Review Sharp's flagship smartphone "AQUOS R7". At less than 200,000 yen (USD 1400), it is a high-priced model among the 2022 summer models, but let's carefully examine whether it is worth the price.
AQUOS R7 is sold by major carriers NTT Docomo and Softbank. The price of NTT DoCoMo's AQUOS R7 SH-52C is 198,000 yen(USD 1380). The Softbank version of AQUOS R7 (A202SH) is 189,360 yen(USD 1320) (both including tax).
Sharp's flagship smartphone "AQUOS R7"
Slightly large and heavy solid body
AQUOS R7 seems to be a flagship smartphone, equipped with a state-of-the-art processor and a large-capacity battery, and supports high-speed communication in the 5G millimeter wave band. Inevitably, the main body is a little large, the weight is a little large, and there is thickness. Specifically, the size is about 77 (width) x 161 (height) x 9.3 (depth) mm, and the weight is about 208g.
Corning's highly durable glass "Gorilla Glass Victus" is used on the front and back. The back panel is etched and has a smooth and glossy feel. The eyeball rear camera has a shape that protrudes about 1 mm.
The left and right sides are an aluminum frame with a straight anodized finish. Because the back is slightly curved, it fits well when you hold it in your hand. The previous AQUOS R6 was equipped with a curved display, but this time it has been changed to a flat type display, so there is no need to worry about erroneous operation.
The display is equipped with an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that can be unlocked at high speed simply by touching it lightly. Of course, it also supports waterproofing and dustproofing. Overall, the exterior looks like a flagship, and it doesn't look like it will be full of scratches even after 3-4 years of tough use.
The colors are silver and black. The docomo version of silver is an online store limited color
Black has a moist texture
Equipped with a 3.5mm earphone jack and nanoSIM / microSD slot on the top
Type-C terminal at the bottom. The aluminum frame with sharp edges gives a fearless impression.
Left side, volume up and down buttons and power key
right side
The in-camera is a punch hole type. Small enough to fit in the notification area
Equipped with an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor for fast unlocking. Two-finger authentication is also possible
Camera supervised by Leica continued from AQUOS R6
The decisive factor for choosing AQUOS R7 is still the "camera". As the smartphone market matures, the camera has become an element where the individuality of each manufacturer's flagship can easily be seen.
While multi-lens cameras are becoming mainstream in the world of smartphone cameras, the AQUOS R7 purposely uses a monocular camera for the rear camera. The selling point of this camera is that it is equipped with a large 1-inch image sensor that is "on par with high-end compact digital cameras." The quality of the photos has been improved under the supervision of the luxury camera brand "Leica".
The supervision by the 1-inch camera and Leica has continued from the previous generation "AQUOS R6". The 7-piece lens combined with the 1-inch sensor is also not much different from the one designed for the previous generation AQUOS R6.
The difference lies in the 1-inch sensor. By installing a newly developed image sensor for smartphones, the shutter speed in dark places has been greatly improved. Sharp has not announced the model number of the sensor, but if you check with the evaluation machine, you can see that it is equipped with Sony's "IMX989". It is also a 1-inch sensor and is the same sensor as Xiaomi's flagship "Mi 12S Ultra" supervised by Leica.
Optical performance that can be the best snap camera
With a high-quality display and high performance, you can comfortably edit RAW in Adobe Lightroom
Example of RAW shot with AQUOS R7 and edited with Adobe Lightroom. I tried to bring out the soft bokeh effect
Example of RAW shot with AQUOS R7 and edited with Adobe Lightroom. Appropriate representation of various light sources
By the way, it also supports the voice assistant "Emopa" that speaks to you
AQUOS R7 is not for everyone, but if you like cameras, it's one that you'll love
The biggest attraction of AQUOS R7 is that a camera with high optical performance is included in a "smartphone". You can take full-fledged snapshots with a familiar device that you can always carry in your pocket.
The AQUOS R7 camera has already been explained in detail in a review by Kei Ogikubo, but here I would like to briefly introduce the points I felt after trying it out.
- The "AQUOS R7" camera has a finish that can be said to be "this is sharp" The sensor renovation makes it different from the R6
One-tap zoom operation when shooting
As a premise, modern smartphone cameras do not have performance comparable to contemporary camera-only devices. Smartphone makers have so far improved performance through approaches such as the adoption of compound-eye cameras and AI-based scene correction. These ingenuity are optimized for scenes that are often taken with smartphones, such as portraits, food photos, and night scenes.
On the other hand, the AQUOS R7 camera takes the approach of a compact digital camera, realizing "optically superior photos" with a large image sensor. Although it is equipped with AI scene correction, it gives the impression that it is aimed at creating natural images rather than crisp and bright colors. If you are familiar with camera-only machines, you will feel that the image of AQUOS R7 is preferable.
AQUOS R7 has relatively clear strengths and weaknesses in shooting scenes. Landscape photography and portraits are my favorite scenes, and it is easy to demonstrate my abilities in snapshots in the city. It also excels in low-light photography and night photography. Shooting of moving objects, which was difficult with the previous generation machine, has become considerably easier due to the renovation of the image sensor.
On the other hand, there is also the aspect that I am not good at "subjects that are likely to be taken with a smartphone". A typical example is a table photo, which is to say, a photo of the food at hand. Due to the large sensor size, the area in focus is narrow, and it is not possible to shoot well without some ingenuity. It would be nice to actively use the digital zoom together.
The UI (user interface) of the camera app has also been greatly improved compared to the previous generation AQUOS R6. In particular, it is a big improvement that the zoom operation can now be performed with a simple procedure of tapping and sliding.
Taken with AQUOS R7 (AI auto), the way bokeh enters is natural
Taken with AQUOS R7 (night view mode). Detail in dark areas remains clear
Taken with AQUOS R7 (AI auto, cooking). Food and small objects are easy to shoot with the crop zoom
Furthermore, if you shoot RAW, you can see the hidden potential of the AQUOS R7 camera. AQUOS R7 can record in RAW format (.dng file) in manual mode. If you install a photo management tool like Adobe Lightroom, you can develop RAW images on your smartphone alone. When you edit a photo taken in RAW, you can see that even with a subject with a large difference in brightness, the shadows are suppressed. The high expressive power in RAW shooting can be said to be the appeal of the 1-inch sensor with its excellent optical performance.
Of course, since the AQUOS R7 is a smartphone, it can be used freely, such as automatically backing up photos and sharing them on SNS. This means that the flow of shooting, developing, and sharing (or printing) can be completed with a single unit.
The Pro IGZO OLED display is also of the highest quality
AQUOS R7 is packed with the best elements other than the camera at the moment. Of particular note is the display, which is equipped with a Sharp organic EL display called "Pro IGZO OLED".
The screen size is as large as 6.6 inches and supports HDR playback. The peak brightness is 2000 nits, which is high even among smartphone displays, and it has the performance to display bright enough even under direct sunlight in midsummer. In addition, it supports screen display at 120Hz (so-called double speed drive), and the movement of SNS and web browsers is very smooth.
The slightly larger display is just the right size for a video viewer
As an improvement from AQUOS R6, the shape of the display is a flat type. This eliminates the worry of accidentally touching the edge of the screen.
In addition, the AQUOS R6 had the drawback of being "too bright even at the lowest brightness", but this has also been improved. AQUOS R7 supports Android 12's "further decrease brightness" function, and if you turn on this function, you can reduce the screen brightness to the extent that it does not hurt your eyes even when used in a dark bedroom.
The audio system has built-in stereo speakers. It also has a 3.5mm earphone jack. The sound from the built-in speaker reverberates on the back of the main unit, and it is designed so that the sound of the speaker is not muffled when you hold it in your hand. If you enable the surround playback function, you can enjoy three-dimensional sound even with the built-in speakers.
"Tethering auto" is more practical with dual SIM
AQUOS smartphones are equipped with some unique features that are unique to the manufacturer. Among them, "tethering auto" is the most practical. It is a function that automatically turns on and off tethering when you leave a specific place such as home or work. By using this function, you can secure a communication environment without troublesome settings when using a notebook PC or tablet on the go. If you use only tethering, power consumption can be reduced, so you can use it for about 8 hours without additional charging.
AQUOS R7 also has the advantage that it can be used regardless of the communication carrier. It is sold only by major carriers NTT Docomo and Softbank, but both carrier versions support dual SIM and cover the main frequency bands of domestic carriers. For example, if you introduce a service from another company's network such as LINEMO or povo2.0 as a sub line to the NTT Docomo version of AQUOS R7, you can use it as a backup line when the radio wave environment of the main line is poor or when a communication failure occurs. Available.
The author tried using the Softbank version of AQUOS R7 with two lines, NTT Docomo's nanoSIM and Softbank's eSIM, and both lines were capable of high-speed communication of about several hundred Mbps on the 5G network. Although AQUOS R7 supports the main proposed frequency bands of each carrier, the combination of carrier aggregation may differ between both carrier versions, so those who mainly use the NTT Docomo network should use the NTT Docomo version of AQUOS. If you use the R7 SH-52C mainly on the Softbank network, you should choose the Softbank version of AQUOS R7 (A202SH). AQUOS R7 SH-52C also supports the 5G SA service launched by NTT DoCoMo at the end of August.
Reliable battery life even with heavy use, but there are also points to worry about
The battery capacity of AQUOS R7 is 5000mAh. It is equipped with the largest class among smartphones in 2022. I used it intermittently for web browsing, tethering, watching videos, etc., but the battery lasted for about 11 hours, including about 3 hours of video playback.
The camera consumes a little more battery, but after taking pictures for about 3 to 4 hours, the consumption was about 40%. If you take street photos on a day trip and upload about 50 photos to Lightroom Mobile on the train on the way home and lightly edit the images, you don't need to recharge.
Rapid charging supports the USB PD3.0 standard. It also supports Qi for wireless charging.
AQUOS R7 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 are the best processors in mid-2022. The memory (RAM) also has a sufficient specification of 12GB (LPDDR5). Applications that require processing power such as the latest 3D shooting games will also work with plenty of room. Even an application like a web browser responds well, and I didn't feel any stress when using it.
"However, it is not without concerns." Heat dissipation on the back. When I used it outdoors in the summer, I felt a gradual warmth in the area under the camera that touched my hand. Since the part that touches your hand is used for heat dissipation, your palm will heat up after about 30 minutes of use. Especially when the camera app is started, it seems to generate a lot of heat.
However, high heat dissipation is an inherent problem with devices equipped with high-end processors. In the case of AQUOS R7, the camera may become somewhat unstable under the hot sun, but in most cases it did not affect operation. The warmth I felt in my palm must have been caused by the heat dissipating from the processor and communication modem.
A mature 1-inch camera machine with a charm that makes you want to use it carefully
As for 5G, mobile carriers are still in the process of developing networks, so there are only a few places where you can experience the effect of speed improvement. However, even in the 4G LTE area and Wi-Fi, websites can be loaded quickly and can be used without stress, so you can use it comfortably without waiting for the carrier to expand the 5G area.
Here, I would like to answer the question, "Is the price of nearly 200,000 yen worth it?" AQUOS R7 has hidden potential that matches the price. However, only those who are comfortable with the unique 1-inch camera will be able to make full use of its potential.
The performance of the 1-inch camera has improved dramatically since the AQUOS R6, and the usability of the camera UI has also greatly improved. Still, there are a limited number of subjects that are suitable for wide-angle sensors. You can take great photos for snapshots of the city, but it's not suitable for table photos such as food. Also, this camera is quite picky, to be honest.
AQUOS smartphones have the image of being friendly and easy-to-use smartphones for Japan, but the AQUOS R7 is clearly not for everyone. Of course, AQUOS R7 also covers all the basic elements required for smartphones, such as Osaifu-Keitai, waterproof support, and a home screen with little habit. In terms of performance, we have secured sufficient performance to use it for more than 3 to 4 years.
AQUOS R7 is a versatile flagship, but it is still a "smartphone selected by camera". The 1-inch camera supervised by Leica shows its true value only after it has been used like a dedicated camera. As for the camera, I would like to use it because it is not "omnipotent", and if I can master it, I will be attached to it. Great potential is hidden there.
Main specifications of AQUOS R7
- Display: 6.6-inch Pro IGZO OLED (organic EL), 1260 x 2730 pixels, 120Hz drive compatible
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (8 cores, 2.9GHz + 1.7GHz)
- Main memory: 12GB LPDDR5
- Storage: 256GB (UFS 3.1)
- External storage: microSDXC (up to 1TB)
- Out camera: 47.2 million pixels, F1.9, 1 type sensor
- In-camera: 12.6 million pixels, F2.3
- 5G: sub6 n3/n28/n77/n78/n79, millimeter wave n257
- Dual SIM: Yes (nanoSIM + eSIM)
- Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6 (11a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
- Waterproof/Dustproof: IPX5/IPX8 (bath water resistant)/IP6X
- Battery capacity: 5000mAh
- Fast charging: USB PD 3.0
- Wireless charging: Qi
- Biometric authentication: Fingerprint authentication (ultrasonic type)
- Osaifu-Keitai: Compatible
- Size: Approx. 77 (width) x 161 (height) 9.3 (depth) mm
- Weight: about 208g
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