Luxury phone brand Vertu has reportedly got a new smartphone in the pipelines, tentatively named the V06. The smartphone has recently showed up on the Geekbench database, giving us a fairly decent idea about what to expect from the upcoming device. While the listing doesn’t give us a clue about the display size and resolution, it does tell us that the phone – for once – is going to come with high-end hardware unlike most Vertu devices, which are known more for their overly generous use of precious stones and premium leather than for performance.
According to the Geekbench listing, the upcoming smartphone will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 SoC, which comes with an integrated 64-bit octa-core CPU with four Cortex A-53 cores and four Cortex A-57 cores. We’re not entirely sure however, if the chip will come in its underclocked v2.1 variant said to be powering the upcoming OnePlus Two, or if it will come in its original avatar which has widely been blamed for the overheating of devices such as the Nubia Z9, One M9 and the Xperia Z3+ (Xperia Z4 in Japan). The processor in the V06 meanwhile, is clocked at a frequency of 1.55 GHz, according to the listing. As for the rest of the hardware specs, the device is also said to come with 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, which is also a welcome sign, seeing as Vertu devices have not always shipped with the latest software on-board.
For the uninitiated, Vertu is a UK-based brand, originally established in 1998 as the luxury-arm of Finnish Telecommunications major Nokia. In 2012, amidst continuing financial hardships, Nokia sold off the brand to private equity group EQT VI. The Finnish company however continues to retain a 10% share in Vertu till date. The brand has often been criticized for its over-the-top, garish design choices and outdated, underperforming hardware. British publication Financial Times has described the brand’s offerings as “technologically modest”, while Wired Magazine has been more scathing in its observation, in describing the company’s phones as “tasteless trash”. In spite of all that, Vertu as a brand continues to be fairly popular among the elite in countries like Russia and the Middle East.