Smartphone prices have crept up over the past few years, so it’s not unusual to see phones that sell for $1,000 and up. Some models with features like foldable displays may even cost twice as much. But you usually get some pretty stellar features for phones in that price range.

And then there’s the luxury phone market. Rather than premium specs, what you tend to get are premium craftsmanship and materials (like leather and/or titanium), plus premium perks like members-only concierge service.

For a number of years, Vertu was one of the big players in the luxury phone space. And I mean that mostly in terms of mindshare – I have no idea how many overpriced phones the company actually managed to sell before it went out of business in 2017. But with a high markup and phones that sold for thousands of dollars, Vertu probably didn’t need to sell too many phones to make a buck.

Anyway, Vertu is gone now… but out of the ashes a group of former employees have launched a new company called Xor. Its first phone is called the Xor Titanium, and it’s coming in 2021. It makes phone calls, sends texts messages, supports AES 256 end-to-end encryption (if you’re calling another Xor Titanium user), and… that’s all it does.

The phone will cost nearly $4,000.

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4 replies on “Lilbits: Would you pay $4,000 for this phone?”

  2. I’d spend that much on a phone if it could….no, it doesn’t matter what it could do if it doesn’t actually make society better.
    You’d practically have to go to every single mailbox, and shove a phone with a unique OS and default set of apps that mimic and work with popular social networks but secretly undo the damage done to human interaction by gamification and echo chambers (and advertising, and porn).
    I’d back THAT effort for $4000 even if it was just pinephone hardware they used.
    …in the mean time, I’ll spend only what I have to on hardware that allows me to get along.

  3. How about 16GB of ram with 1TB of storage and a 10000mAh battery?
    You know, stuff I can use. That’s what I’d want for a lot of extra money.

    1. I agree. I won’t buy $1k+ phone with less than 8gb of RAM and less than 512gb of storage. I want an octa core processor at least 2ghz for that price. The battery needs to last a minimum 3 days too. And I could care less if it’s leather covered. Gimme a shock proof TPU case that can withstand being dropped multiple times onto concrete from at least 6 feet. Those are the specs I want in $1k+ phone.

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