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Vertu comes back from the dead w/ new $5,000 ‘Aster P’ luxury Android smartphone

More than a year after the company officially declared bankruptcy, Vertu has risen from the dead to announce their very latest luxury smartphone with a $5,000 price tag.

Unveiled in China, the Vertu Aster P is the latest in the line, which was last updated in 2014. Much like every other Vertu phone sold previously, the Vertu Aster P is handmade in England with ultra-premium materials.

Speaking of those, the Aster P has a Grade-5 Titanium frame and the display is made from a single piece of 133-carat sapphire crystal glass. This should make it lightweight and tough — not that we’re expecting a review unit heading our way anytime soon.

Round the back, luxury materials continue to be used, with the entire back covered in a mixture of crocodile and lizard leather. You can get the leather in a range of colors too if you’re an adventurous millionaire.

The concierge button comes back with Aster P, with the dedicated red button on the side that gives 24/7 direct access to your own personal butler. The things rich people do to feel important, eh? The back also includes gull-wing doors for SIM tray access  — dual nano-SIMs only — under each door you’ll find the signature of the craftsman that made the unit you purchase.

Now the specs are the most confusing aspect of the entire package  — well, the price too. The Vertu Aster P packs in a mid-range Snapdragon 660 CPU, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. The AMOLED display measures in at 4.9-inches at a 1920 x 1080 resolution. Everything is powered by a 3,200mAh battery.

The rear has a 12-megapixel camera and the front-facing camera measures in at 20-megapixel. Clearly, Vertu thinks that potential buyers prefer selfies over scenic snapshots. It will run Android Oreo out of the box, unsurprising given the rest of the specs.

Only officially available in China, the device is up for pre-order at an eye-watering 35,800¥ (~$5200) for the Black or White version. If gold is more your style, then expect to shell out 98,000¥ (~$14,150).


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Avatar for Damien Wilde Damien Wilde

Damien is a UK-based video producer for 9to5Google. Find him on Twitter: @iamdamienwilde. Email: damien@9to5mac.com