Sharp's first Aquos smartphone to touch down in the US and Japan

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Sharp's Aquos Crystal smartphone – the "frameless" handset that has a 5in edge-to-edge HD LCD screen – will soon arrive in the US and Japan, although there's no official word as to when we can expect it here in the UK.

SoftBank Mobile Corporation (Japan) and Sprint Corporation (US) are the companies through which the new handset will be offered, with the Japanese launch scheduled for 29th August. The exact US launch date hasn't yet been confirmed.

In addition to its "frameless" design, the Aquos Crystal features Crystal Sound – comprising Harmon Kardon's Clari-Fi technology, which is designed to restore and "rebuild" music fidelity lost during audio compression for "clearer" quality.

Other features include 8MP rear-facing and 1.2MP front-facing cameras, a 2,040mAh battery, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of ROM. The Aquos Crystal is run on the Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS.

Sprint senior vice president of product development David Owens: “We are thrilled to welcome Sharp to the US wireless market. Aquos Crystal will quickly become a must-have smartphone, showcasing Sharp’s strength in display technology."

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Pete Hayman

Pete was content editor on What Hi-Fi?, overseeing production and publication of digital content. In creating and curating feature articles for web and print consumption, he provided digital and editorial expertise and support to help reposition What Hi-Fi? as a ‘digital-first’ title; reflecting the contemporary media trends. He is now a senior content strategist.