Sharp's Obscure 2022 Flagship Smartphone Has Drool-Worthy Camera Specs

Japanese electronics major Sharp is not likely the first brand that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. However, the company has been in the business of making smartphones for well over two decades now, with most of its sales concentrated within Japan. Sharp's focus on Japan has given birth to some interesting smartphones in the past, including the most recent example: Sharp Aquos R6, one of the first smartphones in the world to use a 1-inch camera sensor. The R6 was a genuine flagship from the company that also packed a 240Hz display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, and an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner.

A year after the Aquos R6 arrived, Sharp announced the launch of its successor — the rather obviously named Sharp Aquos R7. If not evident already, the Aquos R7 is Sharp's flagship offering for the Japanese market this year and improves upon the R6 in several ways. Sharp intends to sell the Aquos R7 starting July 2022, but the phone is already headed for preorder status in Japan in May. 

Because its predecessor featured a 20MP, 1-inch sensor for the primary camera, it was a given that the Sharp Aquos R6 would get a 1-inch sensor this time as well. This new sensor has a higher resolution 47MP CMOS sensor which is also claimed to capture 1.8-times more light compared to its predecessor. At least on paper, this makes the phone capable of offering better low-light performance than the R6.

Like last year, Sharp worked with Leica to develop the primary camera on the R7. Apart from using a seven-element Leica lens, this camera also helps the R7 capture 8K videos. Sharp also doesn't seem to believe in jamming in as many cameras as possible on the rear panel, as the only other rear-facing camera on the device is a 1.9MP unit that aids in capturing portraits. On the front, the phone also gets a 12MP selfie camera.

The Sharp Aquos R7 gets Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and comes in a single variant that offers 12GB RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. Interestingly, the phone supports further memory expansion using a dedicated microSD card slot.

The OLED display used on the phone measures 6.6-inches and offers 10-bit color support but only supports FHD+ resolution. Like its predecessor, the Aquos R7 also supports a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, making the phone great for content consumption or gaming. The display also supports a peak brightness of 2000 nits with support for Dolby Vision. While there is no mention of support for fast charging, we know that the Aquos R7 gets a massive 5,000 mAh battery while also being IP68 rated for water and dust protection. We also know that the phone, at launch, runs Android 12.

As mentioned earlier, Sharp expects to bring the Aquos R7 to the Japanese market by July 2022. However, there is no word if the company has plans to launch an international edition of the phone for markets like North America or Europe.