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.
What, it’s a mid-range phone and we’re supposed to be impressed, why? Because it’s pretty? Do you want a phone or a fashion accessory?
Did you even read the article? This is an entry level prepaid phone. [That means there isn’t a $600 handset subsidy hidden in a 24 month contract.]
It can be unlocked online for <$10 bucks It is outstanding value for $149.
I thought until recently Sharp made the screens for the iPhones? So it only makes sense that they actually bother to make their own phone as well.
The screen looks good. Maybe Apple don’t use them anymore and they have all this spare capacity they need to put to good use with a mid-range phone 🙂
They’ve made fairly pretty android phones under the Aquos name for a few years now – I considered importing one a while ago, but concluded it’d be too much hassle.
Yeah, put a telescopic chrome antenna on that thing and it would look exactly like something out of an early 80′ Bond movie.
Personally I would go for something a bit more functional – but who cares…
For me, SHARP will be always associated with great calculators like the PC-1360 I have right now on my desk, still working fine after 25 years.
Phones : Yawn.
(Yes, It is a rant)
“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.”
This new CDMA phone is only available on Sprint and Sprint MVNOs. This is a self-inflicted wound for a company trying to get a foothold in the U.S. cellular market.
I agree with both of these comments. I am going to take a look at this phone in person, and am seriously considering getting one (for someone in the family, at least). But I am not on Sprint or one of its MVNOs. I might still consider Boost Mobile (prepaid) if I like the phone enough.
I do hope they release a GSM/LTE version, though. (Or its higher-end sibling.) That would make the decision much easier.
Edited 2014-10-15 17:00 UTC
People talk about the “style” of phones, and honestly to me, they all look pretty much the same.
In this case the crappy grey paint, cheap looking plastic back (if that’s metal it’s crappy metal), and “so thin you can’t even hold the damn thing” design makes it LOOK vastly inferior to my el-cheapo CuBot GT99 look good. It has all the “art” and “style” of a Gateway laptop from a decade ago — and NO, that’s not a compliment.
A viewpoint supported from a hardware spec standpoint, as supported by the pathetic 1280×720 resolution at 5″, not so impressive in-built RAM and FLASH amounts, and bottom of the snapdragon line 1.5ghz processor. It has the specifications of a $100 phone from Deal Extreme, not what I’d expect for $149 AFTER getting a service plan! This is what in a year or two should be thrown in for free WITH a service plan.
Though really, just what the hell are people smoking where they are talking about the stylishness of THAT?!? (and where can I score some?)
But I’m more of a function over form design kind of guy. I’m getting really tired of these awkward useless form factors that are ready to send me running and screaming back to a old fashioned analogue Ma Bell handset. But there’s a reason I ended up sawing a 2″ dowel in half and gluing it to the back of my phone so I could actually hold onto the damned thing!
There is such a thing as too small, and to be honest “smartphones” have gone WAY past that point. MAYBE they’re the right size for a five-year-old’s hands…
Edited 2014-10-15 00:37 UTC
FFS it is is a $149 prepaid phone.
Your typical $149 ‘flagship’ handset actually costs you $500-1000. The cost is hidden in the $2400 two year contract.
I mean:
So thanks, but no thanks.