Sony barely bothers to make phones anymore, but there is another Japanese company that routinely comes out with new models – meet the Sharp Aquos R11. A sequel to the Aquos R10, this phone adds a telephoto camera, upgrades to a higher tier chipset, offers a mixed bag of display and camera improvements and removes the microSD slot. Okay, that sentence started strong, but didn’t end on a high note.
The R11 has a 6.5” Pro IGZO OLED display (1,080 x 2,340px resolution) with 1-240Hz refresh rate. With 3,600 nits peak brightness, it is the brightest display on an Aquos phone yet, beating the R10 display by 20%. It has a 1,800 nits brightness at 100% APL (i.e. an all-white display).
The Sharp Aquos R11 has a 6.5” 1-240Hz Pro IGZO OLED display
The front and back are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The phone is rated IP68 and IP69 for dust and water resistance. Also, it is rated for MIL-STD-810G (drop resistance) and 810H (water, temperature, shock resistance) compliance. Interestingly, Sharp says that you can use alcohol wipes and hand soap to clean the phone.
Anyway, the back is home to a trio of cameras with Leica HEKTOR lenses. The main module has a 50.3MP sensor (1/1.55”) and an f/1.9 23mm lens (with OIS and EIS). Then there’s the 50.3MP (1/2.55”) ultra-wide camera with a 13mm 122° f/2.2 lens.
The Sharp Aquos R11 has a 38.5MP telephoto camera (2.9x/68mm)
New this year is the 2.9x/68mm telephoto lens, which has a 38.5MP sensor and an f/2.4 lens (with OIS and EIS). Additionally, there is a 14-channel spectral sensor. On the front, the selfie camera has another 50.3MP sensor and an f/2.2 23mm lens (with EIS).
The Sharp Aquos R11 has 50+50+38MP rear and 50MP front cameras
The Sharp Aquos R11 is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 – this replaces the similar Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 of the R10. The 8s Gen 4 has higher clocks for the CPU cores and a more powerful GPU. There’s a larger vapor chamber to assist with cooling too.
The phone is configured with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. There’s no microSD slot on this model, however. Out of the box, the R11 runs Android 16. Sharp has committed to 3 OS updates and 5 years of security patches.
The Sharp Aquos R11 has a VC-cooled Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 and a 5,100mAh battery
The R11 features the largest battery of any Aquos phone yet! However, seeing the 5,100mAh capacity really takes the sting out of that statement – it’s a mere 100mAh upgrade over what came before. It has a 36W wired-only charging system that can get it to full in around 90 minutes.
The good news is that the USB-C port is wired with USB 3.2 Gen 1 and DisplayPort 1.4 support. There’s also Wi-Fi 7 (be), Bluetooth 6.0 and dual-band GPS.
Let’s flip around to the back again for a moment – note the bar light. Sharp calls it “Aquarium”. At its simplest, it’s an LED fill light and an LED notification light. However, it can also create animated effects for room ambiance – fireplace, water, rustling leaves etc. And yes, these do come with accompanying sound effects, which were supervised by sound designer Shinya Kiyokawa (unmute the video below).
The Sharp Aquos R11 will be available in early July through Sharp’s online store at JPY 163,900 ($1,025/€880/₹96,500). You will also be able to get it through DoCoMo and Softbank. You can have it in Terracotta, Navy or Ivory. Well, you could have it if you lived in Japan, anyway.
Sharp Aquos R11 in: Terracotta • Navy • Ivory