If you've got plenty of disposable income to spend on an ostentatious smartphone and don't mind that it also shows you don't know much about smartphones, then Tonino Lamborghini Mobile (yes, that Lamborghini) has one for you: the brand new 88 Tauri.
We came across the follow-up to Lamborghini's Antares luxury phone at an invite-only media event the night before CES 2015 officially kicks off here in Las Vegas. The company will not have an official presence at the main show itself, fitting with the exclusive appeal that the brand is all about.
The 88 Tauri comes with all the glitz you might expect from a $6,000 smartphone on the outside, including leather finish, eye-catching colors, metal panels in black, gold or "steel silver" and Lamborghini's "raging bull" icon prominently displayed. It is indeed a phone that turns heads.
Supercars like those from Lamborghini build their appeal not just on flash and style, but also on awesome power and speed. So what is the 88 Tauri packing under the hood? Perhaps some new, top-secret Snapdragon processor of unparalleled computing power?
Nope. It's running off mostly last-generation hardware and software, including a Snapdragon 801, Android KitKat and a 5-inch HD display. Earlier in the same day, we saw new phones at CES 2015 press events from LG and Lenovo that sport the latest 64-bit chipsets that could leave this Lamborghini in the dust.
To be fair, the 88 Tauri specs are above average, with 3 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM, an interesting dual active SIM LTE configuration, 20 MP rear camera and 8 MP selfie cam. But this just amounts to an above average phone, not a completely exclusive one.
Perhaps that's why the company also threw in 13 exclusive ringtones created by "famed disc jockey and producer DJ Ravin."
The phone does look and feel good in the hand, which is likely its main mission, but underneath the glitz, it's still more or less just a skinned up Moto X.
Product page: Tonino Lamborghini Mobile
