Vertu Unveils AlphaFold: A $46,800 AI-Powered Enterprise Foldable

Luxury smartphone manufacturer Vertu has launched the AlphaFold, its first book-style folding device, positioning the handset squarely at the intersection of high-end luxury and enterprise productivity. Priced from $6,880 for the standard calfskin edition to $46,800 for bespoke models featuring gold or diamond accents, the device runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and operates on Android 15. The launch signals a strategic pivot for the brand, which previously released a flip-style foldable last year, toward business executives seeking integrated artificial intelligence capabilities.

Central to the AlphaFold’s value proposition is the Hermes Agent, an AI assistant built on the open-source foundations of the Hermes Project by Nous Research. Vertu has developed a custom layer atop this model to handle legal, financial, and managerial tasks, allowing the agent to connect with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The company claims the agent can coordinate complex workflows, such as syncing travel itineraries with team meetings or generating sales performance dashboards, by routing requests across multiple external models including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

The hardware specifications align with current premium market standards, featuring a 6,500-mAh silicon-anode battery, 65-watt fast charging, and a triple-camera system comprising 50-megapixel main and ultrawide sensors alongside a 5-megapixel telephoto lens. Vertu asserts that the device’s hinge and screen architecture can withstand 650,000 folds, a figure that exceeds Samsung’s claimed durability of 500,000 folds. The phone also includes two-way satellite messaging and maintains the brand’s traditional 24/7 human-powered concierge service.

Despite its historical British heritage, Vertu confirmed that the AlphaFold is assembled in China, with high-end materials such as full-grain calfskin sourced from Italy. Spokesperson Viki You stated that the phones remain handcrafted, though the manufacturing shift reflects the company’s current operational structure, with its head office located in Hong Kong. This production model has drawn scrutiny from industry observers; Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for data and analytics at research firm IDC, noted that Vertu’s opaque private ownership and departure from its original UK-based manufacturing model mark a significant departure from the brand’s legacy.

The device’s commercial terms have also attracted attention, particularly regarding its warranty coverage. Vertu offers a one-year warranty for the AlphaFold, which is notably shorter than typical industry standards for premium devices. Additionally, the handset runs on the Android 15 operating system without a specified software update policy. While the Hermes Agent supports 31 Western ecosystem apps and 55 Asian ecosystem apps, including WeChat and Taobao, the practical efficacy of the AI integration remains to be seen as competitors like Google and Samsung expand their own assistant capabilities.