Japanese Softbank, the current majority owner of Sprint, has just released information around a new Sharp flagship that will be surfing on the carrier's waves as soon as next month. In a typical (as of late) fashion, the Aquos Xx 304SH employs a nearly bezel-less, IP57-certified water and dust-proof body, with super high screen-to-body ratio (135 x 72 x 9 mm, 137g).
Speaking of the screen, Sharp is using one of its own 5.2-inch, 1080x1920 pixel resolution IGZO screens, which is nestled within an aluminum frame. Powering the unfortunately-named device is a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974-AB) processor, with each of its cores ticking at 2.3GHz, plus an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Internal storage sits at 32GB and is microSD-expandable, and a 2600 mAh cell is keeping the lights on. As for imaging, the new Aquos phone falls on a 13.1-megapixel rear snapper with a very wide, f/1.9 aperture, while the front is taken care of by a 2.1-megapixel selfie cam. Connectivity options, such as Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, 4G LTE, an an IR blaster, are all on board. Just as good are the news that the 304SH will come running Google's latest Android 4.4 update in KitKat out of the box
As always, it's unlikely that folks outside of the island country will ever get to experience Sharp's wares, unless they're willing to plunge into the grey market, or find a way to arrange for international shipping (pricing is not available yet). We're probably not alone in thinking that this is a pity, as Sharp's devices definitely strike us as worthy of consideration, at least on paper.
Chris Panayotov is a former mobile tech reviewer of phones, tablets and wearables at PhoneArena. However, his contribution to PhoneArena content includes not just reviews, but all kinds of regular and experimental features, such as news stories, buying guides, and an exclusive column on the most notable phones out of Asia.
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