There’s another phone with Sony’s new giant 1-inch camera sensor, and it’s not Chinese

In our Comparing Xiaomi 12S Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, we found that Sony’s exclusive IMX989 sensor with gigantic one-inch size matches Samsung’s best when it comes to the main camera kit, albeit with a smaller resolution than the Samsung 108MP sensor, it comes with much larger pixels capable of collecting more light at night.

Well, apparently Sony’s big sensor is still the biggest installed on a modern phone, but it’s not that exclusive that a Japanese flagship has had it since spring and even touts its partnership with Leica on its development, just like Xiaomi did.

Back when we had a “Monsters from Asia” usual, and Sharp has very often swept the floor with every other brand in terms of specs and innovation. First it was with high-brightness, high-refresh-rate displays that are additionally very frugal on battery and first with a large 1″ camera sensor on a genuine Aquos R6 phone last year, rather than a camera with phone features like the Panasonic CM1 back.

Well, this year’s Sharp Aquos R7 edition also has a 1″ sensor, and an “upgraded” sensor, and a Japanese source dived into their system information to find out that it’s none other than the same Sony IMX989 which is in the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and with the same Leica brand at that.

Thanks to its unique IGZO display technology, Sharp did some cool things with “all-screen” designs and 120Hz screen refresh rates years before anyone else. The discreetly named SH-01 was part of the winter crop in 2015 and it was perhaps the first phone to sport a display with such a high refresh rate.

The Aquos R6 was the first modern handset with a huge 1″ camera sensor in 2021, and it looks like the Aquos R7 was the first with Sony’s new 1-inch IMX989 released before the Xiaomi 12S Ultra don’t make the band.

Not only that, but the Aquos R7 sports a 240Hz adaptive display refresh rate and registers 2,000 nits of peak brightness from the IGZO panel. Well done, Sharp, keep coming and doing worldwide releases!

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