Smartphone cameras have taken a giant leap in recent times, going from a single scanner system to a dual-camera setup to, in recent times, quad-camera setups. Megapixels too have been increasing in a shocking amount, going from 12MP or 16MP sensors to 64 or 108MP sensors. The credit for this goes to two parties, one the company itself that sells these devices and, more importantly, the camera makers who make this feat possible. One such camera maker is the German brand Leica. Leica has been in close collaboration with Huawei in recent times, having offered some great cameras that have propelled the Chinese company’s products to great heights in terms of the cameras and led to significant growth due to more camera focused audience paying attention to the company’s products. However, despite this success, the camera maker Leica has not yet launched a phone under its own brand name or moniker. That changed on Thursday due to the announcement of the Leitz Phone 1, which marks the launch of the first smartphone that, not only makes use of a Leica made camera system but also includes its branding.
What Do We Know About Leica’s First Smartphone
The phone, announced at a Tokyo press event, as was revealed by Engadget Japan, the phone might seem a bit familiar to some. In terms of the design, the handset comes with a single, yet massive 20MP camera sensor measuring 1-inch, the biggest sensor to have been present on a smartphone. The module also includes a magnetic circular lens cap. To add to this, the device is equipped with a 12.6MP selfie snapper that is present on the 6.6-inch OLED display complete with 240Hz refresh rate support. Performance too is handled well, courtesy of the Snapdragon 888 chipset, complete with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The device also comes with a 5000 mAh battery. As mentioned earlier, this might seem familiar to some as the spec sheet is identical to that of the Sharp Aquos R6, to the 1-inch sensor. Do note that Leica was not shy to acknowledge that the devices were essentially the same, except the shape of the camera module which varies by a bit. In terms of pricing and availability, the Leica Leitz Phone 1 is available via Softbank in Japan as of now, with no information regarding global availability, much like Sharp’s offering. Pricing is set at 187,920 yen or $1,700.
