Sharp’s Aquos Crystal, a 5-inch smartphone that features hair-thin bezels on its sides and top, is coming to Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile. The launch — neither company is revealing exactly when it will be — will mark Sharp’s first Aquos phone release in the United States. The electronics maker has been competing in Japan’s smartphone market for years. Sprint says this is also a “a monumental step in the Sprint and SoftBank merger” since the device will be available across the entire company; it’ll be on Softbank in Japan, and on Sprint and its prepaid brands in the US.
Sharp’s no-bezel smartphone is coming to Sprint
On Sprint, you’ll be able to pick between black and white. But prepaid customers will only get one color choice: Virgin’s getting black, and Boost’s getting white. The Aquos Crystal will cost $149 prepaid, though Sprint is pushing potential postpaid buyers towards its Easy Pay installment plan, which will let customers buy it for $0 down and 24 monthly payments of $10. Aside from the truly impressive display engineering, there’s not much else about the Aquos Crystal that will blow anyone away. It’s a midrange phone with a 720 display and Snapdragon 400 processor. Music should at least sound pretty good thanks to Harmon Kardon’s audio processing.











