Sharp introduced the Aquos R6 in mid-2021 and stunned the world with the phone’s 240Hz display and 1” camera sensor. It also stole Sony’s thunder as the phone launched a few months before the Xperia Pro-I. However, the R6 was exclusive to the Japanese market, so Sony had the rest of the world to itself. The other Aquos R phones have a similar story – great specs, limited availability. The most recent entries, the Sharp Aquos R8 and the R8 Pro, also launched exclusively in Japan. Sort of. The company just introduced the Sharp Aquos R8s Pro in Taiwan and you may think that the “s” stands for some sort of upgrade, but the specs appear to be the same.
The star of the show is the 1” 47.2MP
sensor on the rear, which has a 19mm f/1.9 lens. The only other real camera is
on the front – a 12.6MP selfie with a 27mm f/2.3 lens. There is a second module
on the back, but it’s mission is to assist the 1” sensor get the best photos
possible. It’s a 14-channel spectrum sensor that captures detailed data on the
ambient light conditions, which is then used to adjust the photos from the main
cam. The other star is, of course, the 6.6” IGZO OLED panel with 1,260 x
2,730px resolution, 2,000 nits brightness and 240Hz refresh rate. These are the
same as on the R8 Pro.
The chipset is the same too, Snapdragon 8
Gen 2, which is paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage (and a microSD slot
to boot). The “s” model doesn’t even include a memory upgrade. The battery is
the same as well, with 5,000mAh capacity. The company is also launching the
smaller Sharp Aquos R8s. It shouldn’t shock you to hear that it’s the same as
the Aquos R8. It drops down to a 50.3MP 1/1.55” main camera (23mm f/1.9) but
gains a 13MP ultra wide module (17mm f/2.3), the front camera has an 8MP sensor
(26mm f/2.0 lens).
The R8s also has a smaller display, a 6.4”
FHD+ IGZO OLED (1,300 nits, 240Hz) and a smaller 4,570mAh battery. It uses the
same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip though with less RAM, 8GB. The 256GB storage is
expandable via microSD cards up to 1TB. Both phones have 3.5mm headphone jacks.
Sharp is taking pre-orders for the two
phones with early bird pricing – the Aquos R8s is TWD 23,490, the Aquos R8s Pro
is TWD 32,490 (that works out US$ 735 and US$ 1,000 in American dollars). Pre-orders
also come with an exclusive phone case and lens filter. You can get a TWD 500
discount code if you fill out a short questionnaire.
