Created: 30 October 2024 · Last edited: 28 September 2026

Knock-knock!
Who's there?
It's me, the AQUOS R9 pro!
Oh, but they said you weren't coming...
Well... they did, but I came anyway.

When Sharp announced the AQUOS R9 pro on 29 October 2024, Docomo was supposed to be the only Japanese carrier to get it. So, Docomo duly launched it in December 2024, followed by the SIM-free version a week later. Then, four months down the road, SoftBank suddenly decided that it wanted in on the fun too, launching its own R9 pro in April 2025. Better late than never, I suppose!

Singapore, Taiwan, and Indonesia had already been enjoying a glass of R9 pro for a couple of months, until SoftBank finally made up its mind.

Right, let's check this beauty out... The main focus in the R9 pro is, expectedly, the camera. This is a VARIO-SUMMICRON camera system designed by Leica, and is a return to the multiple-lens design, comprising three sensors:

• A 50.3-megapixel standard camera equipped with a 1/0.98-inch image sensor that supports 2.8x optical zoom or up to 20x in conjunction with digital zoom. The aperture size is f/1.8 (wide-angle 86° with a focal length equivalent of 23 mm) and it has optical image stabilisation (OIS) and all-pixel phase-detection auto focus (PDAF).
• A 50.3-megapixel ultra-wide camera with an aperture size of f/2.2 (wide-angle 122° with a focal length equivalent of 13 mm). It is PDAF-enabled.
• A 50.3-megapixel telephoto camera with a 1/1.56-inch image sensor, optical image stabilisation and all-pixel PDAF, and an aperture size of f/2.6 (wide-angle 36° with a focal length equivalent of 65 mm).
• An additional 14-channel spectral sensor is included in the camera system that enables faithful colour capture.

The camera on the AQUOS R9 pro can now take monochrome photos. Triple zoom is supported when shooting in portrait mode.

The video recording functionality is enhanced by Dolby Vision, with Sharp promising that it guarantees contrast, colour, and brightness quality never before seen on a previous model.

8K video capture is not supported like it was on last year's AQUOS R8 pro (albeit with a maximum length of just 1 minute).

The Aquos R9 pro comes with a dedicated shutter button on the side: press and hold it to start the camera, press halfway to lock the focus, and use the volume keys to adjust the zoom ratio.

It is now also possible to attach a commercially available lens filter directly to the camera.

The front-facing camera is 50.3 megapixels, too, and has an aperture size of f/2.2 (wide-angle 84° with a focal length equivalent of 23 mm), phase-detection auto-focus, aided by electronic image stabilisation.

Both the Aquos R9 pro and the Aquos sense9 are designed by Kazushige Miyake. My personal opinion is that the camera ring draws too much attention. Sharp say it's "an appearance that stimulates creativity".

The Winter 24/25 flagship has a 6.7-inch Pro IGZO OLED screen with variable 1–240 Hz refresh rate. Sharp advertise a 1.5 times improvement in full-white brightness compared to last year's Aquos R8 pro. The display resolution is Quad HD+ or 1440 x 3120 pixels. The blue-light-reduction functionality introduced last year is present, too.

The Aquos R9 pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 mobile platform built using a 4-nanometre processing technology and has one 3.0 GHz core, four 2.8 GHz cores, and three 2.0 GHz cores.

The amount of RAM installed is 12 GB (unchanged from previous flagship models), but now with 12 more gigabytes virtual RAM and 512 GB of built-in storage. The microSD card slot has been removed, so no storage expansion on the R9 pro. You'll have to make do with the 500-ish GB available onboard.

A dual-thermo management system was developed for the Aquos R9 pro that enables heat dissipation from the camera ring and a vapour chamber to ensure stable performance during prolonged use.

To ensure a great viewing + listening experience, the phone has full metal boxes around the stereo speakers that both insulate the speakers from the influence of the rest of the components and help deliver powerful bass and high volume. The audio is enhanced by a Dolby Atmos system.

The Aquos R9 pro comes with the long-term support that Sharp started offering last year, guaranteeing three OS upgrades (was two before) for a period of 5 years (was 2 years before).

The phone is a hefty piece of technology, weighing 229 grams and measuring 162 x 78 x 9.3 mm (L x W x D).

Two SIM cards can be used simultaneously (DSDV compatible): one physical nanoSIM and one eSIM.

Wi-Fi connectivity standards supported include IEEE802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be. The Bluetooth version is 5.4. Osaifu-Keitai/NFC are onboard as standard.

The Aquos R9 pro is only offered in black.

The AQUOS R9 pro supports the following radio communication frequency bands:

• 5G NR (sub6): n1 / n3 / n5 / n7 / n28 / n38 / n40 / n41 / n66 / n77 / n78 / n79
• 4G LTE (FDD-LTE): B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / B5 / B7 / B8 / B11 / B12 / B13 / B17 / B18 / B19 / B21 / B28 / 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

Bold frequencies are supported by the Japanese versions only, while underlined frequencies are supported by overseas versions only. Frequencies supported by both Japanese and overseas versions are shown in regular text.

The AQUOS R9 pro is rolling out running Android 14, upgrades to follow.

For a detailed review of the AQUOS R9 pro in Chinese, click here.