Sharp Announces Aquos R6 Flagship Smartphone; Features Leica-Enhanced Camera

Sharp has recently announced its latest flagship smartphone for the Japanese market with the new Aquos R6. To everyone’s surprise, the phone comes with an imaging system co-developed by Leica – making Sharp the second company to feature the renowned German camera manufacturer’s branding and technology on smartphones besides Huawei.

Unique to the Aquos R6 is its display, which is a curved 6.67-inch Pro IGZO OLED screen. It features a WUXGA+ resolution of 2730 x 1260 pixels, a dynamic refresh rate between 1Hz and 240Hz. The phone’s display also comes with an under-display fingerprint sensor, and a tiny top-centered punch-hole cutout for its 12MP selfie camera.

Being a flagship-tier smartphone, Sharp’s latest device is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, paired with 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of UFS3.1 internal storage. Powering the phone is a large 5,000mAh battery with fast charging support via USB-C, although the brand did not specify its exact wattage.

While other manufacturers are keeping up with the trend of featuring multiple cameras on their smartphones, Sharp decided to do the complete opposite. Instead, the new Aquos R6 features a single camera which comes with a large 1-inch 20MP sensor and a f/1.9 Leica Summicron wide lens with a focal length equivalent of 19mm. Also featured in the central camera housing is a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor and a flash module. Below are the images claimed to be taken by the phone’s camera for your reference.

For more sample images, Sharp has set up a virtual gallery on its official website to showcase the Aquos R6’s photography capabilities. You may visit it via this link.

The new Sharp Aquos R6 will be available in Black and White colour options, and is slated to go on sale in Japan by mid June. The company has yet to reveal the price of its new smartphone, and to confirm if it will be shipped globally after its official launch in the country.

Redmi Gaming Smartphone Teased; Confirmed To Be A Variant Of Its K40 Flagship

Redmi, via Weibo, has released a teaser featuring a glimpse of its upcoming gaming smartphone. Interestingly, the company also revealed that the new device is actually a variant of its flagship series that was launched back in February and would officially be known as the K40 Game Enhanced Edition.

From the provided image (which happens to be animated), it is revealed that the phone will feature a triple camera setup, hidden shoulder buttons, and a slider switch. The latter, when activated, would release the K40 Game Enhanced Edition’s shoulder buttons and activate the lighting effects on the upper and lower halves of its rear camera array – an interesting yet gimmicky kind of way of announcing to the world that you’re eager to play mobile games on the Redmi-branded handset.

Besides that, the gaming variant also sports a metallic gray rear case with line design elements and a large cylindrical camera island for its triple cameras – an interesting design shift that sets it apart from the original K40 models, which featured two layered bumps for their rear shooters. The brand did not reveal what sensors will be included in the setup, and the dual horizontal spots located in between the top and middle cameras are unspecified as well.

As mentioned earlier, the top and bottom of the camera island features a bracket-like lighting system and the words “Freezing” and “Speediest” are engraved on its sides. The engravings are most likely referencing the Game Enhanced Edition’s cooling system and onboard chipset. Speaking of which…

For now, the only officially confirmed hardware to be included on the new Redmi gaming smartphone is a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset. Meanwhile on the unofficial side of things, it is said that the device will come with a Samsung E4 AMOLED display with 144Hz refresh rate and a 5,000mAh battery with 67W fast charging support. Leakster Digital Chat Station recently shared that the Xiaomi subsidiary may launch the gaming smartphone in two different configurations, but did not supply any information regarding the difference of specifications.

Along with the teaser image, Redmi has confirmed that it will launch the K40 Game Enhanced Edition next week on 27 April in China. According to insiders, the phone is expected to launch at a starting price of RMB 2,000 (~RM1,260).

Nikon Announces Development Of New Z9 Full-Frame Flagship Mirrorless Camera

Nikon has officially revealed that its next full-frame flagship camera, the Z9, is now in development. Along with the announcement, the company also revealed the camera’s design as well as several of its key features.

According to the press release, Nikon markets the Z9 to offer an “unprecedented imaging experience” via a set of “groundbreaking technologies.” These include a newly developed FX-format stacked CMOS sensor and a new image-processing engine, which enables it to record videos at up to 8K resolution – making it the first and only Z-series flagship with the capability to do so.

From the provided concept render, the new camera is shown to sport an integrated grip body  – another first for the Z-series – which allows users to shoot in either landscape and portrait orientation with ease. Most interestingly, the Z9’s form factor appears to be slightly more compact when compared to Nikon’s D-series flagships, which commonly offers integrated grip-styled bodies. However, the company noted that the finalised product may differ from the render provided – although it’s doubtful that the differences will be anything too drastic.

It appears that Nikon will finally bring the fight to Sony’s Alpha 1 and Canon’s EOS R5 mirrorless cameras by including 8K recording capability on the new Z9 flagship. Whether it is able to match up to the competition remains to be seen, especially in terms of internal cooling when recording in high resolution.

Most handheld mirrorless cameras with such capabilities have the tendency to overheat after a certain period of time – with the Sony Alpha 1 claiming to be able to last up to 30 minutes when shooting 8K, while the Canon EOS R5 is able to last approximately 20 minutes before shutting down. In Nikon’s case, the Z9 should at least feature a cooling system that is on par with Sony’s or risk getting overshadowed by its competitors.

Besides that, Nikon did provide any further information regarding the Z9’s specifications. But on the unofficial side of things, website NikonRumors claims to have obtained details of the camera from a supposed reliable source. The site reports that the Nikon Z9 will come with either a 46MP, 50MP or 60MP sensor, an ISO range of 64 – 25,600, 20 fps continuous shooting, two XQD/CFX type B memory card support, a high resolution and blackout-free EVF, as well as a slew of upgrades to its onboard autofocusing, dynamic range and noise reduction features.

The company has yet to reveal when it is planning to fully unveil the upcoming Nikon Z9 full-frame mirrorless camera. NikonRumors, on the other hand, suggests that Nikon will launch the flagship in the fall of 2021 with an expected price tag of US$6,000 (~RM24,744) – US$7,000 (~RM28,868).

Xiaomi Launches Redmi K40 Flagship Series In China

Xiaomi has recently launched three models of the new Redmi K40 flagship series in China. These consist of a standard K40 model, a Pro version and a high-end Pro Plus – all of which are equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 series chipsets.

All three variants share the same display across the board, which is a Gorilla Glass 5-protected Samsung E4 6.67-inch AMOLED flat panel with 1080 x 2400 px resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate. The Redmi K40 trio features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor on the power button, Dolby Atmos tuned stereo speakers, sub-6 GHz 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, Bluetooth 5, NFC, an IR blaster, and a 4,520mAh battery with 33W fast charging via USB-C. Concurrently, all three are also certified IP53 for dust and water resistance.

Both the Redmi K40 Pro and Pro Plus are equipped with the same Snapdragon 888 chipset, but differ in terms of RAM and storage configurations. Specifically, the former comes with up to 6GB RAM and up to 256GB of storage, while the latter is offered only with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The standard K40, on the other hand, is powered by a Snapdragon 870, along with RAM and storage options of up to 12GB and 256GB respectively. It’s also worth pointing out that the 870 is a revamped version of Qualcomm’s last flagship, the Snapdragon 865, now featuring a clock speed of 3.2 GHz and an Adreno 650 GPU.

The Redmi K40 trio comes with a triple rear camera setup which features the same 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP telephoto macro sensors. What sets each model apart is their main cameras; where the Pro Plus features a 108MP sensor, the Pro gets a 64MP, and the standard version features a 48MP sensor instead. Video-wise, the two high-end variants are capable of recording in 8K at 30fps, while the vanilla’s maximum video resolution is capped at 4K/30fps. All three models come with a 20MP front-facing camera housed in the punch-hole cutout in the main display.

In terms of pricing, the standard Xiaomi Redmi K40 model retails at RMB2,000 (~RM1,252) for the 6/128GB configuration, RMB2,200 (~RM1,377) for 8/128GB, and RMB2,500 (~RM1,565) for 8/256GB. Meanwhile, the K40 Pro is priced at RMB2,800 (~RM1,753) for the 6/128GB, RMB3,000 (~RM1,878) for 8/128GB and RMB3,300 (~RM2,066) for 8/256GB. Lastly, the K40 Pro Plus – as mentioned earlier – is only offered in one configuration at 12/256GB, which retails at RMB3,700 (~RM2,316).

While the new Redmi phones (especially the Pro Plus model) do share some similarities with Xiaomi’s own Mi 11 flagship, they are clearly aimed towards users of the brand’s ecosystem  series that are considering a more affordable alternative. Provided that they don’t mind going with a flat display panel, and slightly smaller battery capacity.

All three smartphones will be on sale in China on 4 March, but their global availability has not been confirmed at this time. However, sources say a recent discovery in the IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority) listing suggests that the standard variant of the Redmi K40 may be sold globally under Xiaomi’s other subsidiary brand POCO instead.