Sharp has announced a new smartphone in Japan, and it’s quite an interesting product. The name of this device is the Sharp AQUOS zero2, and it comes with a really high display refresh rate. This phone offers a 240Hz display refresh rate (kind of), which is higher than regular smartphones, the OnePlus 7 Pro, and even the Razer Phone 2.
Regular smartphones feature displays with 60Hz refresh rate. The OnePlus 7 Pro ups that to 90Hz, while the Razer Phone 2 has a display with 120Hz refresh rate. So, the AQUOS zero2 doubles that to 240Hz… but not exactly.
The Sharp AQUOS zero2 features a 240Hz display, but not really
This is not a 240Hz refresh rate display per se, It seems like a 120Hz display is included here, and then Sharp opted to reduce Pulse Width Modulation refresh. Some people have issues with Pulse Width Modulation refresh on OLED displays. The company essentially aims to “reduce afterimages”, and at the same time go easy on the battery. This phone doesn’t really have a large battery, so a 240Hz refresh rate would kill it in no time. Sharp is marketing this display as a 240Hz panel, though. It’s not exactly a 240Hz panel, but it’s better than your regular 120Hz panel, basically.
This refresh rate is not the only interesting thing on this, not at all. This phone also comes with Android 10 out of the box. That high refresh rate display measures 6.4 inches in diagonal, and it’s a curved OLED display with fullHD+ resolution.
Thin bezels, Snapdragon 855 & UFS 3.0
The Sharp AQUOS zero2 includes thin bezels all around. Its bottom bezel is a bit thicker than its top one, while a tiny dewdrop notch is also present. This handset is also incredibly light, it weighs only 143 grams. That makes it a lot lighter than most flagships out there, and lighter than other 6.4-inch devices.
This phone is fueled by the Snapdragon 855 64-bit octa-core processor. It also includes 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Sharp opted to include UFS 3.0 flash storage here, by the way, the fastest available in the market at the moment.
A 3,130mAh battery is built into the phone, and it’s not particularly large for this display size and refresh rate. That is actually one of the reasons why this phone manages to stay so light, by the way. It remains to be seen how well will that battery do for the device, though. Fast charging was not mentioned by Sharp, but this phone almost certainly supports it.
The phone itself is made out of metal and glass, and it has a curved back as well. Two cameras are placed on its back, and they are vertically aligned. You will also notice the AQUOS logo on the back of this handset.
Two rear cameras and ProPix2 image quality engine
Sharp opted to include 12.2 and 20.1-megapixel cameras on the back of this handset. The 12.2-megapixel sensor comes with a focal length of 26mm, and an f/1.7 aperture lens. This camera also supports OIS, and it comes with a new image quality engine called “ProPix2”.
A 20.1-megapixel camera is the phone’s dedicated ultrawide angle camera. This camera comes with an f/2.4 aperture lens, and focal length of 18mm. It also has support from ProPix2 engine, and offers EIS. An 8-megapixel camera sits on the phone’s front side. This phone is IPX5/IPX8/IP6X certified for water and dust. An in-display fingerprint scanner is also a part of the package, and the phone can also scan your face using its selfie camera.
The device measures 158 x 74 x 8.8mm, and weighs 143 grams. The device comes in Astro Black and Misty White color variants. Sharp also announced that it will become available starting this December.
The phone will go on sale in Japan first, and it remains to be seen if it will be made available elsewhere. We believe it’s safe to say it won’t be making its way to the US, but we’ll see. The phone may hit China, though. We’re only guessing at this point, of course.
