Vertu Constellation Ayxta gets unboxed and admired

Overkill, thy name is Vertu. Nokia's luxury handset division has rarely gotten much love on these pages, but that's mostly to do with the excessive use of "high end" materials on its phones and zeroes in its prices. Both are present and accounted for here, with the stainless steel and leather-bound Constellation Ayxta starting at somewhere around $7,500. Still, we retain a curiosity to see such exclusive devices in the glaring lights of reality, and Gear Diary has treated us to just such a treat. The handset before you can crank out 6 hours of talk time over GSM or 300 hours of standby, navigate preloaded maps over GPS, or hook you up to an instant Concierge service if you don't feel like doing the work yourself. And why should you? Mosey on over to the source for the full unboxing gallery.

[CheeseSoda Posted Apr 6th 2010 12:59AM]

But will it blend?

[schneiderman Posted Apr 6th 2010 1:00AM]

Even a billionaire wouldn't but this crap sorry.

[Karate Tortoise Posted Apr 6th 2010 1:10AM]

so when are they going to start making super luxurious smartphones? they all seem to be not much different from a first gen RAZR

[theehokage Posted Apr 6th 2010 1:19AM]

i want sharp to start selling their phones in the US!

is that too much for a gal' to ask?

[leebocuz Posted Apr 6th 2010 1:23AM]

You'd have to be a moron to buy this phone. I don't care how much money you got, unless you are some old rich guy who has the money to spend on an eight thousand dollar jitterbug to help him wipe his butt, I just can't see the value. If you are under 60 do what everybody else does, get a blackberry or an iphone.

[xbit Posted Apr 6th 2010 5:44AM]

@leebocuz
Do you think that people are morons for buying expensive watches? I'm guessing so.

[leebocuz Posted Apr 6th 2010 8:08PM]

@xbit
Your reply to my comment is a vast oversimplification. Of course I don't think people people who buy expensive watches are morons. A watch serves one primary function - to tell time. So whether you buy a swatch watch for $10 or a Rolex for $10,000 its really about how fancy you want to go for something that is a fashion accessory and basically functional jewelry. I have no problem with that.

I do however have a problem treating a cellphone like jewelry. If Vertu was taking a Nexus One and encrusting it in gold and diamonds I would still think its a stupid thing to buy but at least you are getting a high end phone under the diamonds. With this phone here there is no value beyond the precious metals and stones. Its basically a $40 dumbphone with some jewels on it. How dumb is that?

[bhunterr Posted Apr 6th 2010 1:26AM]

So what exactly is concierge service on a cell phone? Does it come with some hot young blond Finnish girl who's willing to "do all the work"? For over 7 large, it damn well better.

[Cpete Posted Apr 6th 2010 1:45AM]

so should i pull my RAZR out of my closet and sell it on ebay for $7,000? lol

[chriskaasi Posted Apr 6th 2010 2:24AM]

"Yes... For anyone who's ever fantasized about being the coolest guy in 1999... YOUR DAY HAS COME!"

[ProsumeThis Posted Apr 6th 2010 2:45AM]

I used to work for Nokia product development in early 2000s; let me offer you some insight on this.
Frank Nuovo, back then the head of Nokia design - now in charge of Vertu, absolutely hated the clam shell style cell phones. He was a big fan of brick style cell phone designs as he could bring the clean, minimalist lines he's so fond of. You can not see a clam-shell phone from Nokia until well into 2005 yet Motorola was having huge success with V60 and then the Razer. Frank was challenged by the Finnish upper management to bring some clam shell into the line up and he was upset. Instead of bowing down he chose to hand over the whole design program and focused solely on Vertu instead. Yet 10 years later here he is with a clam shell Vertu in his portfolio.

[YpoCaramel Posted Apr 6th 2010 3:40AM]

Very nice to look at. It's not even about function - it'll never have the mechanical beauty and engineering quality in a IWC or Leica.

[JFH Posted Apr 6th 2010 3:46AM]

@hated one

Aha! I spotted another one of your legendarily stupid remarks. But, I am not sure how stupid it is, because it really does not mean anyhting. So, please explain what you mean with:

"Exactly y nokia list $900 million in 1 quarter."

Am I missing a noun or a verb? Let me know, so I can tell you why you are wrong.

Hug.

[jrizzo Posted Apr 6th 2010 3:56AM]

Rich people are stupid. Why spend $7,500 for something that has such a short life span? The speed of technology will likely make this phone obsolete in a year. The speed of fashion will make it a has been in less time than that. People who consider buying this phone would probably consider buying silk toilet paper too.

[Goc Posted Apr 6th 2010 4:47AM]

@jrizzo
Many rich people aren't stupid, spoiled brats who get all their money from mommy and daddy are stupid. Don't generalize.

[ran Posted Apr 6th 2010 5:23AM]

@jrizzo Some people don't replace their phones for 3-4 years; they don't need a hundred applications; they want a solid device.

Don't call people stupid just because of their choices. If anything you either have be very lucky or have brains to become rich. If all you can do is blabber on the internet about other folks, then you need to get off your ass and go make some money and make your own choices.

[jrizzo Posted Apr 6th 2010 6:44AM]

@jrizzo
I stand corrected. Not all rich people are stupid. What I should have said is anyone who pays $7,500 for a phone should have their head examined.

Thanks to the PC police for setting me straight on generalizations.

[ran Posted Apr 6th 2010 5:24AM]

This unboxing is rather late…

And the price seems off considering the picture is of the model with the stainless steel keypad and earpiece. I believe for the $7500, that should be the price of the model with the ceramic keypad and earpiece.

[gFiz Posted Apr 6th 2010 6:31AM]

Vlad, I think you forgot a decimal point. Surely you meant $75.00?

What am I misreading on the description of this phone that makes it cost more than any of the premium smartphones out there, let alone 15x + the most expensive phones? Are their diamonds encrusted in it of something?

[tjmoore Posted Apr 6th 2010 10:19AM]

@gFiz Take a look at www.vertu.com. Remember these are hand made, with premium materials, not mass made in China out of plastic. No diamonds at this price though. The ones with diamonds cost far more! ;)

[Windows 7 Posted Apr 6th 2010 6:32AM]

I think those limted edition razr,s with the fake snake skin can be had on ebay for $100 now. Dont see too much difference.

[ajatra Posted Apr 6th 2010 8:50AM]

It really looks like Nokia Murai by AT&T

[jaffreywali Posted Apr 6th 2010 10:39AM]

Lots of people buy watches more expensive than that.

[pj100 Posted Apr 6th 2010 1:45PM]

Yes, the luxury watch analogy is right on. Here's the relevant question:

Before you leave one of your houses in the morning, do you have to choose which of your Rolex watches you're going to wear that day? If not, you are not in the target demographic for this phone, and Vertu doesn't care what you think.

(note: Vertu doesn't care what I think)

[Damonmt Posted Apr 6th 2010 2:47PM]

Yeah but an expensive watch is something you keep for years, it won't become obsolete in a couple years. Comparing a watch to a phone makes no sense!

[tjmoore Posted Apr 8th 2010 7:55AM]

@Damonmt So long as the phone makes calls it's no more obsolete than a watch. New watches come along all the time that have better features, and the same with phones. Doesn't obsolete either. As said in an earlier comment though, it's not about features, it's about high class bling. It's something to be seen with to complement the expensive watch, jewelery & suit/dress. Many probably don't even use the thing.

[techwhoregalore Posted Apr 6th 2010 9:18PM]

vertu needs to get on the touch band wagen after all nothing says im beatter than u than a gold plated touchphone with a leather back!