Google Pixels have really picked up in popularity in Japan in recent quarters and while they are mostly eating into Apple’s share of the market, local brands may be worried too. With this in mind, check out the new Sharp Sense8, which just launched at JPY 62,150 (while a Pixel 7a is JPY 62,700).
According to Sharp, the phone was designed primarily for two things – a good, simple to use camera and long battery life. For the latter, the battery capacity has been upgraded to 5,000mAh (up from 4,570mAh on the Sense7), not bad for a phone that weighs only 159g.
This is a relatively compact device, it measures 153 x 71 x 8.4g, and despite its mid-range status it has a premium aluminum unibody design and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
As for the display, it is a 6.1” IGZO OLED panel with 1,080 x 2,432px. It has a variable refresh rate, 1-90Hz, with black frame insertion (which Sharp claims makes it look like a 180Hz display). Brightness tops out at 1,300 nits. The Sense7 from a couple of months ago had a 60Hz display, so this is one of the upgrades.
Another one is the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset, which has a 36% faster CPU and 33% faster GPU compared to the Snapdragon 695 found inside the Sense7 (based on Sharp testing). The chipset is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage, which can be expanded with a microSD card up to 1TB.
Then we get to the cameras. The new model has a 50MP sensor in the main camera (1/1.55”) with 1.0µm pixels, 2.0µm if you use binning. There is no tele camera, but the main sensor supports native 2x zoom. While this is the same sensor as the Sense7, the new model also features OIS. The other camera on the back is an 8MP ultra wide module.
The Sense8 features a microSD slot as we mentioned already, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack too and the USB-C port does DisplayPort to boot. The one thing it lacks is fast charging – the official specs list the charge time at 160 minutes. There is no wireless charging.
This is a dual-SIM phone with nano-SIM and eSIM. It supports 5G (2.1Gbps) along with WiMAX 2+ (WiMAX is still a thing in Japan, apparently). Additional wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 5 (ac), Bluetooth 5.1 and NFC. Another thing to mention is the side-mounter fingerprint reader.
Sharp Sense8 in Blue, Pale Green, Light Copper and Cobalt Black
The Sharp Sense8 is available in Japan only (for now at least, but Sharp doesn’t really cater to the global market). You can pick it up on contract too, check out DoCoMo and UQ for more. The phone should be available through the other major Japanese carriers as well.
Via (in Japanese)
Haslinda has worked with some of the largest telcos in North America and Asia. She loves tech and doesn’t like iPhone
