Leica announces Leitz Phone 2, its second official phone based on a Sharp platform

Leica has officially announced its second officially sold phone under its own brand. The Leitz Phone 2 appears to again be a rebranded version of a recently launched Sharp model, the Aquos R7. The design is the biggest differentiator between the two phones with similar hardware platform, but the interface is also different, being decorated in “Leica” style.

Leica has integrated Sony’s latest 1″ sensor into the Leitz Phone 2.

The Leitz Phone 2 benefits from a very unusual design, even in an era when iPhones have brought flat-edged phones back to the market. It not only has straight edges, but also sharp corners, and is practically parallelepipedal in shape. The last time I saw a phone with a shape like this was when Razer was making its gaming phones.

The hardware platform is already familiar: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, along with a 6.6″ OLED display and a 5,000 mAh battery, so comparable to other flagships on the market. On the back we have a camera equipped with “the biggest sensor on a smartphone”, a 47-megapixel Sony one. Quite possibly, this is the same sensor we saw on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. Compared to last year’s Leitz Phone, we have an increase in resolution, though.

Included in the package are a case and a magnetic camera cover to protect the lens, and the case is decorated on the back with the red Leica logo. In addition to the Leica “skin” of the Android OS interface, Leica has also integrated two proprietary widgets: one that shows you the “golden hour” and one that shows you photos of famous photographers taken with Leica cameras.

Of course, the Leitz Phone 2, like the Sharp Aquos R7, will remain exclusive to the Chinese market and will be available through SoftBank starting November 18. The price is 225,360 Japanese yen, or about 1560 euros.