<p>I thought that this new titanium cased Android smartphone was an interesting little study in consumerism. For the real point and purpose of this phone, from Gresso, is not to be a smartphone at all, but to be a Veblen Good. Technically it's a fairly unimpressive phone if we are to be honest:</p><p>Not too shabby, but the downside is that they don't necessarily come with the flagship specs you might come to expect from phones that cost a third of the price: The 219g (7.73-ounce) Radicals come with Android 4.1.2, a 4.5-inch qHD screen, dual SIM support, an 8MP rear camera, 36GB internal storage and a quad-core 1.2GHz processor.</p><p>That's not exactly a high end spec in this day and age. However, the price tag of $1,800 is most certainly high end. So what's the great attraction of the phone?</p><p>The bottom-line model, the Radical R1, goes for $1,800 and is made of grade 5 solid titanium,</p><p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/12/21/the-titanium-smartphone-thats-really-a-veblen-good/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/20/gresso-android-smartphone/">Android smartphone made of solid titanium now available for $ 1800</a> (Engadget)</p><p><a href="http://www.gsmarena.com/gresso_reveals_radical__androidpowered_luxury_smartphone-news-7404.php">Gresso reveals Radical - Android-powered luxury smartphone</a> (GSMArena.com)</p><p><a href="http://www.slashgear.com/gresso-radical-smartphone-runs-android-4-1-2-and-quad-core-1-2-ghz-cpu-20309531/">Gresso Radical smartphone runs Android 4.1.2 and quad-core 1.2 GHz CPU</a> (SlashGear)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dVRXEUwE3JPC0AM9QYfVnxHamn8_M&ned=us">19 additional articles.</a></p>