Leica’s Phone 2 is the purple dot model of Sharp’s Aquos R7

Or you should purchase principally the identical cellphone — minus the purple dot emblem — for 189,360 yen, which is about $200 much less. That could be the Aquos R7 made by Sharp — the licensee liable for manufacturing the Leitz Phone 2.

The Phone 2 (just like the R7) features a 6.6-inch OLED, a 5,000mAh battery, and a single rear digicam with a large Type 1 47-megapixel sensor. That’s an impressively massive sensor, which Leica proclaims to be the “largest sensor ever in a smartphone,” however it shares that distinction with the Xiaomi 12S Ultra (and final 12 months’s Phone 1, for that matter).

So what does the additional money get you except for a purple dot on the again panel? Well, there’s a magnetic lens cap for the rear digicam. And you get a few particular widgets: one which tracks the “golden hour” primarily based in your location and a gallery of photos from Leica photographers. Oh, goody.

This artistic re-branding is hardly a brand new trick from Leica. The firm has a wealthy historical past of slapping its emblem on different firms’ merchandise, gussying them up, and charging extra for them. At least, on this case, you do get genuinely revolutionary digicam {hardware} to go together with your purple dot.