Sharp AQUOS Crystal review: mid-range brains meet striking looks

Pop quiz, hotshot: When’s the last time you saw a Sharp phone in the United States? The Sharp FX from years back? Maybe the FX Plus? If you’re anything like me, your mind will hearken back to chunky clamshell classics like this one. Long story short, it’s been ages since Sharp has had any kind of mobile presence around these parts. That’s something the Japanese company is finally ready to change, and it’s aiming to do it with a splash. Enter the AQUOS Crystal, one of the most striking phones you’ll ever see. It’s finally available for $149 on Boost Mobile now and Sprint will get it come October 17th, but we have questions — so many questions. Has Sharp figured out a way to crack the all-too-fickle US market? Are we looking at a classic case of style over substance?

The AQUOS Crystal (and its higher-end, Japan-only brother) looks stunning. Hopefully, this is where the future is going: displays becoming nothing but glass, without bezels or bodies. This way, displays would truly integrate and disappear into our surroundings, so they aren’t always the centre of attention. Put the AQUOS Crystal next to any other current phone, and they all look decidedly dated and old-fashioned.

I hope this new US effort works out well for Sharp, because it’s really too bad that their often interesting and striking devices are Japan-only.

11 Comments

  1. 2014-10-14 8:41 pm
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