Leica has revealed its first smartphone, the Leitz Phone 1, but it’s a Japan-only clone of the Sharp Aquos R6 with a 1-inch sensor.
Always fancied owning a Leica camera, but been put off by their car-sized price tags? Well, Leica has just launched what could be your dream camera phone, the Leitz Phone 1 – though it comes with a few big caveats. For starters, the classic camera maker’s first phone will only be available in Japan through the retailer Softbank. For now, there’s no news on an international launch, and there are good reasons for that. First, the Leitz Phone 1 is actually a rebadged version of the Sharp Aquos R6, and Sharp only sells its phones in a few markets outside Japan. Still, as an experiment for the rest of the world to look at longingly, it’s certainly an interesting one – as the Aquos R6 is the first phone with a 1-inch sensor. That huge 20MP 1-Inch sensor alone makes the Leitz Phone 1 an intriguing device, but Leica has added some other touches – a few of which are slightly questionable – in order to make it worthy of « red badge » status. The lens is apparently a seven-element f/1.9 affair with a wide-angle equivalent focal length of 19mm. Running on Android 11, the Leitz Phone 1 also features a monochrome interface that’s been customized by Leica, while the camera app features ‘Leitz Looks’ for your impossibly stylish reportage photography.
