Smartphone makers have diverted their focus on the way how phones look these days. From Samsung to LG and soon Apple, every popular OEM is making sure they have what it needs to win the flagship race.
The year 2017 has witnessed a massive chunk of bezels trimmed from flagship smartphones. Samsung Galaxy S8 series, LG G6 and Andy Rubin's Essential smartphone are great examples of how smartphones of the future look like. Before you jump on that decision to buy one of these, lo and behold, as Sharp is out with a stylish new smartphone that is worth considering.
The Japanese electronics manufacturer owned by Foxconn launched a flagship smartphone - Aquos S2 – to combat against the biggies such as Samsung, LG and Apple. Sharp has carefully implemented every success formula into its smartphone, but sadly limited the phone's availability to China.
Pricing and availability
Before we dive right into the specs of the phone, it is important to note that Sharp Aquos S2 is priced at ¥2499 (approximately Rs 23,800) for the 64GB storage model and ¥3499 (approximately Rs 33,300) for the high-end variant with 128GB storage. The smartphone will be available on JD.com starting August 14. International availability is still a mystery.
What makes Sharp Aquos S2 unique?
Two things really. Sharp Aquos S2 comes in a truly bezel-less form that is easy to catch an eye and there is a dual camera setup at the back that is hard to miss. The company describes Aquos S2 has a 'tri-bezel' design with minimal top and side bezels and a standard bezel at the bottom to house the home button. The smartphone is made up of metal and glass, which gives a premium look and feel in hand.
The Aquos S2 features a 5.5-inch screen with 2040x1080 pixels and uses Sharp's Free Form Display (FFD) technology. The smartphone boasts an 87.5 percent screen-to-body ratio, which makes the phone compact despite its large screen.
Turn over to the back, and there's a dual camera setup. There are a 12MP primary sensor and an 8MP secondary one to capture the depth-of-field view. There's a dual LED flash on the back, and the camera module is arranged vertically. No smartphone has vertically-placed cameras at the back, making it the first of its kind.
The overall design of Sharp Aquos S2 perfectly aligns with the rumours about the upcoming iPhone 8's design. Bezel-less OLED display, dual camera placed vertically are the highlights of iPhone 8's design. But it won't be a fresh idea since Sharp has already shown the world a live demonstration with its Aquos S2.
Foxconn is Apple's primary contract-manufacturer and is it possible that the company took a hint of iPhone 8's design for the Aquos S2 or is it the other way around. We'll know this for sure when Apple launches the iPhone 8 in September.
Key specifications
Sharp Aquos S2 has specifications that match the phone's price. There are two variants of the phone, one with Snapdragon 630 for the 64GB model with 4GB RAM and another one with Snapdragon 660 chipset for the 128GB model with 6GB RAM. Both models have expandable storage.
Sharp Aquos S2 features an 8MP front-facing snapper and a fingerprint scanner is placed at the narrow home button. At 3.6mm, it is the world's narrowest fingerprint scanner.
The smartphone is powered by a 3,020mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 and runs Android 7.1 Nougat based SmileUX.
