The Google Pixel has really gained popularity in Japan in recent quarters, and while they’re eating up most of Apple’s market share, local brands may be worried. With that in mind, check out the new Sharp Sense 8, which just launched at JPY 62,150 (while a Pixel 7a is JPY 62,700).
According to Sharp, the phone is primarily designed for two things – a good, easy-to-use camera and long battery life. For the latter, the battery capacity has been upgraded to 5,000mAh (up from 4,570mAh in the Sense7), not bad for a phone that weighs only 159g.
It’s a relatively compact device, measuring 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’s a 6.1” IGZO OLED panel with 1,080 x 2,432px. It has a variable refresh rate, 1-90Hz, with black frame inserts (which Sharp claims makes it look like a 180Hz display). Brightness up to 1,300 nits. The Sense7 had a 60Hz display from a few months ago, so that’s one of the upgrades.
Another is the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset, which has a 36% faster CPU and 33% faster GPU than the Snapdragon 695 found in the Sense7 (based on Sharp testing). The chipset is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which can be expanded up to 1TB via a microSD card.
Then we get to the camera. The new model has a 50MP sensor on the main camera (1/1.55”) with 1.0µm pixels, 2.0µm if you use binning. There’s no telephoto camera, but the main sensor supports native 2x zoom. While it’s the same sensor as the Sense7, the new model also features OIS. The other rear camera is an 8MP ultra wide module.
The Sense8 has the microSD slot we’ve already mentioned, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the USB-C port works for DisplayPort booting. One thing it lacks is fast charging – there is no wireless charging in the official spec list at 160 minutes of charging time.
It is a dual-SIM phone with Nano-SIM and E-SIM. It supports 5G (2.1Gbps) 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 worth mentioning is the side-mounted fingerprint reader.
The Sharp Sense 8 is only available in Japan (for now at least, but Sharp doesn’t really address the global market). You can also take it on contract, see DoCoMo and UQ for more. The phone should also be available through other major Japanese carriers.
