If Leica ever launches its own branded phones in other markets, it would serve as notice to established players that smartphone photography is more than just a numbers game.
My focus was purely on the camera, but the Leitz Phone 2 stands out for a few reasons. Leica opted to go with glossier white over the matte black of the Phone 1. It includes a lens cap for the rear array, though my review unit came without any accessories, so I can’t convey anything about what it’s like to have it.
Leica refers to the Type 1 sensor inside the Leitz Phone 2 as the “largest on any smartphone” but that’s misleading because other phones already use a sensor of that size.
And while there are more pixels here, you don’t shoot at full resolution without a little work. For that, you’d have to choose the High-Res Photo mode, which Leica treats separately from Manual.
As good as they can be, the real flair is supposed to come from the Lietz Looks, where Leica emulates some of its classic M series lenses like the Summilux 28, Summilux 35, and Noctilux 50.
It occurred to me to show photos from the phone to others to hear what they saw. My reasoning was two-fold: on one hand, they may not know anything about Leica, nor recognize the company’s own visual style.