Produced by Sharp, the the TD-LTE 506SH Star Wars phone may just be worth the effort it’ll take to get one. However, before you rush off to try, remember many Japanese smartphones won’t operate internationally, so it may end up being nothing more than a display piece.
We have the feeling you won’t be sad, if that’s the case. Each phone comes in a presentation box with five exclusive figures (including Darth Vader, a Death Trooper, and a U-Wing fighter); but take the phone out and it gets even better. The rear panel has a coating that subtly changes color with the light and comes without any branding, apart from the Star Wars logo of your choice. An indicator light on the side takes on the glow of your preferred light saber color, so blue for the rebel version, and red for the Dark Side.
Fire up the Android phones, and there’s a choice of cool live wallpaper, a Star Wars theme, special wallpapers, ringtones, sound effects, a custom Star Wars alarm clock, cute Star Wars emoji, and even a free digital copy of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Finally, the Star Wars: Force Collection collectable card game is installed on the phone, with some exclusive content. If you’re first in line (and yes, we expect there will be one), you may get one of the limited editions with a special Star Wars t-shirt, or 2017 Rogue One calendar.
The phone itself has a 5.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel screen, a Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage space, and a 22-megapixel rear camera. How much will you need to spend? Expect the equivalent of at least $860 when the phone hits SoftBank stores in Japan on December 2. The trouble is, you can’t really have one without the other, right?