Innovation or indulgence?

Jon Bentley asks whether, at up to £86,000, Vertu's new spy-themed smartphone could ever be good value.

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Priced at between £4,240 and £86,400, depending on the model, it's tempting to dismiss Vertu's new Agent Q phone as yet another example of a fairly conventional device trying to achieve prestige by being encrusted in wantonly exotic materials. The top model, the Himalaya Alligator Gold and Full Diamond Collector's Edition, is encased in gold, diamonds, and the skin of Himalayan alligators, no less. Something perhaps to complement your collection if it already includes baubles like a £2,980 Louis Vuitton light-up smart speaker, with its silver-plated leather trim, or a pair of £99,000 Loewe x Jacob&Co Ice Diamond headphones with cut diamonds on their 14 carat gold ear cup control rings.