We all experienced a little bit of sticker shock when Apple announced that the lowest-tier iPhone X would clock in at a thousand dollars (give or take a penny or two). Four figures is a pretty nasty sum for a mobile phone, especially considering how often we mess ours up in the course of the battle against evil. But they’re the market leaders, so they set the rules.
The thing is, in context a thousand bucks isn’t even that bad. People have been making cell phones way more expensive than that, and they don’t even have edge-to-edge screens or FaceID. Join us as we dive deep into the world of high-end cell phones for the rich and crazy.
Solarin
Cost: $14,000.00
Security is a big deal in this post-Fappening universe, and if you’re worried that hackers will get into your cloud storage and have a lot of money to throw around, the self-styled “world’s most secure cell phone” might be for you. Made by Sirin Labs, the Solarin comes with endorsements from Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. Running a custom Android OS, the big draw here is a hardware feature – a switch at the back of the device toggles it into a mode where it can only make outgoing voice calls and securely encrypted messaging. All that security doesn’t come cheap – this baby weighs in at nearly half a pound.
Gresso Meridian Black
Cost: $9,500.00
While most phone makers are moving towards bigger touch screens, the luxe merchants at Gresso are holding tight to buttons – they’re just making them out of gold. The Meridian Black is milled from a single piece of titanium, with a gold keypad where each button is hand-polished by a single craftsman. Produced in a limited edition of 999, it’s a retro-looking mobile device with the unusual ability to support two SIM cards, letting you switch identities easily if that’s the kind of thing you like to do. The rest of the machine isn’t that technically impressive, with 32GB of internal memory and a 3MPX camera, but it sure does look cool.
Goldvish Eclipse – Magic Onyx Alligator
Cost: $7965.00
The more fancy-sounding words in a phone’s name, the more you can charge for it. That’s just how it works! The “Onyx Alligator” in this pricey mobile’s name refers to the black alligator leather that enrobes the device, which doesn’t add any performance improvements but feels pretty cool. The device itself is relatively solid, with 64GB onboard storage and a Snapdragon quad-core processor. It runs the latest version of Android Cyanogen, a popular mod that delivers a number of performance improvements over base Android. In addition, the 5MP front camera lets you snap Instagram selfies with gorgeous clarity. If you’ve got a phone like this, it’s fair to say you probably do that a lot.
VIPN Black Diamond
Cost: $300,000.00
What could make the idea of buying a $300 large cell phone even more ridiculous? What about if it was a Windows phone? That’s one of the many completely inexplicable decisions that went into 2006’s VIPN Black Diamond telephone. The creation of Singaporean artist Jaren Goh, the device has a pair of diamonds inlaid into the surface – one on the joystick and the other one on the flip side. It boasted a beefy (for the time) 2GB SD card, a 2.1-inch touchscreen along with traditional keypad and a weird chevron-esque form factor. Only five were made, with a clientele of wealthy oil millionaires the target market.
Savelli Champagne Diamond
Cost: $57,000.00
Many of these pricey smartphones get their cost from the combination of high-end materials and the signature of a designer who has a high opinion of himself. A perfect illustration of this is the Savelli Champagne Diamond, which debuted in 2013. The creation of Swiss designer Alessandro Savelli, the guiding principle behind the Champagne Diamond was to create a cell phone that would work as a luxe accessory. With a shell formed of 18 carat rose gold, inlaid with 395 white and cognac diamonds, it’s quite the conversation pi
The thing is, in context a thousand bucks isn’t even that bad. People have been making cell phones way more expensive than that, and they don’t even have edge-to-edge screens or FaceID. Join us as we dive deep into the world of high-end cell phones for the rich and crazy.
Solarin
Cost: $14,000.00
Security is a big deal in this post-Fappening universe, and if you’re worried that hackers will get into your cloud storage and have a lot of money to throw around, the self-styled “world’s most secure cell phone” might be for you. Made by Sirin Labs, the Solarin comes with endorsements from Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. Running a custom Android OS, the big draw here is a hardware feature – a switch at the back of the device toggles it into a mode where it can only make outgoing voice calls and securely encrypted messaging. All that security doesn’t come cheap – this baby weighs in at nearly half a pound.
Gresso Meridian Black
Cost: $9,500.00
While most phone makers are moving towards bigger touch screens, the luxe merchants at Gresso are holding tight to buttons – they’re just making them out of gold. The Meridian Black is milled from a single piece of titanium, with a gold keypad where each button is hand-polished by a single craftsman. Produced in a limited edition of 999, it’s a retro-looking mobile device with the unusual ability to support two SIM cards, letting you switch identities easily if that’s the kind of thing you like to do. The rest of the machine isn’t that technically impressive, with 32GB of internal memory and a 3MPX camera, but it sure does look cool.
Goldvish Eclipse – Magic Onyx Alligator
Cost: $7965.00
The more fancy-sounding words in a phone’s name, the more you can charge for it. That’s just how it works! The “Onyx Alligator” in this pricey mobile’s name refers to the black alligator leather that enrobes the device, which doesn’t add any performance improvements but feels pretty cool. The device itself is relatively solid, with 64GB onboard storage and a Snapdragon quad-core processor. It runs the latest version of Android Cyanogen, a popular mod that delivers a number of performance improvements over base Android. In addition, the 5MP front camera lets you snap Instagram selfies with gorgeous clarity. If you’ve got a phone like this, it’s fair to say you probably do that a lot.
VIPN Black Diamond
Cost: $300,000.00
What could make the idea of buying a $300 large cell phone even more ridiculous? What about if it was a Windows phone? That’s one of the many completely inexplicable decisions that went into 2006’s VIPN Black Diamond telephone. The creation of Singaporean artist Jaren Goh, the device has a pair of diamonds inlaid into the surface – one on the joystick and the other one on the flip side. It boasted a beefy (for the time) 2GB SD card, a 2.1-inch touchscreen along with traditional keypad and a weird chevron-esque form factor. Only five were made, with a clientele of wealthy oil millionaires the target market.
Savelli Champagne Diamond
Cost: $57,000.00
Many of these pricey smartphones get their cost from the combination of high-end materials and the signature of a designer who has a high opinion of himself. A perfect illustration of this is the Savelli Champagne Diamond, which debuted in 2013. The creation of Swiss designer Alessandro Savelli, the guiding principle behind the Champagne Diamond was to create a cell phone that would work as a luxe accessory. With a shell formed of 18 carat rose gold, inlaid with 395 white and cognac diamonds, it’s quite the conversation pi
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