Sharp Aquos SH-12C 3D smartphone hands-on (video)

Towards the tip of our recent trip to Taiwan for Computex , just because the hustle and bustle was winding down and we might settled on a bit sightseeing, we stumbled upon an extraordinary beast — a smartphone unicorn of varieties — the Sharp Aquos SH-12C . This 3D-capable Android handset for NTT’s Docomo network was imported from its native Japan by a Hong Kong resident who was also attending the epic trade event. Just like the HTC EVO 3D , this device features twin cameras and a glasses-free stereoscopic qHD display, so we decided to mix work and play by getting some hands-on time with this mysterious phone right at the observation deck of Taipei 101. Have a look a our gallery below — complete with foggy views from the 89th floor at dusk — and hit the break for our hands-on video, first impressions and a few camera samples.

The Aquos SH-12C we played with was finished in an ultra-sexy shade of pearl white. As you will discover inside the gallery, it is a touch taller and narrower, but in addition marginally thicker and heavier than the 1 HTC Sensation 1 and 2 Samsung Galaxy S II 2 . It feels well built despite being primarily made from plastic and appears like a premium handset because of a singular and tasteful angular design. Under the hood, it includes a snappy 1.4GHz single core Qualcomm MSM8255 3 Snapdragon 3 SoC with 2100MHz (world) and 800MHz (Japan) HSPA support, 512MB RAM, 8GB of built-in storage plus a microSD card slot, WiFi / Bluetooth / GPS radios, a micro-HDMI output, 4 FeliCa 4 compatibility (NFC), and a 5 1seg 5 TV receiver. It’s running Android 2.3.3 ( 6 Gingerbread 6 ) with a light-weight TouchWiz-like skin. Sadly, the supplied 1240mAh battery is a little bit anemic and runs out of steam quickly, in step with the landlord.

Sharp is celebrated for shelling out high-end displays and cameras made in-house for its Japanese phones, and the SH-12C is not any exception. The 4.2-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixel) glasses-free 3D LCD is simply spectacular, with excellent colors, brightness, and contrast in addition decent viewing angles. At the imaging front, the Aquos trumps the EVO 3D with twin 8 megapixel autofocus cameras with flash and autofocus assist light. But similar to Sprint’s flagship, it takes 3D pictures at 2 megapixels (in MPO format only) and captures 3D video in 720p at 30 fps, with the left and right frames being squeezed right into a single 1280×720 pixel H264 frame. 720p is likewise the utmost resolution for 2D video recording, but 2D stills are shot using the complete 8 megapixels. Inspect the sample gallery and sample videos below — the primary three photos and primary video are anaglyphs and require red / cyan glasses for the entire 3D effect.

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This post is tagged: first impressions, japanese phones, microsd card slot, mysterious phone, observation deck