Vertu wants executives to pay $6,880 for an AI agent — here’s how it actually performs

TechCrunch AI · 1 hour ago

Vertu released the Alphafold luxury foldable smartphone priced at $6,880, featuring a Hermes AI agent designed to automate executive workflows, but testing revealed the agent produces inconsistent results — sometimes acting autonomously but generating incomplete tasks, incorrect outputs, and losing context in conversations compared to Samsung's Gemini. The device uses hardware based on a ZTE Nubia platform wrapped in calfskin leather and titanium, with Vertu responsible for materials, software, and service rather than core engineering. The Alphafold's value proposition depends on whether its AI capabilities can genuinely improve executive productivity, though current performance shows it requires independent verification before relying on its legal and financial recommendations, and human concierge escalation remains necessary for complex tasks.