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Sharp aquos Xx and Crystal 2 - bezel-less design phone and phablet

T3STY

Sharp unveiled recently the aquos Crystal 2 and the aquos Xx (their new flagship device) as the successors of their previous Crystal and Xx devices of 2013. These devices offer a very slim frame around the display as to maximize the content area of the device. It's not rare in fact to read about devices disappointing due to their large size but limited content (display) area.

 

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Image: Sharp aquos Xx (2015). Credits: Android Headlines

 

While the bezel-less design is definitely a major advantage over the competitors, the hardware specs of the Crystal 2 are kind of disappointing. The device offers a 5.2" display with a 1280x720 resolution, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage (expandable via microSD up to 128GB), a rear 8MP camera and a 2.1MP front camera, and a humble 2200mAh battery. It also comes with Android Lollipop 5.0 out of the box and offers 4G LTE connectivity. However, when you find out that all of this is driven by the (good) old Snapdragon 400, oh man, you feel like embarrassed for Sharp... This SoC is still pretty nice and keeps up to the current mobile demands, but it might not be the case in the near future. It is already 2 year old and at the current technological increase rate, the Snapdragon 400 might fall into the low-end zone as soon as a few months, if it hasn't already...

Fear not though that the Sharp aquos Xx comes to the rescue! Actually, this device has no intention to be considered low or mid end device... the huge 5.7" screen offers a 1080p resolution backed up by the 3000mAh battery. Under the hood it has 32GB internal storage (still expandable to 128GB via MicroSD) a fair amount RAM: 3GB, and a respectful Snapdragon 810 ready to challenge HTC, Xiaomi, LG and others! The rear camera upgrades to 13MP while the front camera downgrades to 2.0MP. When looking at this device the bezel seems like non existent.

However, joy may not come to everyone. The Crystal (1) was only available for CDMA networks in USA and unlocked in Japan, while the Xx (1) has never been released internationally. The chipset though are capable of supporting a wide range of network bands which makes them appealing for a future international release fo the newer devices.

Original artice by Andy Boxall via Android Headlines:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/sharp-aquos-crystal-2-aquos-xx-news/


(1) means the older 2013 version

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So many people on GSM networks wanted the Aquos Crystal, and Sharp lost a lot of sales by making it CDMA only. Did they learn from their mistake?

 

Snapdragon 400 is also another poor choice. It was fine on the Aquos Crystal but today even the Moto E has a 410. Come on Sharp, get it together. Not exactly what I would call the successor to the original Aquos Crystal.

"Rawr XD"

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Probably, they weren't expecting (in 2013) such a massive success. Also, limited economical resources probably prevented them from releasing specific the GSM version (which BTW, is widely used in Europe). I still think that producers should make all that it stands in their power to make their products available worldwide, but it might also be the case that, for reasons not told to us, they simply are unable to do so.

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i like the overall looks, but just the fact that you have to rotate the phone to take a selfie is a bit off for me..

 

not really big though :D

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@monstercameron: Depends on personal preference. However, a lot of devices have huge bezels which increase drammatically the size of the device. It's not that bezels are not helpful, but most of the times they just take too much space...

 

@han_han08: I'm not sure you have to rotate the device. You just have to raise the device a little bit higher than you usually do. Not much of a problem though... I think...

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bezel-less = black glass instead of plastic. How is this any different? wake me when we have edge to edge on monitors.

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@han_han08: I'm not sure you have to rotate the device. You just have to raise the device a little bit higher than you usually do. Not much of a problem though... I think...

 

 "The rear camera upgrades to 13MP while the front camera downgrades to 2.0MP."

So no rotation required...

 

no, not that kind of rotation..the old aquos I saw shows you have to rotate the phone top to bottom, not front to back to take a selfie since the front camera is somewhere below (not in the usual top part of the phone)

 

haven't checked if the camera is still located there

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Bezel less? 

I'm not sure they know what that term really means...

Well, the bezel should be the gap around the display between the case and the display itself. If people think instead that there is "no case" or anything at all around the display, in that case the term "frame-less" is more appropriate. Unfortunately, more often than not, people use those therms interchangeably so you can never be sure what they mean...

 

wake me when we have edge to edge on monitors.

This should do :)

http://www.cnet.com/news/lg-displays-latest-oled-tv-sticks-to-the-wall-is-under-1mm-thick/

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