This new Android phone looks like a photographer’s dream

Sharp has announced an intriguing new phone aimed at mobile photographers. It’s called the Sharp Aquos R9 Pro, and while it may not have the best name, there’s a lot to talk about here.

The Aquos R9 Pro has many interesting features, starting with its gigantic camera bump on the back, which houses three powerful cameras: a 50.3-megapixel primary camera, a 50.3MP telephoto camera, and a 50.3MP ultrawide camera. The cameras are surrounded by a vegan leather backplate.

The standard camera offers a 1/0.98-inch sensor for what should be terrific low-light performance, while the telephoto camera offers 2.8x optical zoom and up to 20x digital zoom. The wide-angle provides 120-degree ultra-wide shots and macro photos. There’s also a 50.3-megapixel camera on the front of the phone for selfies.

But that’s not where the camera features end. Each camera is co-engineered by German-based camera manufacturer Leica. There’s also a dedicated camera shutter button, plus the ring around the camera bump supports accessories like ND or polarized filters.

Beyond the camera stuff, the rest of the specs are solid, too. The Aquos R9 Pro features a 6.7-inch QHD+ Pro IGZO OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate. All the physical buttons, including the power/lock key, volume up and down buttons, and the camera shutter, are located on the right side of the device. Inside the phone, you’ll find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, 12GB of RAM, a 5,000 mAh battery, and a vapor chamber cooling system. It also runs Android 14.

The Sharp Aquos R9 Pro is priced at roughly $1,235 in Japan, and Sharp plans to sell a case separately that includes a shoulder strap to make the phone look more like a camera.

The Aquos R9 Pro will launch in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Singapore, in addition to Japan. Unfortunately, there is no news on whether it will launch elsewhere, including the E.U. and U.S.

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