Vernee are shocking us once again today, not with outlandish specs, but the pricing for their flagship Vernee Apollo smartphone.
When we first heard about new brand Vernee they surprised us all by claiming that their new phone would not only have a Mediatek Helio X20 chipset, and force touch display, but that it would also get a Sony IMX230 rear camera, 128GB memory and 6GB RAM!
The shocks continue today after the phone maker has unveiled that their 2K screened phone would cost $399.99.
There is no doubt that the kind of hardware that Vernee have managed to get inside the all metal Apollo isn’t cheap, and the company even compares their phone to the pricing of the Vivo Xplay 5 with 6GB RAM, but $400 for a phone from an unknown phone maker still seems steep.
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If the Apollo’s pricing is too rich though, Vernee also plan to launch the Vernee Thor for $129.99. While it might not have 6GB RAM and a 2K display it will come with 3GB RAM, 2800mAh battery, quick charing and 13 mega-pixel rear camera.
What do you think of the Vernee Apollo pricing? Are you willing to spend $399.99 on the Apollo?
Wow, I was expecting no more than $300. It would all depend on the reviews, will you be reviewing it Andi?
I’ll certainly try and get my hands on one
Waiting for the review 🙂
Funny thing is that the advertisement through this news show me “zopo speed 8, 279$” and it’s a phone with similar specs, made by a famous producer which is usually know for its usual higher prices… And it’s still 120$ cheaper than this! lol
Zopo hasn’t got 6GB RAM, a 2K display, force touch, metal body etc
Components’ cost doesn’t really explain the price gap, but i can see why they’re using useless things like 2k and force touch for marketing to raise the price tag 😐
not gonna lie 2k and force touch is useless
Yea I don’t know why everyone here is praising force touch, it is practically useless on Android right now. And until Samsung, LG, Huawei etc adopt it, it will be wasted technology.
yuuuuuuuuup
I’m 100% with you.
Maybe , but 128 GB on board , that should add some cost right ?
The cost difference between a 32GB and 128GB is about $30 at the most.
I have to disagree with you here.
(That doesn’t happen often lol)
That might be the real value of the higher capacity storage but we have seen in the past that companies, including the ones famous for being the cheapest (Xiaomi, LeTV or Oneplus), charging almost $80 for simply upgrading from 16GB to 64GB.
For this reason I don’t understand why we shouldn’t use the same metric for this company.
I was talking the price of just the components. Samsung said at one point the difference in costs between their 16 and 64GB drive was just $13. But they charge customers anywhere from $80-150 for that same upgrade. They can get away with that because they are an established brand name, Vernee not so much. $350 would have been a more reasonable price point and still allow them to make a bit of profit.
I agree with $350.
They will probably fix it later on when they realize it.
I remember the UMI “something” priced at $300 and then lower it to $200 a month later.
They usually include more RAM too.
Not usually, recently maybe and on cheaper devices.
Last year flagships (Xiaomi, Oneplus, Meizu,Zte,Samsung, LG,HTC,Oppo… And many many more) they all had 3GB of RAM on both versions
ANDI ON FIRE !
Plus 32GB ROM for Zopo against the 128GB ROM for Vernee. I think the extra $120 is justified here guys.
There are many things to add value here, i do agree with you. And all in one package … For all the specs I think the price is right. ((I do hope they come down with it tho something like $350 soon but think of the price of the same phone under a brand like HTC or LG or SAMSUNG and you will get the picture…
Andi. Helio X20 simply can not support the operation of 6GB RAM. See description Mediatek official information. http://mediatek-helio.com/x20/
Don’t tell that to him tell it to the manufacturer.
Then again manufacturers have clever ingeneers that could not do 1gbRam 4 years ago….
you already know why im here 😀
Is this THE ONE for you?
It could certainly be for me.
nope … this was an implicit reference to my ” Too Expensive” slogan 😀
If I had to choose I would get the Zoppo Speed 8 over this. It is $100 cheaper and comes from a company most here have heard of.
Me too. Was just About to say the same.
The problem with the Zopo Speed 8 is no SDcard slot.
Exactly and this comes with higher built-in memory too.
Not a problem for me, 32GB is more than enough for what I do.
NEIGH SAYERS!!! come one come all WHERE ARE YOU NOW LOLOLOL!!! honestly i think the price is worth it but i can understand those who dont trust a new company, BUUT!!! how will they be tested as good if no one tries them out???
You forget that by the time resellers get hold of this it will nearer $500 for international customers. Add the possibility of getting charged tax when it enters the country and you could be looking at close to $600! Do you still think its a good price?? It’s a big risk to take, especially if the phone turns out to be crap with no future support. Although I would still take it over an Elephone any day!
lol @elephone yeah those taxes ARE LOOKING MASSIVE!
I won’t trust a new company that sells their phones for over $400. I would buy the $129 one to test it out though. As for the price being worth it, to me it is not. As Rob pointed out it’s going to be anywhere from $475-530 on a re-seller. I couldn’t justify spending that on a no name phone when there are equal phones from well known brands for less.
meh i blame my curiosity or love of phones i just want to see somene review it which means someone to buy it, i can totally understand why an individual wouldnt want to spend so much on a new company its a mega risk, if i had the money i would risk one phone a year
Most phones that are reviewed aren’t bought, they are either provided by the companies or by a reseller. I had a few resellers offer phones for me to do reviews in the past but I had too much going on.
mannn i envy you 🙁
Wow, I was expecting no more than $300. It would all depend on the reviews, will you be reviewing it Andi?
I’ll certainly try and get my hands on one
Waiting for the review 🙂
Mediatek Website still says Upto 4gb Ram is supported by Helio x20. Not sure what this company is doing.
Only using 4GB ram and 2GB for swapping?
The Vernee Thor is just a MT6753 .. basically too cheap to matter to me.
The Vernee Apollo’s price is, honestly, not too bad. Comparing to Mi5: Force touch, 5.5″ 2k screen, generic 21MP for the mi5 camera hardware, and 2GB of ram in exchange for the stepdown from snapdragon 820 to helio x20 .. Seems like a reasonable price comparison.
Remember that the snapdragon 820 gets most of its performance credentials for it’s gaming gpu. If you just compare the compute part of the SoC it is basically the same as an X20.
Funny thing is that the advertisement through this news show me “zopo speed 8, 279$” and it’s a phone with similar specs, made by a famous producer which is usually know for its usual higher prices… And it’s still 120$ cheaper than this! lol
Zopo hasn’t got 6GB RAM, a 2K display, force touch, metal body etc
Components’ cost doesn’t really explain the price gap, but i can see why they’re using useless things like 2k and force touch for marketing to raise the price tag 😐
ANDI ON FIRE !
not gonna lie 2k and force touch is useless
I’m 100% with you.
Plus 32GB ROM for Zopo against the 128GB ROM for Vernee. I think the extra $120 is justified here guys.
Maybe , but 128 GB on board , that should add some cost right ?
The cost difference between a 32GB and 128GB is about $30 at the most.
I have to disagree with you here.
(That doesn’t happen often lol)
That might be the real value of the higher capacity storage but we have seen in the past that companies, including the ones famous for being the cheapest (Xiaomi, LeTV or Oneplus), charging almost $80 for simply upgrading from 16GB to 64GB.
For this reason I don’t understand why we shouldn’t use the same metric for this company.
I was talking the price of just the components. Samsung said at one point the difference in costs between their 16 and 64GB drive was just $13. But they charge customers anywhere from $80-150 for that same upgrade. They can get away with that because they are an established brand name, Vernee not so much. $350 would have been a more reasonable price point and still allow them to make a bit of profit.
Yea I don’t know why everyone here is praising force touch, it is practically useless on Android right now. And until Samsung, LG, Huawei etc adopt it, it will be wasted technology.
I agree with $350.
They will probably fix it later on when they realize it.
I remember the UMI “something” priced at $300 and then lower it to $200 a month later.
yuuuuuuuuup
Andi. Helio X20 simply can not support the operation of 6GB RAM. See description Mediatek official information. http://mediatek-helio.com/x20/
They usually include more RAM too.
Not usually, recently maybe and on cheaper devices.
Last year flagships (Xiaomi, Oneplus, Meizu,Zte,Samsung, LG,HTC,Oppo… And many many more) they all had 3GB of RAM on both versions
There are many things to add value here, i do agree with you. And all in one package … For all the specs I think the price is right. ((I do hope they come down with it tho something like $350 soon but think of the price of the same phone under a brand like HTC or LG or SAMSUNG and you will get the picture…
Don’t tell that to him tell it to the manufacturer.
Then again manufacturers have clever ingeneers that could not do 1gbRam 4 years ago….
Battery capacity will be the next question. At that price you’d also want IR diode too. The Doogee F7 Pro the competitor if they can even obtain their claimed $200 price tag.
Quick charing? I thought that was only available with the SD810.
LMAO … I feel ya bro.
It works great in the Helio X10….
Scary-like Excellent on mine
you already know why im here 😀
Is this THE ONE for you?
It could certainly be for me.
nope … this was an implicit reference to my ” Too Expensive” slogan 😀
If I had to choose I would get the Zoppo Speed 8 over this. It is $100 cheaper and comes from a company most here have heard of.
Me too. Was just About to say the same.
The problem with the Zopo Speed 8 is no SDcard slot.
Exactly and this comes with higher built-in memory too.
Not a problem for me, 32GB is more than enough for what I do.
NEIGH SAYERS!!! come one come all WHERE ARE YOU NOW LOLOLOL!!! honestly i think the price is worth it but i can understand those who dont trust a new company, BUUT!!! how will they be tested as good if no one tries them out???
You forget that by the time resellers get hold of this it will nearer $500 for international customers. Add the possibility of getting charged tax when it enters the country and you could be looking at close to $600! Do you still think its a good price?? It’s a big risk to take, especially if the phone turns out to be crap with no future support. Although I would still take it over an Elephone any day!
lol @elephone yeah those taxes ARE LOOKING MASSIVE!
I won’t trust a new company that sells their phones for over $400. I would buy the $129 one to test it out though. As for the price being worth it, to me it is not. As Rob pointed out it’s going to be anywhere from $475-530 on a re-seller. I couldn’t justify spending that on a no name phone when there are equal phones from well known brands for less.
meh i blame my curiosity or love of phones i just want to see somene review it which means someone to buy it, i can totally understand why an individual wouldnt want to spend so much on a new company its a mega risk, if i had the money i would risk one phone a year
Most phones that are reviewed aren’t bought, they are either provided by the companies or by a reseller. I had a few resellers offer phones for me to do reviews in the past but I had too much going on.
mannn i envy you 🙁
Mediatek Website still says Upto 4gb Ram is supported by Helio x20. Not sure what this company is doing.
Only using 4GB ram and 2GB for swapping?
The Vernee Thor is just a MT6753 .. basically too cheap to matter to me.
The Vernee Apollo’s price is, honestly, not too bad. Comparing to Mi5: Force touch, 5.5″ 2k screen, generic 21MP for the mi5 camera hardware, and 2GB of ram in exchange for the stepdown from snapdragon 820 to helio x20 .. Seems like a reasonable price comparison.
Remember that the snapdragon 820 gets most of its performance credentials for it’s gaming gpu. If you just compare the compute part of the SoC it is basically the same as an X20.
Battery capacity will be the next question. At that price you’d also want IR diode too. The Doogee F7 Pro the competitor if they can even obtain their claimed $200 price tag.
Quick charing? I thought that was only available with the SD810.
LMAO … I feel ya bro.
It works great in the Helio X10….
Scary-like Excellent on mine
A FHD version would entice me… 2K is useless to me…
A FHD version would entice me… 2K is useless to me…
If this phone includes a micro SD card slot and has a usable skin of android — total steal
If this phone includes a micro SD card slot and has a usable skin of android — total steal
Waiting for the screen and battery specs
Like most of people here I spit my coffee when I saw the price but then after cleaning up everything I kept reading and to be honest the price is not bad. Sure, it’s not the cheapest.
Let’s say we start from a hypothetical Meizu MX6 with the same SoC, 4/32GB, probably better camera priced at $279 then the 128GB of this phone should at least bring the value to $350
2 extra GBs of RAM, costly display, force touch bring the price close to what they are asking for.
Happy to see something different from the thousands of cheap MT6753 phones that have flooded the market.
My probably with the price isn’t so much the components, it’s the brand none of us have ever heard of. There is very phones that I will pay more than $400 for, and Vernee isn’t one of them, at least not yet.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I wouldn’t pay that kinda money for an unknown brand either.
And like Bob said that translates for $500+ for us buying from overseas.
My comment was for people that are into those minor brands like Elephone,Doogee and Co. already.
I would give the $129 version a chance, I would be comfortable taking a risk there. I have in the past with phones costing that much from Dogeee, Elephone, Ulefone, iOcean etc.
The market is flooded with those phones that look all the same.
I doubt they did something different there, but never say never.
If I had to get one of those then I would probably go with Cubot.
They make pretty decent phones for that price tag.
I used one Cubot awhile back it was a decent phone. I am actually liking the Zopo Speed 8 more and more every day. But Gionee S8 launches this week…
I’m waiting for LeTV ,Oneplus and Nubia.
I am not in a rush to buy anything, the crack in my Meizu is limited to one spot at the top and so far hasn’t spread. I want to see all the flagships before I decide.
Is it just my impression or they are kinda late this year?
Not really most Chinese flagships launch between April-June. I am a little surprised by how few were at MWC though, usually they at least had some announcement there and then a full launch at a later date.
With the announcement of Elephone Vowney’s specs, I thought the price I paid ($300) was a bargain. Almost 6 months later, when I received it, I realized I might have overpaid. Sure the screen and both cameras’ image quality are sharp, but many a times video (be it YouTube or Snapchat) stutters. Not to mention the overheating issues…
Unfortunately the specs sheet doesn’t say it all. And this worth with big companies just as the small ones too.
Always wait for reviews to figure out out.
Agreed. Now I am in the hunt for a new phone… My Note 3 is still working great, but I need one with a better camera, and perhaps dual sim.
Helio X20 simply can not support the operation of 6GB RAM. See description Mediatek official information. http://mediatek-helio.com/x20/ .
Yea we all noticed that and are wondering how they are doing it. They are not the only ones who claim to be using a setup like this either, others have said they will have 6GB + X20.
But people praised the Letv le Max Pro and that was fairly new too and expensive as well, for a company not into real manufacturing phones until then…. Uhmmm?
I will just wait with the benefit of the BIG DOUBT until someone reviews it and I hope @Andi to be such that person and to get a free test unit too.
LeTV was a company many of us had already known about. They were new to making phones but they weren’t a new company.
Waiting for the screen and battery specs
Like most of people here I spit my coffee when I saw the price but then after cleaning up everything I kept reading and to be honest the price is not bad. Sure, it’s not the cheapest.
Let’s say we start from a hypothetical Meizu MX6 with the same SoC, 4/32GB, probably better camera priced at $279 then the 128GB of this phone should at least bring the value to $350
2 extra GBs of RAM, costly display, force touch bring the price close to what they are asking for.
Happy to see something different from the thousands of cheap MT6753 phones that have flooded the market.
My probably with the price isn’t so much the components, it’s the brand none of us have ever heard of. There is very phones that I will pay more than $400 for, and Vernee isn’t one of them, at least not yet.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I wouldn’t pay that kinda money for an unknown brand either.
And like Bob said that translates for $500+ for us buying from overseas.
My comment was for people that are into those minor brands like Elephone,Doogee and Co. already.
I would give the $129 version a chance, I would be comfortable taking a risk there. I have in the past with phones costing that much from Dogeee, Elephone, Ulefone, iOcean etc.
The market is flooded with those phones that look all the same.
I doubt they did something different there, but never say never.
If I had to get one of those then I would probably go with Cubot.
They make pretty decent phones for that price tag.
I used one Cubot awhile back it was a decent phone. I am actually liking the Zopo Speed 8 more and more every day. But Gionee S8 launches this week…
I’m waiting for LeTV ,Oneplus and Nubia.
I am not in a rush to buy anything, the crack in my Meizu is limited to one spot at the top and so far hasn’t spread. I want to see all the flagships before I decide.
Is it just my impression or they are kinda late this year?
Helio X20 simply can not support the operation of 6GB RAM. See description Mediatek official information. http://mediatek-helio.com/x20/ .
Yea we all noticed that and are wondering how they are doing it. They are not the only ones who claim to be using a setup like this either, others have said they will have 6GB + X20.
Not really most Chinese flagships launch between April-June. I am a little surprised by how few were at MWC though, usually they at least had some announcement there and then a full launch at a later date.
But people praised the Letv le Max Pro and that was fairly new too and expensive as well, for a company not into real manufacturing phones until then…. Uhmmm?
I will just wait with the benefit of the BIG DOUBT until someone reviews it and I hope @Andi to be such that person and to get a free test unit too.
LeTV was a company many of us had already known about. They were new to making phones but they weren’t a new company.
With the announcement of Elephone Vowney’s specs, I thought the price I paid ($300) was a bargain. Almost 6 months later, when I received it, I realized I might have overpaid. Sure the screen and both cameras’ image quality are sharp, but many a times video (be it YouTube or Snapchat) stutters. Not to mention the overheating issues…
Unfortunately the specs sheet doesn’t say it all. And this worth with big companies just as the small ones too.
Always wait for reviews to figure out out.
Agreed. Now I am in the hunt for a new phone… My Note 3 is still working great, but I need one with a better camera, and perhaps dual sim.
I just compared Snapchat on the Vowney and the Note 3 side by side, and Note 3 was way better. Video is so smooth, but a bit glitchy on the Vowney.
NFC hasn’t been confirmed yet. If it’s the difference of a metal back and having NFC, scoot off the metal backplate.
NFC hasn’t been confirmed yet. If it’s the difference of a metal back and having NFC, scoot off the metal backplate.
Vernee, stop lying, Helio X20 simply can not support the operation of 6GB RAM. See description Mediatek official information. http://mediatek-helio.com/x20/ . This absurd marketing is now being treated as a news release, Andi should have the obligation to review, to bring real news to your audience, but this is not the company’s poor lie scam.
Haha, i know the appolo will never come out. It’s just hype for the brand. When every body knows the Vernee brand, then they can sell their low-end items. And in fact they have done that.
that’s right. Too bad their marketing team didn’t check the MTK site before make the lie.
the phone was spotted at x20 presentation
I can‘t believe such unprofessional company, how to make phones, did you know processor and RAM is what?
Of course it can’t, the X20 also can’t run without overheating the gpu.
Guys (up and down) Vernee is not the only one in doing this, you have Meizu and Vivo claiming the same so just quit it.
$399 please buy iPhone SE, not this F****** phone.
nice to meet you, Cook 😉
http://mediatek-helio.com/x20/ Oh, my god. Helio X20 can’t support 4GB RAM, I don’t want to hear lies.
What do you say to the people at Meizu then?
Oppo released a 4GB RAM MT6753 phone and what MTK released was that MT6752 chipset didn’t support that at that time.
Vernee, stop lying, Helio X20 simply can not support the operation of 6GB RAM. See description Mediatek official information. http://mediatek-helio.com/x20/ . This absurd marketing is now being treated as a news release, Andi should have the obligation to review, to bring real news to your audience, but this is not the company’s poor lie scam.
Haha, i know the appolo will never come out. It’s just hype for the brand. When every body knows the Vernee brand, then they can sell their low-end items. And in fact they have done that.
that’s right. Too bad their marketing team didn’t check the MTK site before make the lie.
I can‘t believe such unprofessional company, how to make phones, did you know processor and RAM is what?
Of course it can’t, the X20 also can’t run without overheating the gpu.
the phone was spotted at x20 presentation
Guys (up and down) Vernee is not the only one in doing this, you have Meizu and Vivo claiming the same so just quit it.
$399 please buy iPhone SE, not this F****** phone.
nice to meet you, Cook 😉
http://mediatek-helio.com/x20/ Oh, my god. Helio X20 can’t support 4GB RAM, I don’t want to hear lies.
What do you say to the people at Meizu then?
Oppo released a 4GB RAM MT6753 phone and what MTK released was that MT6752 chipset didn’t support that at that time.
Do you know the URL of the Vernee’s website ? Thanks.
Do you know the URL of the Vernee’s website ? Thanks.
If you mean would I send my $400 to China for a phone which may or may not arrive, may or may not work when it arrives, with next to no after service or back up, then probably not, no.
If you mean would I send my $400 to China for a phone which may or may not arrive, may or may not work when it arrives, with next to no after service or back up, then probably not, no.