Created: 16 May 2012 · Last edited: 9 September 2026

The AQUOS PHONE CL IS17SH is the more "sensitive" addition to AU's Summer 2012 collection - with its gentle colours - Pure White, Dark Navy and Coral Pink - and its rounded shape.

Its most interesting feature, however, is hidden in plain sight. The IS17SH combines a 4.2-inch QHD New Mobile ASV LCD with a secondary 2.1-inch memory LCD. Even when the main display is switched off, the memory LCD remains active and can show the time, date, battery level and notifications such as missed calls and incoming messages. When the main display is in use, the same area also serves as the Menu, Home and Back buttons. Sharp calls this arrangement a Combination LCD, hence the "CL" in the model name.

The IS17SH is essentially an evolution of the earlier IS13SH, retaining its distinctive memory LCD concept while receiving a substantial hardware and software update for the new generation. Sharp's developers describe the IS13SH as the basis for the new model, with the IS17SH doubling the RAM from 512 MB to 1 GB and moving from Android 2.3 to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The main display has a resolution of 540 × 960 pixels and supports approximately 262,000 colours. The phone is powered by a single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8655 running at 1.4 GHz, accompanied by 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of built-in storage. Storage can be expanded using microSDHC cards of up to 32 GB.

The IS17SH comes with an 8.04 MP CMOS camera capable of recording 1280 × 720 HD video. There is no front-facing camera. The camera also offers a selection of shooting effects and features, including panorama photography, miniature and fisheye effects and time-lapse shooting.

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS and infrared, while Japanese-specific features include One Seg digital TV and FeliCa-based Osaifu-Keitai. It also supports AU's Global Passport CDMA service and WIN HIGH SPEED.

Water- and dust-resistance are also part of the package, with the IS17SH rated IPX5/IPX7 for water resistance and IP5X for dust resistance. This is particularly useful for a phone with such a slim and rounded body.

The phone measures 65 × 132 × 8.9 mm at its thinnest part, reaching approximately 10.9 mm at its thickest, and weighs 132 grams. It comes in Pure White, Dark Navy and Coral Pink.

Like the other smartphones in AU's Summer 2012 collection, the IS17SH runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It did not receive a subsequent major Android version upgrade, remaining on Android 4.0.