Not everyone is agreeable with Vertu’s kind of luxury. Its style and price aspects are often too over-the-top. That said, If you are a classy, rich bloke or lass who is in the market for something that’s a little subtle in the opulence department but still have that sophistication and elegance you demand (read: luxury touch), then Russian luxury phone and accessories maker Gresso’s new luxury Android smartphone, Regal R1, may just be what you’re looking for. Sitting somewhere between the ultimate Vertu and your regular Android smartphones, Regal R1 bears Gresso trademark luxury minimalist styling, adopting a titanium grade 5 case that took 9 hours just to mill and topped with Gresso’s branding engraved into polished titanium material that alone, took 2 hours to machine. Finishing aesthetic touches include directional polishing on the back panel to produce a classy, matte polish appearance, while the front edges are manually polished by the responsible craftsman. Like its pricer competitor, each Regal R1 is hand assembled by a single craftsman.
The result is an exquisite package that measures 143.2 mm tall, 70.2 mm across and just 8.8 mm thin, but being wrapped in metal, it does come with an inevitable weighty 205g. We don’t get a lot of insight into the specs though, but it is listed as a device that runs on Android 4.2.1 and powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor from an unnamed source. Anyways, the little info continues with a 5″ 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass for protection, 2GB of RAM, 32GB storage, a 13MP AF main camera and a 5MP front-facing camera, and finally, a battery pack offering up to 6 hours talk time and 300 hours standby time. Only 999 units are being offered, each individually numbered, and can be yours to own for a cool (but obviously, not the coolest) $3,000. For that price, it comes supplied with a USB cable, main charger with adapter to suit a variety of international sockets, and a classy black leather gift box to wrap things up. Unfortunately, classy headphones is not in the order.
