Created: 23 October 2026 · Last edited: 25 October 2026

Launched in April 2011, the Sharp SH7238M is the successor of the SH7218U and SH7228U that are in turn the Chinese versions of the Docomo SH-01B, only running Android instead of the Japanese operator's Java-based custom OS. Logically, the SH7238M is also designated XS-03, whereas the earlier two models are XS-01 and XS-02, respectively.

Curiously, the SH7238M is not described as belonging to the 炫Plus (which translates as Dazzle PLUS) series to which the XS-01 and XS-02 are assigned. Perhaps it a brand name only used by China Unicom.

Like your traditional Japanese keitai garaho, the SH7238M has a 3.4" capacitive multi-touch LCD with a resolution of 854 × 480 pixels that can rotate 180 degrees and close on the back of the keyboard to make it a touchscreen bar-phone. On the outside is a small OLED that displays "SHARP" or the current notifications.

There are conflicting reports about the external OLED display, and I have been unable to verify its specifications independently. Baidu, for example, lists it as "128 × 36 pixels, OLED, 260,000 colours", while PhoneDB describes it as a "1.8-inch, 192 × 36-pixel colour PM-OLED". Both specifications are clearly at odds with the display on the XS-01, which measures 1.4 inches diagonally and has a resolution of 192 × 64 pixels. None of the few available photos corroborates the claim that it is a colour display: they all show white or whitish characters against a black or dark background.

The camera is an 8-megapixel shooter with a CMOS sensor, autofocus, and an LED flash. There's also a front-facing 0.3 MP camera for selfies and video conferencing.

The processor powering the Sharp SH7238M is unspecified but since the phone shares almost every other specs with the SH7218U/SH7228U, it has the Snapdragon S1 MSM7227. The amount of RAM is 512 MB and so is the built-in storage. The memory can be expanded using microSDHC cards.

The SH7238M has a built-in receiver for China's CMMB digital-TV broadcasts, a feature few smartphones have. It also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS. It's also got a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a USB 2.0 port.

The SH7238 does not run a vanilla Android – on top of it is a user interface called oPhone 2.5.

The phone supports the following frequency bands:

• 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• 3G: TD-SCDMA 1880-1920/2010-2025

The SH7238M has received a substantial upgrade in the battery: the 960 mAh unit on the XS-01 and XS-02, which many users complain is too weak, has been swapped for an 1320 mAh power source.

It measures 110.8 × 52.2 × 17.2 mm when closed and weighs about 155 grams. It is offered in white or black.