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The story
Starting September 17, Sharp is rolling out its SIM-free smartphone “AQUOS wish6” at an estimated market price of around ¥50,000. It’s an entry-level model featuring a new three-piece construction for improved frame strength, along with a new “Phone Assistant” feature that uses AI to automatically transcribe missed-call voicemails. On 5ch, the price and the 4GB of RAM drew a lot of attention, with users comparing it to similarly priced rivals like Motorola’s “moto g37j” and FCNT’s “arrows We3,” and opinions split on whether it’s overpriced.
Sharp will roll out its SIM-free smartphone “AQUOS wish6” (SH-M36) starting September 17, at an estimated market price of around ¥50,000.
■ Improved durability, AI-based suspicious call warning feature, and more
The AQUOS wish6 is an Android smartphone from Sharp. Its body uses a three-piece construction made up of front glass, frame, and back panel. By incorporating metal parts into the frame, Sharp achieved a slimmer design while improving bending strength by about 20% over the previous model. It also comes with a “Phone Assistant” feature that uses AI to automatically transcribe a caller’s message when you can’t answer the phone.
Source: k-tai.watch.impress.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
So the young use iPhones and the old use Android?
The real question is which one today's young people will choose once they're old.
If they just keep using iPhone, fine.
But if they switch to Android once they're older, iPhone has no future.
Because we're heading into a future of accelerating hyper-aging and falling birthrates.
Actually, at the market level, since the absolute number of young people will only keep shrinking, I think iPhone has no future either way.
AQUOS, seriously? lol
Scary how far behind Japan is in IT.
Even the base iPhone has 8GB, though.
This much is plenty — the average person won't have any trouble with it.
People who'd happily buy this… I have questions.
Does that mean it doesn't have much else going for it as a selling point?
Probably because SIM-locked versions are still floating around the used market?
Honestly, they should just get rid of the whole concept of SIM cards at this point.
Carrier models come stuffed with a ton of carrier-installed bloatware that eats up memory.
And some of it you can't even uninstall.
Isn't it really just about whether it's caked in un-deletable carrier junk or not?
If you don't play games, it's usable enough.
The Sense10, which came out last November, wasn't that expensive, but
the Sense11, expected this year, could well end up that pricey.
That's pointless. I use an app that constantly shows free memory, and even with several GB of virtual memory set, apps still crash when real free memory runs low.
In other words, it's not actually a substitute for real RAM.
You can't see the screen outdoors.
Isn't LCD actually brighter than OLED anyway?
Even without gaming, brutally heavy apps like AliExpress's still choke it.
Basically the same specs as Motorola's fully-loaded g37j.
Price
moto g37 / g37j specs
An entry-level phone with the Dimensity 6300! Also has FeliCa (Japan's contactless payment chip).
AQUOS wish6: ¥50,000
Come on, are you serious.
Does an entry-level phone really need to be this big?
Shrinking the design down costs money, so they have no choice but to make it bigger.
Anything over 6 inches used to be considered way too big and got called a "phablet."
But once you're used to it, maybe anything under 6.5 inches just feels lacking now.
Old folks don't really grasp the concept of "closing an app," though.
They've got a dozen apps just sitting open in the background.
But if you're buying this, you'd probably be better off getting the Sense10 instead.
The price isn't that different anyway.
It varies depending on the AnTuTu version.
Score's around 420,000-560,000.
What year's prices are they still living in?
This year you could get the arrows alpha with 12GB/512GB for just over ¥60,000,
so compared to that, yeah, this does feel expensive.
Compared to the current Motorola g37j, it's about ¥10,000 pricier, I'd say.
SIM-free.
It feels expensive because the performance is low.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
In Japan, guidance from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has effectively banned SIM locks on newly contracted devices since 2021, and most carrier-sold models are now SIM-free as well. Even so, manufacturers still release a separate “SIM-free version,” apparently to distinguish it from carrier models loaded with carrier-specific preinstalled apps and features. The recurring worry in the thread that “4GB of RAM is going to be rough” reflects a real factor: demand from generative AI has driven up DRAM and flash memory prices, and that rising component cost is feeding directly into entry-level phone pricing. It’s also worth noting — something not obvious from the thread itself — that several of the rival entry-level models cited for comparison were misremembered on model number or price, so these side-by-side comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “[Telecom] Sharp to Release SIM-Free Version of “AQUOS wish6”.”
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