Created: 20 July 2023 · Last edited: 27 September 2026

The Summer 2023 collection, surprisingly, features not one but two flagship models: the Aquos R8 and the Aquos R8 pro.

Aquos R8 pro is the "bigger and better" of the two. Actually, it is the direct heir of the last year's Aquos R7 because the Aquos R8 has less RAM and a smaller image sensor than the R7.

The AQUOS R8 pro's top selling point is its 1-inch image sensor combined with the Leica Summicron lens with aperture of f/1.9 and a focal length of 19 mm that's jointly developed with the German lens manufacturer. The new 14ch spectrum sensor measures and corrects light colour and intensity, responds to various lighting environments such as sunsets, sunrises, indoor lighting to create a more natural image. It is now also possible to shoot in the shade. Sharp claim that the processing speed for HDR shooting has been increased by 40% (compared to the R7), which lets you shoot faster while suppressing overexposure and underexposure in all environments. The image processing software now has dedicated modes for starry night skies and fireworks, while the improved AI can now recognise not only moving people but also moving pets.

The rear camera has two lenses: a 47.2-megapixel CMOS (f/1.9, 19 mm equivalent) with electronic image stabilisation and a 1.9-megaixel ToF (time-of-flight) depth sensor to aid it, along with the new 14-channel light-spectrum sensor.

Videos of 8K resolution can be recorded at 30 fps, whereas 4K and Full HD videos can be shot at either 30 or 60 fps.

The front camera has an 12.6-megapixel sensor, f/2.3 lens, focal length 27 mm equivalent. It can make 1080p videos at 30 fps.

The AQUOS R8 pro boasts a 6.6-inch Pro IGZO OLED display with a resolution of 1260 x 2730 px with variable 1–240 Hz screen refresh rate. The display features the Dolby Vision and Atmos technologies for enhanced viewing experience. It has a native contrast of 20,000,000:1 and a 2000 nit brightness. The display, like all in Aquos R-series phones, comes with native support for 1 billion colours (10-bit).

This is Sharp's first display that comes with an approx. 50% blue light reduction (compared to the Aquos R7) that does not impair image quality, thus reducing the strain on the eyes that every (O)LED display has.

All of this is powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform that has been fine-tuned by Sharp to yield 32% higher CPU performance, 24% higher GPU performance, and about 50% better AI performance. The latest ROM memory standard, UFS4.0, has been adopted that should ideally increase reading speeds by 60% and writing speeds by 70%. The phone's RAM (all 12 GB of it) is also built according to the latest LPDDR5X standard.

Further improvements in heat dissipation design have been made as well: the Aquos R8 pro now also uses the camera ring space to release excessive heat.

The Aquos R8 pro supports the following radio frequencies:

• 5GNR: sub6: n1 / n3 / n5 / n28 / n41 / n77 / n78 / n79
• 5GNR: millimetre wave: n257
• 4G LTE: FDD-LTE: B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / B5 / B7 / B8 / B11 / B12 / B13 / B17 / B18 / B19 / B20 / B21 / B66
• 4G LTE: TD-LTE: B38 / B39 / B40 / B41 / B42
• 3G W-CDMA: B1 / B2 / B4 / B5 / B8
• 2G: GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz

Above are all supported bands, both domestic and overseas; each carrier will use its own.

The Aquos R8 pro naturally supports Osaifu-Keitai (Felica) and NFC.

Unlike its smaller brother Aquos R8, which is also MIL-STD-810G certified, the Aquos R8 pro is not.

The pro has a slightly bigger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4570 mAh. Wireless Qi charging is supported.

It is nanoSIM + eSIM DSDV, dual 5G stand-by compatible.

While the phone comes with stereo speakers, to the enjoyment of audiophiles, the 3.5 mm jack is available.

The Aquos R8 pro is only offered in black colour.

It measures 161 x 77 x 9.3 mm (excluding protrusions) and weighs 203 grams.

The Aquos R8 pro is released running Android 13. This is the first Sharp-made Android device that is guaranteed not two but three OS version upgrades and security updates for up to 5 years (carrier-dependent).