Vertu Unveils $6,880 AI Assistant for Executives — Discover How It Functions

AI has become the latest battleground in the smartphone industry, with manufacturers striving to incorporate AI-powered features to capture the interest of mainstream consumers. Vertu is choosing a distinct route: this UK-founded luxury phone maker, famous for meticulously crafted devices that often retail for tens of thousands of dollars, focuses on selling status symbols to the ultra-wealthy instead of competing on specifications. Its Alphafold is aimed at affluent buyers, especially chief executives, combining luxury materials with an AI agent designed to streamline parts of an executive’s workday.

I opted to test that claim on its own terms. Instead of concentrating on benchmark scores, camera comparisons, and media consumption—the staples of most smartphone reviews—I spent a few days using the foldable as Vertu recommends for its clients: managing documents, analyzing spreadsheets and contracts, organizing business trips, automating routine tasks, and utilizing its AI agent as a digital companion throughout my working hours. The question wasn’t whether it was a good smartphone, but if it was a suitable executive smartphone.

At the core of the Alphafold is the Hermes Agent, a pre-installed AI agent built on the open-source Hermes project. The company states it can analyze files, automate tasks across various apps, remember conversations, and delegate requests to a human concierge when necessary. Unlike most smartphone AI assistants that typically respond to prompts, Hermes is designed to execute multi-step workflows on behalf of users, positioning it as the centerpiece of Vertu’s offering rather than the foldable hardware itself.

Physically, the Alphafold, which starts at $6,880, presents itself distinctly as a luxury device. The review unit I received was enveloped in genuine calfskin leather with titanium accents, differentiating it from mainstream foldables that mostly use glass or synthetic finishes. It’s clearly designed for customers who perceive their phone as both a functional tool and a status symbol.

When compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, which I used as a reference throughout this review, the 264-gram Alphafold feels considerably heavier than Samsung’s 215-gram foldable. The added weight is noticeable during extended use, but never feels cumbersome. The Alphafold’s rounded frame also makes it easier to unfold than the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s flatter edges. However, Samsung’s design feels sleeker and more comfortable to hold when folded, making it easier to use with one hand.

The Alphafold also comes in packaging that resembles a jewelry presentation case more than a smartphone box. The oversized packaging opens to reveal neatly arranged drawers containing bundled accessories, such as a leather sleeve and charging cables, reinforcing the notion that Vertu is offering a luxury experience rather than merely a handset.

Beneath the premium materials, however, the Alphafold reveals a different narrative. During the review, I observed striking similarities between this device and the $1,100 ZTE Nubia Fold—from the hinge design and dimensions to the positioning of speakers, microphones, and fingerprint reader. The most obvious distinction remains Vertu’s leather-covered rear panel, though system information indicated ZTE identifiers in parts of the software.

When asked about these observations, Vertu confirmed to TechCrunch that the Alphafold was developed through a specialized supply-chain partnership involving ZTE/Nubia’s hardware platform, component integration, and production engineering. However, the company stated it was responsible for the luxury materials, software experience, quality control, and after-sales support. ZTE did not respond to a request for comments.

This isn’t a new practice for Vertu. In a 2023 review of the MetaVertu, Wired reported that the device appeared to be based on a ZTE Nubia handset, highlighting hardware similarities and commentary from Counterpoint Research indicating that Vertu had been adapting existing ZTE models with luxury materials and custom software.

Nevertheless, solely focusing on the hardware overlooks the real essence of the Alphafold. Vertu’s primary gamble isn’t in crafting a superior foldable but in determining whether executives will pay for an AI agent that enhances their workday efficiency.

Over the course of several days, I utilized the Alphafold as my primary smartphone, substituting routine commands with actual executive-style workflows. Instead of prompting Hermes to compose emails or respond to trivia, I directed it to analyze spreadsheets and contracts, arrange business trips, manage my calendar, and automate actions across multiple applications. I then compared the experience with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 running Google’s Gemini.

The testing evolved as I progressed. Early software iterations faced challenges with file uploads, image analyses, and connections to Vertu’s concierge service. After I reported these issues to Vertu, the company implemented server-side adjustments that restored the missing functionalities, allowing the remaining tests to proceed.

A more nuanced picture emerged from the testing than the company’s claims would suggest. Hermes excelled when evaluating local files and spreadsheets, areas where Gemini on Samsung’s foldable still relied on manually uploaded documents during my assessments. It also showed greater willingness to automate actions across applications and complete multi-step workflows. However, this increased autonomy came with trade-offs, raising questions regarding when an AI should take initiative and when it should seek clarification.

Can Vertu’s Hermes Agent truly replace an executive assistant? One of the initial evaluations simulated a common executive scenario before heading to the airport. I asked Hermes Agent on the Alphafold to send a message to a contact indicating I was running 20 minutes late, navigate to the airport, switch the phone to Do Not Disturb mode, and remind me to call the hotel in 15 minutes. The agent managed to send the message, enabled Do Not Disturb, and opened Google Maps with directions to the airport but did not automatically start navigation and set the reminder for 9:08 p.m.—despite my request being made at 2:32 a.m. for a reminder 15 minutes later.

Running the same request on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 resulted in a different experience. Rather than attempting every action immediately, Gemini requested follow-up questions, such as which airport I wished to travel to and whether the reminder should be created in Google Tasks or Samsung Reminders. After I made those selections, it accurately created the reminder at the correct time.

Hermes was more action-oriented, whereas Gemini sought to confirm details before moving forward. Consequently, Hermes completed a greater portion of the requested workflow, but Gemini ultimately provided the more precise outcome.

Planning a business trip was another test. I tasked Vertu’s Hermes Agent with organizing a business trip from Mumbai to Pune, including a morning flight, hotel recommendations, and calendar itinerary addition. The agent informed me of no direct morning flights available for the requested journey and offered a Contact Butler button to escalate the task to Vertu’s concierge service. It also generated a calendar entry for the wrong dates, scheduling the trip for July 7 instead of July 18–19, leaving the workflow incomplete.

Conversely, Gemini on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 took a different path. After determining that no appropriate direct morning flight was available for the requested itinerary, it continued planning the trip by suggesting alternative travel options rather than offloading the task.

Working with business documents yielded a mixed result as well. I asked both Hermes Agent and Gemini to interpret a locally stored financial spreadsheet, summarize quarterly outcomes, and ascertain whether third-quarter sales figures were included.

In my initial testing, Hermes analyzed an uploaded sales spreadsheet and accurately summarized the Q2 figures. However, when I revisited the same conversation days later, it didn’t recognize the previously shared document, responding instead: “I cannot access files stored directly on your local device. Please upload or attach the Sales spreadsheet here in the chat, and I will gladly analyze the Q2 data for you.”

Similar to Hermes, Gemini also required the spreadsheet to be uploaded initially, but it retained the conversation context. Days later, it still managed to answer follow-up questions about the document, accurately identifying the North region as generating the highest sales without needing the file to be uploaded again.

Overall, the testing indicated that Hermes Agent is an ambitious AI assistant, rather than a finished product. Its readiness to operate independently often made it feel more like an agent than Gemini on Samsung’s device, but this approach occasionally led to incomplete workflows, incorrect outputs, and inconsistent behavior. The frequency of updates during the review also suggested that Vertu is actively refining the platform, meaning today’s experience may not mirror what buyers encounter in a few months.

Beyond general assistance, Vertu has tailored Hermes around a series of specialized AI agents aimed at affluent professionals, including agents focusing on legal counsel and investment insights, alongside the option to escalate particular requests to a human concierge. The idea is to position the Alphafold as more than just a premium smartphone, presenting it as a digital assistant for corporate executives.

In practice, however, these specialized agents should be viewed as starting points rather than definitive advisers. While they can provide useful summaries and recommendations, their responses should be independently verified before being relied upon for legal, financial, or other critical decisions. The ability to escalate certain requests to Vertu’s concierge service highlights the current limitations of AI agents. Human expertise still plays a crucial role.

Vertu is also marketing the Alphafold as a business platform rather than merely a smartphone. The company showcased an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system designed to provide executives with access to business data and workflows from the device. My testing, however, was confined to a demonstration environment, making it challenging to evaluate how the feature performs in everyday usage or how well it integrates with existing enterprise systems.

The security aspect is equally vital. For Alphafold’s target market, executives are unlikely to utilize an assistant that assesses contracts, financial reports, and business plans if they are uncertain about where that data is processed or stored.

Vertu states that conversations with Hermes Agent are encrypted and not used to train public AI models. According to the company, users can also specify where their data is processed, with enterprise deployments accommodating private infrastructure for organizations that require greater control over sensitive information.

Vertu bolsters these claims with a dedicated “A5” security chip, which it alleges offers hardware-level protection for sensitive information, encrypted communications, and digital credentials. These assertions could not be independently verified during testing, but they are central to Vertu’s appeal to executives and enterprises.

Away from AI, the Alphafold operates much like any modern flagship foldable. The battery comfortably lasted over a day during testing. However, the lack of wireless charging is a surprising exclusion at this price point, especially when Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 supports convenient Qi charging in addition to wired USB-C charging.

The camera app includes a document scanning mode under a “Smart AI” setting that can recognize paperwork and save them with enhancements, making it practical for digitizing contracts, receipts, and other business documents. Samsung provides a similar scanning experience with its camera software, thus this feature feels more like a parity option than a distinctive one.

Verdict
The Alphafold is an ambitious attempt at creating an AI-first luxury smartphone; however, the execution does not align with its price tag. Despite its premium construction and exclusive services, the core hardware offers little that cannot be found in far less expensive foldables, while Hermes Agent remains an evolving platform rather than a compelling incentive to invest thousands more.

Ultimately, Vertu is asking customers to pay a significant premium for branding, craftsmanship, and an ecosystem of AI and concierge services built on a well-established smartphone foundation. Based on my assessments, that premium is difficult to warrant, particularly when Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 provides a more mature foldable experience with comparable day-to-day functionality at a fraction of the cost. With Samsung’s forthcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8 anticipated soon, the Alphafold’s value proposition becomes even more challenging to support.

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