We’ve been following BELLPERRE for a couple of years now, starting off with their original phone in 2008. The 2010 cell phone is still called just “BELLPERRE”, but it now comes with a much more contemporary feature set.
This type of mobile phone is about exclusivity, style, engineering and craftsmanship. But too often we see beautiful handsets that underneath are incredibly basic.. and if you’ve just spent thousands on a phone, then you don’t want it to be bested by a bargain basement Nokia.
So although we liked the original BELLPERRE a lot, we would be the first to agree that it was a bit too basic as a phone. BELLPERRE’s 2010 model addresses this by making sure that the handset’s internals are much improved.
We will look at the insides in a moment, but the main selling point about a BELLPERRE handset is what’s on the outside. These are handmade, bespoke handsets that feature a variety of metal and leather finishes. There are 125 different leather options, and you can have your BELLPERRE with a steel case or a rose or yellow gold finish if you like. You can add gemstones and diamonds to the finished design, allowing you to create whatever tasteful or over-the-top design you wish.
BELLPERRE seem to be reluctant to give out pricing, but their old model started at just €1200 for the basic specification, up to €21,000 for a solid gold model with diamonds. We should imagine that a couple of thousand euro should get you something quite nice, and surprisingly BELLPERRE do call themselves “affordable”, which is true when you consider the overpriced madness of Vertu and Mobiado, and that the new Versace Unique comes in at over €5000.
The phone itself is a slim device, measuring 111 x 45 x 11.2mm and weighing 135 grams. This model of BELLPERRE is a tri-band 3.5G handset with maximum download speeds of up to 10 Mbps. It comes with GPS navigation, a multimedia player, FM radio and stereo Bluetooth. On the back is a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash that can record VGA resolution video at up to 30 frames per second. The display is a 2.2″ 240 x 320 pixel panel covered by a sapphire crystal to prevent scratching. Software includes a web browser and the ability to synchronise with Microsoft Outlook.
What we have here is a beautifully crafted device, if you were to buy one you would very rarely meet another owner.. and if you did, then the handset’s unique design would still leave you both feeling special. Underneath is a phone that can do most of the things that you will want of a mobile device. And as for the price.. well, it’s likely to be expensive but not insanely so.
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Samsung UK has announced that the Galaxy S will get Android 2.2, named Froyo, in late of this September. It is the European version that gets updated then. So far no no word on Froyo for Vibrant (T-Mobile USA) or Captivate (AT&T).
