Sharp continues to sell smartphones in its home country Japan. Every May, the brand unveils its annual flagship handsets. This year is no different as the company took wraps off the Sharp Aquos R8 series earlier today.
For the first time, the brand has launched a ‘Pro’ variant of its flagship smartphone. Thus, the new Sharp Aquos R8 Pro acts as a true successor of the Sharp Aquos R7. While the vanilla model is a toned-down version.
Just like previous iterations, the main highlights of the new premium phones from Sharp are their displays and cameras. For the unaware, Sharp is the only known OEM other than Xiaomi that uses Leica-tuned cameras on its handsets.
In fact, Sharp also sells self-branded Leica smartphones in Japan under the name of Leica Leitz Phone. These devices are rebranded versions of Aquos R series handsets. The Aquos R8 Pro may release as Leica Leitz Phone 3 later this year.
Sharp Aquos R8 and Aquos R8 Pro Specifications
Coming back to the Aquos R8 series, they are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset paired with LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. Both models offer 256GB of storage with support for MicroSD card expansion. But the RAM is lower at 8GB on vanilla compared to 12GB on pro.
Despite sporting a 3.5mm headphone jack, the phones are IP68-certified for dust and water resistance. They also offer Dolby Atmos-supported dual stereo speakers and an in-display fingerprint sensor (pro uses ultrasonic sensor).
The handsets sport a 10-bit Pro IGZO OLED display with up to 1Hz-240Hz refresh rate and support Dolby Vision content. The panel on the R8 Pro measures 6.6 inches and provides 2,000 nits of maximum brightness level and WUXGA+ (2730 x 1260 pixels) resolution. These numbers are lower at 6.4 inches, 1,300 nits, and FHD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) for the regular R8.
Similarly, the Aquos R8 Pro flaunts a 47.2MP 1-inch Sony IMX989 primary camera with a Summicron lens as opposed to a 50.3MP 1/1.55-inch camera with a Hektor lens on the Aquos R8.
Interestingly, only the standard model has a 13MP ultra-wide camera, whereas the pro comes with a 14 CH spectral sensor. The latter can be also equipped with filters from brands like ELECOM and LOOF.
Even the front cameras are different between the two. The R8 arrives with an 8MP shooter, while the R8 Pro uses a 12.6MP sensor.
The smartphones boot Android 13 and Sharp promises three Android updates and up to 5 years of security updates. The Aquos R8 and Aquos R8 Pro are backed by 4,570mAh and 5,000mAh batteries, respectively. They have support for both wired and wireless charging.
The price of these devices will be revealed when they will be available for purchase in July.
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