Created: 20 April 2024 · Last edited: 27 September 2026

On 19 April 2024, SoftBank announced the third iteration of the Sharp and Leica collaboration series smartphone, the Leitz Phone 3 (LP-03).

Unlike the first two Leitz phones that featured the same hardware as that year's Aquos R-series flagship, the LP-03 was built on last year's Aquos R8 pro platform. This is because Sharp did not release an Aquos R9 pro in 2024, leaving the R8 pro as the latest Pro-series hardware available to serve as its foundation.

The "iconic design" of the first two Leitz phones has been preserved in the third as well. I wouldn't be able to tell them apart at a glance.

The Leitz Phone 3 is advertised as having "an outstanding camera system and unique shooting features". Let's see what these are.

Like its predecessors, the camera has a 1-inch image sensor with a resolution of 47.2 megapixels that boasts 6x digital zoom, a 1.9 MP distance sensor + 14ch spectrum sensor, and an f/1.9 aperture. The 7-element Summicron lens uses octa-PDAF for ultra-fast focusing, utilising all pixels. The camera comes with electronic image stabilisation (EIS).

The Leitz Phone 3 boasts the Leitz Looks feature, which reproduces the capabilities of the Leica M lenses: Summilux 28mm, Summilux 35mm and Noctilux 50mm. The newly added Variable Aperture function allows simulating f-numbers from f/1.2 or f/1.4 to f/8, and to adjust bokeh, peripheral illumination, and spotlight rendering. Realistic lighting effects, precise object segmentation and typical Leica colouring create an artistic atmosphere, producing beautiful images that can only be captured with the Leitz Phone 3.

The front-facing camera is 12.6 MP with an aperture size of f/2.3, 27 mm focal length equivalent, wide-angle 78°.

The latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor powers the Leitz Phone 3 with one 3.18 GHz core, three 2.8 GHz cores, and four 2.0 GHz cores. The amount of installed RAM is 12 GB (LPDDR5X, an upgrade from last year's LPDDR5). Onboard storage is 512 GB, again with a next-generation memory type: UFS 4.0 (an upgrade from last year's UFS 3.1). For those who need extra storage, microSDXC cards are supported.

The display is a 6.6-inch Pro IGZO OLED with a resolution of 1260 x 2730 px. The screen refresh rate can vary from 1 Hz to 240 Hz, depending on the type of application. Luminance is 2000 nits and the native contrast ratio is 20,000,000:1. This is a 10-bit true-colour display enhanced by technologies like Dolby Vision and Sharp's own Rich Color Technology Mobile.

The side-frame is made of aluminium with alumite dye applied to prevent peeling. The back panel is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus – the same as used on the front.

The camera is positioned in the centre ("Centre Circle Design"), a design decision Sharp made to ensure that the photographer and the subject in the viewfinder are connected by a straight line – for better capture.

The 5000 mAh battery also supports Qi wireless charging.

The Leitz Phone 3 comes with facial recognition and a Qualcomm 3D Sonic Max fingerprint sensor built-in underneath the display.

It has the much-beloved 3.5 mm audio jack for those who wish to enjoy quality music without worrying about adapters.

The Wi-Fi 6 GHz standard is supported.

The Leitz Phone 3 (LP-03) is offered in black, exclusively on SoftBank.

It measures 77 x 161 x 9.3 mm and weighs 209 grams.

It comes with Android 14 pre-installed.