Sharp’s latest Android flagship has a 1-inch camera sensor, 240Hz screen

Like other Sharp phones, the new Aquos R6 is exclusive to Japan.

What you need to know

• Sharp’s new Aquos R6 features a larger camera sensor than any other phone on the market right now.
• It comes equipped with a 1-inch 20MP sensor with a Leica-branded lens.
• The Sharp Aquos R6 will go on sale in Japan next month through NTT Docomo and SoftBank.

Back in September 2014, Japanese tech giant Panasonic announced the Lumix CM1, a camera that doubled up as an Android smartphone. Its biggest selling point was a 1-inch 20MP camera sensor that easily dwarfed sensors used in “regular” smartphones. Nearly seven years later, Sharp has now unveiled the first proper Android phone with a similar 1-inch 20MP sensor, dubbed Aquos R6.

The 1-inch sensor on the Aquos R6 has been paired with a Leica-branded f/1.9 seven-element lens that has an equivalent focal length of 19mm. Until now, Xiaomi’s Mi 11 Ultra was the phone with the largest camera sensor on the market. The Mi 11 Ultra uses Samsung’s 50MP 1/1.12-inch ISOCELL GN2 sensor. However, Sharp hasn’t revealed the name of the sensor’s manufacturer yet.

The Aquos R6 also touts a 6.6-inch 240Hz IGZO OLED display with a claimed peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Similar to the best Android phones from Samsung and Xiaomi, the display has a variable refresh rate tech that can drop all the way down to 1Hz to extend battery life.

Aside from the impressive camera hardware and class-leading display, the Aquos R6 also packs pretty much everything one would expect from a flagship Android phone in 2021. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, paired with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Some of the other key features include IPX5/8 water and dust resistance, Wi-Fi 6 support, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a large 5,000mAh battery. On the software side of things, Sharp’s latest flagship runs Android 11 out of the box.

While pricing hasn’t been announced yet, Sharp has confirmed the Aquos R6 will be going on sale in Japan through carriers NTT Docomo and SoftBank in June.