Created: 4 October 2023 · Last edited: 27 September 2026

On 3 October 2023, Sharp announced a new mid-range smartphone from the "sense" series – the Aquos sense8. It is released by docomo as SH-54D, au (and subsidiaries) as SHG11, Rakuten Mobile and SIM-free as SH-M26; it's also coming to Taiwan as SH-M26TW.

The Aquos sense8 is the first in this series to be equipped with optical image stabilisation (OIS) on its 1/1.55-inch large image sensor camera. The OIS works in conjunction with electronic image stabilisation for improved stability – but only after the software update of 19 December 2023.

The phone features the same ProPix5 image quality engine that is used on the Aquos R8 pro flagship. The technology supports HDR shooting that "combines multiple captured images of uncompressed RAW data", which also helps reduce blackouts in high contrast scenes to offer rich gradation of even the finest textures. That's good marketing talk, I admit.

The rear camera setup comprises two sensors:

• A standard one: 50.3 MP, f/1.9 (wide angle 84°, 23 mm focal length equivalent). This was 85° on last year's Aquos sense7.
• A wide-angle camera: 8 MP, f/2.4 (ultra wide angle 120°, 15 mm focal length equivalent).

The front-facing camera has an 8 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens (wide angle 78°, 26 mm focal length equivalent). The same as on last year's model.

The Aquos sense8 features a 6.1-inch IGZO OLED display with a resolution of 2432 x 1080 pixels and a variable refresh rate: 1 – 180 Hz (90 Hz with a black frame inserted between each frame). Last year's Aquos sense7 had a refresh rate that varied between 1 and 240 Hz, so we're seeing quite a reduction here. Sharp claim that the new display reduces blue light emission by approx. 50% compared to previous models (the same as on this year's flagship). The display retains last year's capability to display 1 billion colours (10-bit colour) with a peak brightness of 1300 nits and a contrast ratio of 13,000,000:1.

Another difference is the processor model: the Aquos sense8 features the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 platform that comes with four 2.2 GHz and four 1.8 GHz cores. Performance is supposed to have been increased by 36% and video performance by 33% compared to the Aquos sense7.

The amount of RAM and onboard storage memory remains the same: 6 GB LPDDR4X and 128 GB UFS 2.2, respectively (except in the Taiwanese version). The latter can be expanded using microSDXC cards of up to 1 TB.

Like the preceding Aquos sense7, the Aquos sense8 features water- and dust-ingress protection (IPX5–8 and IP6X), as well as impact resistance, certified according to the MIL-STD-810G standard.

The Aquos sense8 measures 153 x 71 x 8.4 mm and weighs approx. 159 grams (one gram more than last year's model).

The Aquos sense8 supports the following radio frequencies (not all ranges are supported by all carriers):

• 5G NR (sub6): n1 / n3 / n28 / n41 / n77 / n78 / n79
• 4G LTE (FDD-LTE): B1 / B2 / B3 / B5 / B8 / B12 / B17 / B18 / B19 / B21 / B28
• 4G LTE (TD-LTE): B38 / B41 / B42
• 3G W-CDMA: B1 / B2 / B5 / B8
• 2G GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz

The AQUOS sense8 is offered in pale green, light copper, cobalt black, and blue (exclusive to Docomo).

The AQUOS sense8 is released running Android 13.