sole focus is on boosting your productivity with AI. Well, not your productivity – not unless you happen to have $6,880 lying around. And that’s the cheap version, the Alligator Skin Gold & Diamond costs a whopping $34,200. But we’ll get to the leather and the gold and the diamonds. What’s with all this AI?

First, the phone has a 6.53” cover display and an 8.05” inner display. Vertu’s justification for that is that the typical bar format fails when “reviewing complex contracts, tracking multi-system operational dashboards or comparing balance sheets.” But you won’t have to wrangle all that data yourself, the on-device Hermes AI agent can review and summarize documents, orchestrate 70+ apps and run complex executive dashboards. You can read more about Hermeshere.

Should the AI ever reach its limits, you also have access to the traditional 24/7 concierge service from Vertu. With two-way satellite communication, you can stay connected even outside of cell network coverage – be it on your yacht or in your evil lair or wherever. The Vertu AlphaFold is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite (not the new Gen 5). Additional security is handled by the A5 chip that stores sensitive credentials and cryptographic keys separately. There are safeguards in place too, e.g. the AI can’t make a financial transfer or change critical data without human approval.

Looking at the rest of the tech specs, the phone runs on a 6,500mAh Silicon-Carbon battery that should last up to 28 hours even with a demanding workload. The 65W charging can get the battery back up to 50% in 20 minutes. There are three cameras on the back – a 50MP main (1/1.56” sensor, OIS-enabled lens), a 50MP ultra-wide and a telephoto module.

You have a choice when it comes to the exterior – there is stitched calf skin available in two colors, alligator skin in seven colors, a version with solid 18K gold, diamonds (brilliant cut, G color, VS grade or higher) and alligator skin as well as a Himalaya Alligator Gold variant. The hinge cover has a micro-engraved and hand-finished “Clous de Paris” pattern. The hinge itself uses titanium and liquid metal, though that’s not so unusual for a modern foldable and neither is the UTG on the folding screen. Various Vertu AlphaFold versions, each more expensive than the last

If you are interested – or just curious – you can find the AlphaFold over onvertu.com. The phone was originally on pre-order and you had to put down $2,000 upfront, but now it’s available for purchase immediately. Or as immediately as you can scrounge together nearly $7K. Source