Sharp Aquos Sense 4 Plus Review: Pity It Lacks One Key Thing!
Retail Price: $358.99
Product Specs +
- 6.7 inch 1080x2400p
- 393ppi
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G
- 8GB of RAM
- 128 GB of storage
- 4,120 mAH battery
- Android 10, upgradable to Android 11
Camera Specs +
Rear Cameras
- 48 MP F/1.8 wide
- 5 MP F/2.2 ultrawide
- 2 MP F/2.4 macro
- 2 MP F/2.4 depth
Selfie Cameras
- 8 MP F/2.0 Wide
- 2 MP F/2.5 Depth
Video
- Rear camera shoots 4K at up to 30fps
- Selfie camera shoots 1080p at up to 30fps
When I visited Japan right before the world fell apart, I was quite surprised to see a brand quite prominently featured everywhere in display booths. Technology company Sharp, has not been a major player in the smartphone market outside of Japan for many years now, but if you were in Japan, you might not have been aware of this. In a scene that cannot be replicated in the United States, I actually saw people using Sharp smartphones on the train! Imagine my excitement as I’ve actually been a fan of their phone products dating back to the S2 line. They make surprisingly well built and enjoyable mid-ranged devices. This phone is the Sharp Aquos Sense 4 Plus and I’ve been using this mid-ranger as my daily driver. I believe this phone is actually a better option than a lot of Sharp’s bigger named competitors and it is a travesty that all of it is ruined by one big thing.
An Impressive Build
For $358, we’re getting a Snapdragon 720G processor with 8 GB of Ram and 128 GB of storage. From a price standpoint, that’s pretty on par with market standards in 2021. What makes the phone standout to me is the build quality of the Aquos. Crafted from a combination of glass and an aluminum frame, this phone feels like a step up from something like the OnePlus N10. The smooth back is a beauty to the eyes utilizing a gradient mixture that I find very attractive. I often waver between my feelings for gradient designs on smartphones. Some of them look quite tacky while others reflect the light rather beautifully. The Sharp Aquos Sense 4 does it the best in my opinion. It’s subtle to the point where from a distance you might not be able to tell it was gradient shaded, yet up close, it adds an aesthetic premium flair. I dig it.
Thoughts on Performance
As far as performance goes, Sharp ships this phone with Android 10. However, a month into my review period I received the Android 11 update. It essentially runs off a clean stock experience with some software convenience tweaks. Of all the little quirks included on the phone (which I demoed in the unboxing video), the auto scrolling feature is the one I use the most. It’s not force fed to you and you can decide what benefits these additional software features can provide. All in all, I like how Sharp presents Android and that pushes through to the operation of the phone. The Snapdragon 720G is by no means a top performer in the segment, yet it’s also powering some devices that provide immense value from brands like Redmi and Realme. At this price point, the Aquos Sense 4 Plus performed exactly as I’d expect. I’m able to play all of my mobile games to the satisfaction I’m used to. The navigation of apps and web pages flow seamlessly without lag. The animation for transitions are smooth and add to the overall experience rather than detract from it.
Stellar Battery Life
What really ties it all together in regards to performance is the 4,120 mAh battery. This is an absolute luxury that I feel spoiled using. On average I can get 6 hours of screen on time with at least 13 hours off the plug. This is with my average usage that is essentially intensive power usage for many average consumers. I’d estimate a normal person could probably get almost 3 full days off one charge. I’m thoroughly impressed with how I don’t have any compromise at all when it comes to what I want to do on my phone, when I want to do it. This is elite battery life.
The IGZO Factor
I’m also very happy viewing the large 6.7 inch IGZO LCD display. It’s a 1080x2400p display with 393 ppi. Because of the implementation of IGZO to the display, the colors are quite satisfying to look at. They’re saturated accurately and the experience overall is just very vibrant. I believe this is also what contributes to the excellent longevity of the battery. A native 90 Hz refresh rate is supported and pushed up to 120 Hz for touch sampling. It’s more commonplace nowadays to get these higher than 60 Hz refresh rates on mid-ranged devices, so it’s nice future proofing for buyers to get that here.
Abysmal Pictures
If those things I’ve talked about are all you care about for your next smartphone, then this is in my opinion the best mid-ranger to get. I enjoyed using it more than I did the OnePlus N10, that much I can tell you. Of course that isn’t the end of the story as we haven’t touched on the cameras yet. Four cameras occupy the rear: a 48 mp f/1.8 wide sensor, a 5 mp f/2.2 ultrawide, a 2 mp f/2.4 macro, and a 2 mp f/2.4 depth sensor. Video records up to 4K @30fps which is pretty much standard now on smartphones.
There’s no gentle way to frame this both literally and figuratively other than it sucks. The Aquos’ camera results are abysmal. The shutter is slow to take the picture. The shutter is also slow to focus. The sensors have an extremely difficult time deciding what to pick to expose. More often than not, it decides the wrong thing. Pictures in not overly lit situations come out extremely grainy and oftentimes out of focus at the slightest of movements. Imagine setting your shutter speed too slow and trying to take a clean handheld picture. That’s what it feels like on default auto mode. It’s bad to a fault even though the shutter speed on default is perfectly acceptable. What it appears to me is that the overall camera experience is just tattered in insufficiency. For example, I just don’t see enough light being let in through the aperture. At f/1.79, in an essentially washed out room with overhead lightning, the camera shouldn’t be struggling this much at ISO 250. This is as close to unusable quality as a mid-ranged phone can offer.
I’m not much of a mobile photographer, so my camera app isn’t open daily. For someone like me, I can appreciate what the Sharp Aquos Sense 4 Plus does well more than I am dissatisfied with what it does horribly. However, I cannot deny that smartphone photography is a must-have for a majority of smartphone users as that is their main shooter. It is absolutely unacceptable to have such a deterring camera experience on an otherwise terrific phone from a company that I actually feel like produces quality products people underrate.
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Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!