Sharp AQUOS Crystal Smartphone from Sprint

posted by Stacie on December 17, 2014 // 0 Comments »

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Sprint. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and to thank me for participating. As a Sprint Ambassador, I will share my experiences while testing various Sprint devices and services.As a key manufacturer of LCD screens for other smartphone producers, it's not too surprising that Sharp's own offering, the Aquos Crystal, is designed to maximize the display relative to its other features. While the phone provides a few unique innovations, it's focused mainly on being a mid-level phone with commonplace technology.

Since the Aquos Crystal is aimed at being affordable, the overall dimensions are fairly modest. The 5.17 by 2.64 by 0.4 inch phone possesses a 5-inch screen that extends all the way to the upper and side edges of the phone for a one-of-a-kind look. Made of acrylic glass, the LCD screen cover also forms the very thin lip that frames the top and sides. Features like the selfie camera and LED indicator light are placed on a bottom bezel that's scarcely thicker than a typical one.

Along with this unusual arrangement, the screen area also doubles as the earpiece for phone calls. Rather than a regular speaker, the face reproduces sound by vibrating. Because of this set-up, the phone is designed to detect when the user has their ear pressed against the screen and promptly locks the display in place. The phone also contains a loudspeaker on the back and a top-mounted 3.5mm connector for a headphone jack that's Bluetooth-compatible.

Among the Aquos' hardware features, the screen includes 1280 by 720 pixels with a resolution of 294 pixels per inch. Two cameras, a face-side 1.2 megapixel and 8 megapixel back-side model, are included. The 8 MP camera offers 1080P resolution video at 30 frames per second while the 1.2 MP selfie camera can record 30 fps at a resolution of 720P. For still photos, the 8 MP camera has a maximum size of 3264 by 2448 pixels and the 1.2 MP camera can captures images at 1280 by 960 pixels. Transferring video and image files to another device can be accomplished through the phone's microUSB port located next to microphone along the bottom edge. Internally, the phone has a magnetometer and accelerometer to detect its orientation.

Making all this work is a Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor running at 1.2GHz that's supported by an Adreno 305 graphics processor, 1.5 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of memory. A microSD port allows an additional 128 GB of memory expansion at any given time. Next to the microSD slot, a microSIM slot makes transferring a phone account easy. The processor is controlled by the Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system. Supplying power to these components is a permanently-affixed 2040 mAh battery that can carry up to 13 hours of chat time or up to 8.5 hours of heavy web usage.

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