I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Influence Central for Sprint. I received a sample device to facilitate this review. #SprintMom
I was so excited to receive the new Sharp AQUOS Crystal Smartphone- I’d seen pictures of it and it was BEAUTIFUL. But once I got it in my hands I was really able to take it in, and I was seriously wowed by the novel design, especially the size of the screen paired with an almost total lack of edges!
The AQUOS has a very innovative and aesthetically pleasing design, with a screen that reaches to both edges of the phone and up along the top edge. Watching videos on this phone is an experience- the lack or border really makes the videos pop, and the display quality makes the colors vibrant and realistic. Even though it’s a fairly good sized phone, with a screen size of 5 inches, it doesn’t feel too big and is easy to manipulate with one hand because there’s no bezel to add to the size of the phone itself.
Because there’s no sides or top to the screen, the front-facing camera is located at the bottom of the phone. This doesn’t present a problem for selfies because when you want to use it, the phone will prompt you to flip the device upside-down and take pictures that way. Smart! There’s also not a traditional speaker for listening to phone calls- instead, the phone’s screen will vibrate to create the necessary sound and you can simply hold the screen to your ear and hear the conversation perfectly. It’s even great in noisy situations- I had no problem listening to a phone conversation while at a noisy playground.
Sprint has included a new ‘App Pass’ feature that allows you to pay a low monthly fee to get access to their entire exclusive catalog of apps- another great, innovative idea! It also allows you to use WiFi for making phone calls and texts instead of using your pre-paid minutes, which can be a real money-saver. I know that my nieces and nephews will love this because none of them ever have minutes on their phones so they always use Wifi. The picture below is taken in low light at my second job. It was my first night dealing blackjack. What do you think?
The camera is a solid player for this price-point and takes nice, sharp images in bright to moderate light. It doesn’t perform as well in low lighting situations, but it does offer a lot of editing options, especially considering the price-point of this phone.
Over all, this is an incredible phone for a pre-paid phone at such a low price. The design it top-notch and I’m very impressed with the frameless screen and what that adds to my smartphone experience. It is fairly standard in terms of battery life, memory, processing speed, and software, but again, for the price and especially considering the smart design, it’s an amazing value.
I was going to wait until Christmas to give this one to my son but my husband told me that my readers would probably love to see the goofy faces he was sure to make while opening it. Here he is thinking he has all kinds of ‘swag’ now that he has such a cool phone. I had to convince him to let me borrow it to take pictures and try it out for awhile. He is totally attached to it and it has been holding up great to preteen constant use.
OMG he is so cute. I am amazed what they can do with camera phones these days. I am loyal to iPhone, but MAN I wish they had as good of a camera as some of the others lol
I hope your son enjoys his new phone. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the camera & larger screen size.
That’s a beautiful phone! We’ve been Sprint users for over 12 years. I haven’t heard of the App Pass before, but I’m definitely interested in checking that out!
Haha- he looks super excited! That really does look like a really neat phone – nice big screen!
Love how he loves the phone! The clarity of your pic playing black jack is awesome.
I love that he is having fun with the pictures. My daughter would LOVE a phone for christmas, but not in the cards for her this year.
Oh you got a handsome kid there! That phone looks amazing, the screen appears to go on forever!
I totally took an impromptu blogging vacation recently, too! It’s really nice to get to live out in the world without feeling tethered for a while 🙂 Having lots of new things to write about it always a plus, too! It sounds like you had a great time visiting with family and friends. Hope your eye is feeling better!