Vertu Signature Touch comes with Hasselblad-certified camera

If you've always been toying with the idea of getting a Hasselblad camera, but found the real thing too bulky and the rebadged Sony cameras too ridiculous, smartphone manufacturer Vertu has just given you another option. Vertu's latest model, the Signature Touch, comes with a "Hasselblad-certified" camera. 

The press release is a little vague in explaining what that exactly means but says "Vertu has worked with Hasselblad, the world’s most renowned professional photography brand, to perfect the image tuning of the camera onboard Signature Touch" This sounds as if Hasseblad has had some input into the fine-tuning of the camera module's image parameters but given we're almost certainly dealing with a standard 1/3-inch CMOS sensor here, you should, despite the Hasselblad badge, not quite expect medium format image quality.

The smartphone's other specs are in line with upper-mid-level devices from the competition. Images can be viewed on a 4.7-inch 1080p display and saved on the phone's 64GB of internal memory. Android 4.4 is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC running at 2.3Ghz. There are also B&O-tuned stereo speakers and a 2275mAh battery that can be charged wirelessly via the Qi-standard. 

You would expect more for $11,300? Well, there is also a sapphire crystal layer on the screen and the body is made out of titanium and hand-finished calf leather. Vertu also offers a range of additional services, including insurance and a real live concierge. The Vertu Signature Touch will be available this month.

Key Specification:

• 13MP 1/3-inch BSI CMOS sensor
• 1080p video
• 2.1 MP front camera
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC, quad-core 
• 4.7-inch 1080p screen
• Android 4.4
• 64GB storage, no microSD support
• 2275 mAh battery
• NFC