There are smartphone manufacturers are trying their best to get rid of the notch. But then, here comes Sharp, who appears to be dismissing everybody’s efforts.
Their latest release, the Sharp Aquos R2 Compact has not one, but two display notches on the front. It’s waterdrop notch on top houses an 8-megapixel selfie camera, while the wider one on the bottom houses a fingerprint scanner.
While it’s a clever move, it would have been better for everybody if Sharp just placed the sensor on the back, like what most manufacturers are doing. But I guess the company is trying to think outside the box with this one to separate themselves from the competition.
On the upside, the screen itself is actually impressive. Staying true to its name, it has a compact 5.2-inch FHD+ IGZO panel, with a fast 120Hz refresh rate, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It even has HDR10 compatibility.
Even the internals is pretty outstanding. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, that’s backed by a 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage, and a dated Android 9.0 Oreo.
It may lack a dual camera setup on the back, unlike most high-end devices today, but the lone sensor on this thing is well-packed. What we have here is a 22.6-megapixel camera with a wide f/1.9 aperture and optical image stabilizer.
On the downside, it only has a 2,500mAh battery, which is still disappointing despite its relatively small screen.
Sharp Aquos R2 Compact Specs
- Android 9 Pie
- 5.2-inch FHD+ IGZO display, 2280 x 1080 pixel resolution, ~485ppi
- Corning Gorilla Glass 3, HDR10, Dolby Vision, 120Hz refresh rate
- 2.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor
- 4GB RAM
- Adreno 630
- 64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 512GB
- 8-megapixel front camera
- 22.6-megapixel rear camera, f/1.9, OIS, LED flash
- Fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
- IP68 water and dust resistance
- 4G LTE, VoLTE
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth 5.0
- GPS, GLONASS, BDS, Galileo, QZSS
- USB Type-C
- Dimensions: 131 x 64 x 9.3mm
- Weight: 135g
- Colors: White, Black, Green
- 2,500mAh non-removable battery
Whether you try to like it or not, it looks like the Sharp Aquos R2 Compact will stay in Japan, just like a lot of the company’s smartphone releases. So you might just want to forget that this thing ever existed.