Remember the Vertu Constellation, the Php287,000 Android smartphone which we featured back in October? Well it has officially made its way over to our side of the fence and it was launched alongside the company’s new store located at the East Wing of Shangri-La Mall.
As most of you know by now, the Vertu Constellation doesn’t have the eye-popping engine configuration of today’s high-end smartphones. Instead, it makes do with a 1.7GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM and a non-expandable 32GB of internal storage.
But what it may lack in processing power, it compensates for the premium materials that make up its body. This consists of a Grade 5 Titanium chassis, a sheet of 100-carat Sapphire Crystal laid on top of the phone’s front panel, a set of buttons made of Ruby and a Calfskin-covered posterior.
Vertu Constellation (2013) specs:
4.3-inch HD display, 1280×720 @342ppi
100-carat Sapphire Crystal Glass
1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor
Adreno 320 GPU
1GB RAM
32GB internal memory
13MP camera w/LED flash
1080p video recording @30fps
1.3MP front-facing camera
NFC
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0 with A2Dp & aptX support
GPS w/ A-GPS
Android 4.2 Jellybean
1,800mAh battery
142.2 x 70.4 x 11.2mm
179g
Local pricing of the new Vertu Constellation is slightly higher than the converted price we previously reported, ten grand more expensive to be exact. But what is Php10,000 to a person who afford to buy an Android smartphone that costs as much as new car, right?
Well, Vertu has been in the business for a long time already. Even though they’re no longer owned by Nokia, they are still alive and kicking. Vertu products are primarily marketed as fashion accessories first, phones second. So their emphasis is design (bad or good depends on you) and not on the specs.