# Vertu's $6,880 Alphafold Device Tests Luxury AI Agent Performance

> Luxury phone maker Vertu has built its foldable, the Alphafold, around an onboard AI agent named Hermes, and TechCrunch put the pitch to the test. Prices start at $6,880 and climb to $46,800 for the most bespoke finishes, so the promise is not just gold and leather but a personal assistant that can actually get things done for a busy executive. The reality is more mixed. Hermes, which runs on Nous Research's open Hermes model atop a ZTE Nubia platform, handled document and file analysis well but stumbled on the kind of multi-step jobs, like planning a trip, that agents are supposed to shine at. That gap is the interesting part: hardware makers keep wrapping premium devices in agent branding, yet the underlying models still fumble exactly the complex, chained tasks that would justify the price. For now a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold offers a more mature foldable for far less, and the AI is the risk you are paying extra for.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: TechCrunch · Published Sunday, July 19, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Luxury phone maker Vertu has built its foldable, the Alphafold, around an onboard AI agent named Hermes, and TechCrunch put the pitch to the test. Prices start at $6,880 and climb to $46,800 for the most bespoke finishes, so the promise is not just gold and leather but a personal assistant that can actually get things done for a busy executive. The reality is more mixed. Hermes, which runs on Nous Research's open Hermes model atop a ZTE Nubia platform, handled document and file analysis well but stumbled on the kind of multi-step jobs, like planning a trip, that agents are supposed to shine at. That gap is the interesting part: hardware makers keep wrapping premium devices in agent branding, yet the underlying models still fumble exactly the complex, chained tasks that would justify the price. For now a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold offers a more mature foldable for far less, and the AI is the risk you are paying extra for.

## Source

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/17/vertu-wants-executives-to-pay-6880-for-an-ai-agent-heres-how-it-actually-performs/)

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