This luxury phone brand’s new foldable makes the Galaxy Z TriFold look cheap

Vertu, the luxury phone brand that made headlines in the early 2000s for its shockingly expensive phones studded with precious stones and featuring exotic leather backs, hasn’t been very active lately. It hasn’t truly called it quits, despite declaring bankruptcy, but it hasn’t quite transitioned to smartphones as easily. In the last decade or so, Vertu’s portfolio has been bejeweled by only a handful of phones, including one made for Web3. Its most recent launch was a luxury flip phone rocking a Snapdragon 8 Elite, the same iconic leather back, and an eye-watering $7,300 price. Now, it’s launching another foldable, but in a different form factor.

Vertu’s latest launch, the AlphaFold, is the company’s first book-style foldable, targeting “executives and high-value users.” The brand is banking heavily on its AI, claiming that the phone comes with a specialized AI agent named after Hermes, the famous luxury clothing and accessories brand. With the Hermes agent, Vertu is gunning for the same qualities as Gemini Intelligence and says that it learns and remembers your preferences and manages your calendar, messages, travel, and business-related tasks.

Vertu claims a long list of actions that the Hermes agent can perform, ranging from controlling and navigating the UI to configuring quick settings such as flashlight, volume, and screen brightness. It can supposedly also interface with a variety of third-party productivity and social media apps and execute cross-app workflows within these apps. Some of the popular ones in the list include X, TikTok, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Maps, Chrome, Play Store, Amazon, and many more.

Beyond that, the Hermes agent is also claimed to work with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, consolidating all business-related signals into a single dashboard. All of this is managed by a custom UI that’s based on Android 15.

All private information is processed locally, while enterprise workflows follow customer configuration and only authorized integrations. Meanwhile, high-risk tasks, such as financial transfers or role assigning, require human confirmation before they’re executed.

Beyond the agent’s applications, Vertu AlphaFold also offers direct access to the company’s concierge service, where human managers handle custom needs, such as booking private jets or securing VIP access to exclusive events.

In terms of hardware, the Vertu AlphaFold is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite, not the newer Elite Gen 5. The inner “creaseless” folding display measures 8.05 inches, while the outer screen measures 6.53 inches. Both of these are LTPO OLED displays with a 120Hz refresh rate. Powering the setup is a 6,500mAh silicon-carbon battery along with 68W of fast wired charging.

Three cameras on the back include a 50MP primary, a 50MP ultrawide, and a rather unappealing 5MP telephoto.

For its exterior, the AlphaFold comes with a variety of exotic leather back options, along with titanium around the frame. The back of the frame is embossed with a “Cloud de Paris” pattern. The inner display forms a teardrop shape when folded to avoid creasing, and this is enabled by a hinge reinforced by titanium and carbon fiber. Vertu says it’s rated for 650,000 folds.

The AlphaFold will be available globally starting today, i.e., May 28, for a starting price of $6,880 for the standard calfskin edition. Calling a product “standard” at that price feels ill-suited, but if you thought the same, Vertu wants to ensure you couldn’t be more wrong. The premium Italian alligator-leather edition is priced at $8,800, while the higher-end trim, decked out with Himalaya Gold IV and diamonds, will set you back just $46,800. At this price, the $3,000 Galaxy Z TriFold or the expectedly pricey iPhone Fold appear puny in comparison.