Created: 1 November 2010 · Last edited: 15 October 2026

Sharp's latest Android device for the Japanese market comes branded for au KDDI. The slab-style smartphone features a 3.5-inch main multi-touch display with the impressive resolution of 960 × 640 pixels, complemented by a 2-inch monochrome secondary display measuring 40 × 208 pixels. Sharp calls this a Combination LCD – a combination of two displays, if the name didn't give it away: the main screen uses New Mobile ASV technology, while the low-power memory LCD can remain visible even when the main screen is off, showing useful information such as the time, battery level and missed calls without having to light up the main display.

The IS03 is Sharp's first smartphone to use New Mobile ASV display technology. The technology was introduced in Sharp's feature phones about three years earlier (in November 2007 on Docomo's SH905i and in March 2008 on SoftBank's 922SH), and it remains a mystery why Sharp kept it out of smartphones until then. Anyway, here comes a smartphone with a display boasting a staggering 2000:1 contrast ratio, 176° viewing angles and 262K colours.

The IS03 flaunts Sharp's AQUOS Shot camera technology, featuring a 9.57-megapixel CCD sensor and up to 22.2× digital zoom in 18 steps. It also offers continuous shooting, macro focusing and other camera features. The smartphone can record HD video at 1280 × 720 pixels, with recordings stored on a microSD or microSDHC card of up to 32 GB.

The IS03 runs Android 2.1, upgradeable to Android 2.2, powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 processor (QSD8650) and 512 MB of RAM. It supports Flash Lite 4.0, with Flash 10.1 available after the Android 2.2 upgrade. Other features include Osaifu-Keitai mobile payments, One-Seg digital TV, FM radio, infrared communication and au's Sports and Walk application, which includes a pedometer and calorie counter.

Connectivity includes au's Global Passport CDMA service, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, infrared and micro-USB. The IS03 also has GPS and a six-axis motion sensor. It measures 63 × 121 × 12.6 mm (13.3 mm at its thickest point) and weighs 138 grams.