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| Leitz 1 .. the Leica smartphone |
After many years of cooperation with Huawei and Sharp, the German company Leica launched a smartphone.
At a press conference in Tokyo today, it was announced that the Leitz Phone 1 will be Leica's first mobile phone and will be a SoftBank exclusive when it launches in July.
The camera manufacturer has admitted that the Leitz Phone 1 is in fact the popular Aquos R6, confirming Leica's first true experiences in industrial design and user interface.
The Leitz Phone 1, named after the original Leica brand, has a design language similar to popular cameras. Comes with red Leica dots and a magnetic round lens cap.
The back of the device is not made of leather, but with a matte black glass cover that matches the silver metal body. It is 9.5 mm thick and weighs 212 grams. You can use the included hard case to protect the back.
Like the Aquos R6, the Leitz Phone 1 has a 1-inch 20-megapixel main camera sensor with f/1.9 aperture and a 12.6-megapixel front camera.
Leica and mobile phones:
The 6.6-inch IGZO OLED display offers a resolution of 2730 x 1260 pixels and a variable refresh rate of 240 Hz.
You'll also find the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 main processor and 12GB of RAM. You get 256GB of storage, double that of the Aquos R6. And you can expand the internal storage space up to TB via the microSD card slot.
There is a battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh. The phone also supports an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
The Leitz Phone 1 runs on the Android 11 operating system, which has a monochrome main user interface adapted by Leica.
The camera app offers a "Leitz Looks" mode for capturing black and white photos. Aside from judging the screenshots in today's keywords, the interface looks very much like Android.
The Leitz Phone 1 is currently unique to SoftBank in Japan. The price is around $1700. Pre-orders will start on June 18 and the phone will be available in late July. No information is currently available on international availability.