Bezelless Smartphone Aquos

[Oohara]

Some more reviews:

DetroitBORG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPNViTixtpg
Android Authority: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2p3UTRKK-c

 

[Oohara]

Here's a video showing the 5.5" Crystal X!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtG9AYd1haw

Check out the pic next to a regular 5" phone, they have about the same footprint. Obviously the nav bar looks different from the regular Crystal, I sure hope they're not planning to drop their nearly pure Android OS version...

The guy also briefly passes by what looks like a small tablet in the same design series:

The video also shows some fancy screen sharing tricks which make a bit more sense with almost no bezel compared to the same idea done on Samsung's devices... And they mention something about a screen tech that makes the image look as if it really lies on top of the glass...I think, they speak pretty bad english.

I could see this style catching on and becoming popular, even if aesthetically it really stands out from today's norm. The tablets might be awesome. Imagine if you could put two 10" tablets with no bezel next to each other and create a bigger screen that actually looked more or less like one single screen??

In the vid he also asks for release plans outside of Japan but they have no info about that.

Excited to see where this goes...

 

[Fireblade]

This is by FAR the most beautiful smartphone I have ever seen, would buy the 5,5" version immediately.

 

[spinedoc77]

Wow the crystal X looks awesome. I hope they have a US LTE compatible one as Sprint just doesn't get the reception I need to function.

 

[Allograft]

It's the best looking phone I've seen in awhile. Not perfect, but a daring design and one can get a much bigger screen in a much smaller form factor with a design like that. I hope Apple is looking. That is the future.

 

[sracer]

My Aquos Crystal from BoostMobile just arrived. My one liner review: an amazing device for those who aren't accustomed to flagship handsets.

I'll post more details as I get some more time to play with it. It looks and feels far better in person.

 

[three]

I waited around at the Sprint Store (never again) for about two hours yesterday. I had some time to play with the Aquos Crystal. I loved the lack of bezels but didn't love the overall design and feel of the rest of the device. I do have to say, at $150 it's really tempting to buy one just to play around with.

 

[spinedoc77]

My Aquos Crystal from BoostMobile just arrived. My one liner review: an amazing device for those who aren't accustomed to flagship handsets.

I'll post more details as I get some more time to play with it. It looks and feels far better in person.

Pics !!!!!

 

[sracer]

Disclaimer: I'm not a spec-hound or of the mindset that anything less than flagship, top-shelf is garbage. I have modest needs in my devices. Please keep that in mind as I share some thoughts.

Here's a few hastily shot pics...

Here's a comparison of (from left to right):
iPhone 4, Aquos Crystal, Galaxy II Skyrocket, Lumia 520

The Aquos screen is wonderful. It is vibrant and sharp. Colors seemed pretty balanced.


photo of the back:

I agree with YouTube reviewers who said that back looks like a band-aid texture.


photo of video playback:

Video Playback was smooth with terrific detail. Video filling virtually the entire device is something that needs to be seen to be believed. The chin bezel seems to disappear after watching the video for a few moments. This video was ripped from my DVD collection and encoded via Handbrake for an iPhone 4. The video is 2 hours 20 minutes and weighs in at 1GB.


close-up of bottom edge:

close-up of top edge:

Every device with a screen that I've owned has had a bezel. The Aquos Crystal stands out so much from that that it almost doesn't feel like it's real.... like it is some kind of prop in a SciFi movie.

The chamfered edges of the screen gives a futuristic look and makes holding it very comfortable. It is easy to forget that this thing has a 5" screen.

The style is right out of the late 70's/early 80's in that it reminds me of some of those futuristic looking stereo systems from Sharp, Sansui, etc. A little faux woodgrain would make the look complete.

Audio quality from the built-in speaker is pretty good... it certainly is much louder than I would play it if I were watching a youtube video.

Plugging in earbuds and activating the Harman Kardon Clari-Fi helps to add a depth and richness that I appreciated... especially pronounced when playing some 50's exotica/lounge.

The vibrating screen as the earpiece for the phone works surprisingly well. I have tinnitis so it can be difficult to hear certain frequencies, but I had no problem.

The phone is virtually all stock Android. There are only 2 Boost-specific icons baked into the ROM. The other 4 apps get downloaded and installed after activation. All 4 of which can be uninstalled like any other app.

Performance is very smooth in everything that I've tried. It is the fastest Android phone that I've owned.

For $150 no contract, I would recommend this to someone who is simply looking for nothing more than a portable media player. Pop in a 64GB microSD card and for under $200 you can have quite a PMP.

As a phone, I think it will do very well in replacing my 2.5 yr old iPhone 4.

I strongly encourage anyone interested in the Aquos to see it in person. The various reviews are all over the map and greatly influenced by the reviewers' particular tastes... more so than I think other devices.

 

[Vegastouch]

It looks really nice. Too bad it doesn't run IOS.

Thats actually a plus in my book. I like the look of that phone but it is CDMA so i cant have one.

 

[spinedoc77]

Disclaimer: I'm not a spec-hound or of the mindset that anything less than flagship, top-shelf is garbage. I have modest needs in my devices. Please keep that in mind as I share some thoughts.

Here's a few hastily shot pics...

Here's a comparison of (from left to right):
iPhone 4, Aquos Crystal, Galaxy II Skyrocket, Lumia 520
Image

The Aquos screen is wonderful. It is vibrant and sharp. Colors seemed pretty balanced.


photo of the back:
Image
I agree with YouTube reviewers who said that back looks like a band-aid texture.


photo of video playback:
Image
Video Playback was smooth with terrific detail. Video filling virtually the entire device is something that needs to be seen to be believed. The chin bezel seems to disappear after watching the video for a few moments. This video was ripped from my DVD collection and encoded via Handbrake for an iPhone 4. The video is 2 hours 20 minutes and weighs in at 1GB.


close-up of bottom edge:
Image

close-up of top edge:
Image

Every device with a screen that I've owned has had a bezel. The Aquos Crystal stands out so much from that that it almost doesn't feel like it's real.... like it is some kind of prop in a SciFi movie.

The chamfered edges of the screen gives a futuristic look and makes holding it very comfortable. It is easy to forget that this thing has a 5" screen.

The style is right out of the late 70's/early 80's in that it reminds me of some of those futuristic looking stereo systems from Sharp, Sansui, etc. A little faux woodgrain would make the look complete.

Audio quality from the built-in speaker is pretty good... it certainly is much louder than I would play it if I were watching a youtube video.

Plugging in earbuds and activating the Harman Kardon Clari-Fi helps to add a depth and richness that I appreciated... especially pronounced when playing some 50's exotica/lounge.

The vibrating screen as the earpiece for the phone works surprisingly well. I have tinnitis so it can be difficult to hear certain frequencies, but I had no problem.

The phone is virtually all stock Android. There are only 2 Boost-specific icons baked into the ROM. The other 4 apps get downloaded and installed after activation. All 4 of which can be uninstalled like any other app.

Performance is very smooth in everything that I've tried. It is the fastest Android phone that I've owned.

For $150 no contract, I would recommend this to someone who is simply looking for nothing more than a portable media player. Pop in a 64GB microSD card and for under $200 you can have quite a PMP.

As a phone, I think it will do very well in replacing my 2.5 yr old iPhone 4.

I strongly encourage anyone interested in the Aquos to see it in person. The various reviews are all over the map and greatly influenced by the reviewers' particular tastes... more so than I think other devices.

It looks great. The bottom bezel is a bit more onerous than I was hoping for and coupled with onscreen buttons (which I always disliked) doesn't look very good, big enough to kind of outweigh the otherwise lack of bezels.

Still, for $150 wow. If it was GSM I'd be all over it.

 

[Centaurr]

gonna get this phone soon, i have Metro PCS as my carrier, even thou i dont have any complaints about them except that their phones are alittle more pricey than Boost Mobile plus when i saw this phone i said: "im changing carriers" its a game changer for sure. im not into specs so this phone is great for me. i like apple but iphones are becoming too 'main stream' ive always been a trend setter instead of a follower. gotta root for the under dogs

 

[sracer]

gonna get this phone soon, i have Metro PCS as my carrier, even thou i dont have any complaints about them except that their phones are alittle more pricey than Boost Mobile plus when i saw this phone i said: "im changing carriers" its a game changer for sure. im not into specs so this phone is great for me. i like apple but iphones are becoming too 'main stream' ive always been a trend setter instead of a follower. gotta root for the under dogs

I've been using this phone daily for 3.5 months. So far things have worked out very well. I've always had an issue with how Android auto-starts and restarts apps, but on this phone that behavior is at a minimum. Minimal bloatware and a near-vanilla Android.

Performance continues to be smooth. I've installed a 64GB microSD card and have tons of media on it... even when I move beyond this device, I'll continue to use it as a portable media player.

Battery life is still excellent.

I bought it because (A) I love the design (B) love the price and (C) in a small way encourage Sharp to continue to producing phones like this for the US.

I didn't get it because it would draw attention, but it does.

Just make sure to do your research regarding Boost Mobile coverage in your area. After all, that's the reason for getting a phone in the first place... or supposed to be.

 

[AppleRobert]

I am happy with it. I got it a few months against when Best Buy had it on sale. It is one of the better cheap options for a 5" display so long you have coverage in your area but I guess you can use it like an iPod touch alternative as well.

 

[Centaurr]

I've been using this phone daily for 3.5 months. So far things have worked out very well. I've always had an issue with how Android auto-starts and restarts apps, but on this phone that behavior is at a minimum. Minimal bloatware and a near-vanilla Android.

Performance continues to be smooth. I've installed a 64GB microSD card and have tons of media on it... even when I move beyond this device, I'll continue to use it as a portable media player.

Battery life is still excellent.

I bought it because (A) I love the design (B) love the price and (C) in a small way encourage Sharp to continue to producing phones like this for the US.

I didn't get it because it would draw attention, but it does.

Just make sure to do your research regarding Boost Mobile coverage in your area. After all, that's the reason for getting a phone in the first place... or supposed to be.

sounds great, i never play games or music on my phones plus im not into specs. usually people say: "let me see your phone" nobody says "what kind of spec do you have"

 

[spinedoc77]

I wish they would come out with a GSM version already. I think I read somewhere about a crystal "mini", sounds interesting. If anything I'm tempted to buy one of these to use as a tablet.

 

[spinedoc77]

I just fondled this phone for the first time in person earlier today. HolyF it is nice, I cannot believe how awesome having no bezels is. I would buy this phone in a second if it was on GSM. Easily the nicest smartphone I've ever laid eyes on purely because there is no smartphone to look at, it's all screen.

 

[MRU]

I. Easily the nicest smartphone I've ever laid eyes on purely because there is no smartphone to look at, it's all screen.

Technically doesn't the mammoth chin represent a 'bezel'...

 

[spinedoc77]

Technically doesn't the mammoth chin represent a 'bezel'...

I can see a small lower bezel, but yeah it's a bit oversized. I just can't get over how compact the phone is with that size screen, it feels very small in the hand. You can have a big screen and a small phone.

 

[MRU]

I can see a small lower bezel, but yeah it's a bit oversized. I just can't get over how compact the phone is with that size screen, it feels very small in the hand. You can have a big screen and a small phone.

Yeah I know I was only joshing. What are the ergonomics like, are there accidental screen taps, something I find my phones with smallish bezels suffer with at times accidentally (I'm often doing it on my moto x 2014).

 

[Oohara]

I wish they would come out with a GSM version already. I think I read somewhere about a crystal "mini", sounds interesting. If anything I'm tempted to buy one of these to use as a tablet.

Yeah and they need to release the damn thing in Europe too.

They have a larger version of the phone and tablets with the same design too, I posted some stuff about that early in the thread.

 

[sracer]

Yeah I know I was only joshing. What are the ergonomics like, are there accidental screen taps, something I find my phones with smallish bezels suffer with at times accidentally (I'm often doing it on my moto x 2014).

In the 3.5 months that I've used this phone daily, I can only recall about 3 times where I accidentally tapped the screen.

I just fondled this phone for the first time in person earlier today. HolyF it is nice, I cannot believe how awesome having no bezels is. I would buy this phone in a second if it was on GSM. Easily the nicest smartphone I've ever laid eyes on purely because there is no smartphone to look at, it's all screen.

Glad to hear that you had the opportunity to see it in person. As you discovered, hearing about "no bezel" is one thing, experiencing it, another. Yeah, I wish it was GSM too. Boost Mobile service (Sprint network) is "ok" in my area but I much rather have the flexibility that GSM offers.

It is easy to overlook the other benefits of the Aquos Crystal... namely the near-vanilla Android and minimal carrier bloatware. This is the first Android smartphone that I've owned where I didn't feel the need to install Nova Launcher Prime. The bloatware consists of about 4 apps none of them obtrusive and 2 of them can be uninstalled.

 

[AppleRobert]

Screen to body ratio is 78%, I don't have anything else like that.

The storage and battery are smallish, something to consider. Processor and ppi are pretty good.

 

[MRU]

Screen to body ratio is 78%, I don't have anything else like that.

Interesting so it's actually not too far off my moto x 2014 (screen to body ratio 73.46%)

 

[AppleRobert]

Interesting so it's actually not too far off my moto x 2014 (screen to body ratio 73.46%)

My hot button with smartphones is screen to body ratio. It is something really that turns me off when it isn't up to snuff. I don't care about how great the specs are on a device, the ratio needs to be acceptable.

HTC's ratios for the most part are abysmal, we will see how the M9 stacks up. Ergonomics are something important to some folks.

Of course I have made exceptions, mainly the Iphone 6+. And since Apple's iphone6 devices are in lots of folks' possession, I guess it isn't the priority.