Dreame’s new £10K luxury phones look AI – I wish they were

Xiaomi-supported brand Dreame has apparently tired of excelling in the field of robot vacuums and, as well as launching smart rings and EVs, has surprised the industry by branching out into the respected tech field of overpriced bling.

Following in the footsteps of high-end phone brands such as Vertu, Dreame’s Aurora luxury phone series will cost from CNY 70,000 to 100,000 – around £7,600-£10,890 or $10,000-$15,000 converted.

The phones have what we could politely term a maximalist aesthetic; less politely, we might call them hideous. They’re loaded down with enough gold and jewels to make the perfect gift for that special dictator in your life or to function as useful hand weights for all those times when you just can’t make it to the gym because you got lost in your mansion.

But it’s not all about looks. The phones feature cutting-edge technology as well. One of the models even has a clever time-telling feature in the form of an analogue clock embedded in the back. Wait until Apple hears about that.

In many cases, it’s hard to identify the objects in question as phones, as they look more like compressed versions of the Palace of Versailles. Some of our favourite designs include an enamelled Pegasus (for any billionaire 12-year-olds you may know), the aforementioned clock phone, and a model my colleague Chris described as looking like an opulent carpet runner.

小白测评

However, if you chip away at the gold surface, there could be greater riches underneath, or at least a pretty good phone. In February, Dreame announced three phones: the flagship RS1, the budget E1 and the light and slim Air1.

Rumour has it that the Aurora phones are bejewelled versions of the RS1, a phone that’s said to have near-identical specs to the Nubia Z80 Ultra. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, packs a 7200mAh battery and features a 6.85-inch AMOLED display with 16Mp under-screen camera, 50Mp main camera, 64Mp periscope and 50Mp ultrawide.  

All of that would add up to a pretty decent £700+ flagship model, wrapped up in enough gold to adequately decorate Donald Trump’s toilet. And when the phone becomes obsolete, you can always have it melted down.

Looking for the best flagships, minus the gold? See our top recommendations for the best phones you can buy right now.