After launching the Aquos S2 bezel-less smartphone in the Chinese market in August, Japanese electronics company Sharp Corporation on Friday officially announced the launch of its latest bezel-less smartphone, dubbed as the “Sharp Aquos R Compact” in the company’s homeland, Japan. Unfortunately, the pricing details and the availability of the new Sharp Aquos R Compact have not been revealed by the company yet. But it will be available for purchase in Japan starting December and exclusively via Softbank Japan in Amethyst Purple, Diamond Yellow, Tourmaline Black, and Moon White colour variants. The key highlights of the smartphone are its 16.4MP rear camera, Google’s latest Android 8.0 Oreo OS, and a 4.9-inch FHD+ IGZO display with tri bezel-less design, which we have seen in the Essential PH 1.
In terms of specifications, the Sharp Aquos R Compact comes equipped with a 4.9-inch FHD+ IGZO display with a screen resolution of 2032 x 1080 pixels. Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor, which comes coupled with Adreno 512 GPU to handle the graphics. In terms system memory and storage, the Sharp Aquos R Compact is backed up by a 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal Storage, which can be further increased up to 256GB by inserting a microSD card. Talking about its software fronts, the Sharp Aquos R Compact runs on Google’s latest Android 8.0 Oreo operating system with company’s EMOPA 7.0 custom UI skin running on top. The handset also features a front-mounted fingerprint sensor that is housed underneath the physical home button of the device.
In terms of photography, the Sharp Aquos R Compact features a 16.4-megapixel rear-facing camera with hybrid AF (PDAF + Contrast), an LED flash for an excellent photography. On the front, the smartphone sports an 8-megapixel front-facing shooter for capturing selfies and making video calls. The smartphone also comes with an IP68 rating that means it is a dust and water resistant device. Apart from this, the Sharp Aquos R Compact also comes pre-loaded with company’s own EMOPA AI assistant.
On the connectivity front, the Sharp Aquos R Compact supports dual-SIM dual standby, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/A-GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack and a USB Type-C port for super-fast charging and data transfer. Sensors on the device include a Proximity sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, Fingerprint (front-mounted), and E-compass sensor. On the battery front, the Sharp Aquos R Compact comes packed with a 2,500mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 technology support for fast charging. Dimensionally, the handset measures 132 x 66 x 9.6 mm and weighs 140 grams.
