Sharp frameless phone. Smartphone SHARP AQUOS S2 - upgrade and impressions
After all, only there you can buy the device that we will talk about today. Everything went well, the parcel reached me and today we will look at the Sharp Aquos S2. The model is very popular among those who like to order gadgets from the Middle Kingdom. Yes, the brand is Japanese, well known to everyone, but these devices are produced, as usual, in China. Among the mass of modern smartphones, the Aquos S2 really stands out; it’s like that alien who flew in from another planet to make a splash and show what a smartphone for one and a half hundred dollars should be like.
EQUIPMENT
Included we get:
— protective plastic bumper
- paper clip for tray
- charger for 5V and 2A
- USB-C cable
— adapter from USB-C to 3.5 mm jack.
FIRMWARE
SHARP Aquos S2 arrives from China with Chinese firmware. It has Russian language, but no Google services, and a bunch of Chinese software is pre-installed. It is advisable to update the smartphone to the official international firmware. The process of flashing the Sharp Aquos S2 is so primitive and simple that even a child can handle it. The international firmware itself can be downloaded from the w3bsit3-dns.com forum>>. When you turn it on for the first time, do not activate WiFi, otherwise the smart phone will automatically start downloading updates, but we don’t need that. Download the firmware as an archive and upload it to the smartphone’s memory, directly to the root of the disk. Next, open the dialer on your smartphone and enter the combination *#*#874#*#* and after that the smartphone will automatically detect the firmware and begin the process of reinstalling the software. All!
But if you have already connected to WiFi and updated the Chinese firmware, the smartphone will display a message stating that the archive with the firmware was not found. That is, he simply will not see the new firmware, because its number will coincide with the number of the current firmware. This is also not a problem. We just need to rename the archive with the firmware, replacing the number in it. For example, if we are installing the 35th international firmware, and we already have the 35th installed, but Chinese, we change the number 35 to 36 in the archive name, thereby telling the smartphone that here it is, a more recent firmware. Again we dial the above combination *#*#874#*#* and the smartphone will successfully begin to reflash. After installing new software, it is recommended to reset to factory settings.
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS
The first thing that makes the Aquos S2 stand out in the smartphone market is its size. Due to the very narrow side and top frames of the screen, it offers relatively modest dimensions: 142 mm x 72 mm, and it is also thin - its thickness does not exceed 7.5 mm (if you do not take into account the protruding camera), and the weight is small - approximately 140 g. Look how much smaller it is than modern shovels:
In terms of dimensions, the Aquos S2 is comparable to 5-inch smartphones, despite the fact that it has a 5.5-inch screen.
Yes, the glossy back panel is a minus for practicality, so if you want to keep its presentable appearance longer, you will have to protect the back of the smartphone with a bumper or case. By the way, the older version has a glass back, not plastic.
The ends are metal, as are the power and volume buttons. The tray is made of plastic, it is combined - either two nanoSIMs, or 1 SIM + memory card. Assembly without any comments. In addition to the blue color, the smartphone is offered in black and there is a cool white color with longitudinal gray stripes.
Yes, some people hate this design. But the value of this device is that it is not like most others. And wouldn’t it be cool if the Aquos S2 became another clone? No. And don’t forget that it was Sharp who set the fashion for this design, which later became known as frameless. And only then this trend was picked up by other brands. If the protrusion at the top of the screen, where the front camera and light and proximity sensors are located, is annoying, you can hide it using dark wallpaper. When watching videos and playing games, this protrusion does not interfere at all - the screen is simply cut off before reaching the protrusion. In addition, everything here is at your discretion - in the screen settings you can set the native aspect ratio of this display to 17:9 and then the picture will stretch to fill the entire screen. The choice is up to the user.
On the top narrow frame, the manufacturer managed to place a classic auditory speaker and even found a place for an event indication LED. The upper corners of the screen have bevels - again, this looks unusual. But if you are not comfortable with such bevels, there are many applications that can be used to make the corners of the display rounded.
To control the smartphone, there is a touch button under the screen, it is multifunctional: a single touch is “back”, a long touch goes to the desktop and a slow swipe to the side launches the menu of background applications. You can also activate on-screen buttons in the settings. And it’s not difficult to guess that the fingerprint scanner is built into the multifunction button: it is accurate, and its response speed is good.
DISPLAY
When you turn on your smartphone for the first time, you realize that the screen is gorgeous. He's such a guy that it's hard to find fault with him. FullHD+ resolution, comfortable brightness range, responsive 10-touch touchscreen and beautiful rich picture. Sometimes you even got the feeling that this was an AMOLED display - it was so rich and contrasty. But the matrix, of course, is IPS. The color rendition is correct, I don’t want to readjust it, but just in case, there are three presets in the screen settings - you can make the picture warmer or, on the contrary, cooler. There is an oleophobic coating on the 2.5D glass and it is of good quality.
HARDWARE
We are talking about the younger version of the Aquos S2, which means we get the Snapdragon 630, which is essentially an improved version of the successful 625 “dragon”: the same 8 Cortex-A53 cores, but with a maximum frequency of 2.2 GHz + Adreno 508 graphics. 4 GB of memory and this is dual-channel LPDDR 4 memory. The drive is 64 GB, of which about 47 GB is free. In the older, more expensive version, you get a higher-end Snapdragon 660 processor, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage.
The hardware is simply excellent for this price. In games he also shows himself worthy, incl. in the most demanding. Tanks (WOT BLITZ) can be played in many locations even on maximum graphics. But some cards have FPS drops, so it would be ideal to set the graphics to medium or reduced to maximum.
PUBG mobile set low graphics upon launch. Everything is playable, there are no critical lags. When playing games, the smartphone gets warm, but does not overheat. The maximum temperature recorded on the cores was 48 degrees.
SOFTWARE AND FUNCTIONALITY
The international firmware is based on Android 7.1.1, the shell is not standard, but quite convenient. The firmware is updated, I have the latest version 1-35F installed, released in March of this year. If any other questions arise, something is not clear, or something suddenly doesn’t work as you would like, you will find all the answers in the topic of this smartphone on the 4PDA forum - the model is very popular, has gathered a large community around it, with this no problem. And during my communication with the smartphone, I didn’t have any questions.
The audibility during conversations is quite normal. As for LTE frequencies, the main bands for us are supported. I mean primarily the 3rd and 7th bands. Band 20, as far as I understand, is not supported.
The Sharp Aquos S2 is excellent for navigation - the connection with the sky is good, there is GLONASS support. WiFi is dual-band, OTG works, but there is no hardware radio. Sensors are through the roof, including a gyroscope, magnetic sensor, etc. But NFC is important to many people these days, and this module is also present here, unlike the vast majority of smartphones in this price category. Google Pay launches on your smartphone and allows you to add a card. Judging by the reviews of other users, wireless payment works correctly.
Sound is not a smartphone's strong point. The speaker here is not bad and in terms of sound quality it can be compared with the speaker of Redmi 4 Pro. The sound through the headphones is very ordinary, without any frills. The downside is that there is no audio jack, so we connect wired headphones via the USB-C port, using an adapter from USB-C to an audio jack. By the way, not all such adapters are suitable, so you need to take care of your original cord. And no one has canceled wireless headphones.
CAMERAS
Dual camera, 12 + 8 megapixels, with phase detection autofocus, f/1.8 aperture, what sensors are used - I don’t have exact information. There are full manual settings, there are various color filters, etc. If you get confused, you can also install a Google camera here, thereby improving the results. In the video version of the review (presented below) you can see a detailed test of the cameras, where I also compared the Aquos s2 camera with the camera. In good lighting everything is fine. I am sure that this quality is quite enough for most users. At night, everything is also more or less worthy - it is clear that the sensor is decent and the optics are not the cheapest, of course there is noise, but there is not so much of it and they are not an eyesore.
It is possible to shoot video not only in FullHD quality, but also in 4K. The frame rate is stable - 30 FPS and the frame rate does not drop when there is insufficient light. The detailing is not bad, but one thing is missing - electronic stabilization. In addition to the lack of a stub, the video mode has another drawback - the quality of sound recording.
The sound in the video is recorded without low frequencies, which is why it seems somehow plastic and not saturated.
The front camera is 8 megapixels, f/2.0 aperture, decent quality, but there is a software flaw - the front camera takes overly saturated photos by default. This issue can be fixed through manual settings.
AUTONOMY
Battery capacity 3020 mA. Yes, with a FullHD+ display and such a capacity, the Aquos S2 does not impress with its autonomy, but I cannot call it a weakling in this regard either. An energy-efficient processor saves the day. As a result, we get just normal autonomy, which is quite enough for the whole day with moderate use of the smartphone. For 3 hours of playing a video on YouTube via WiFi in 720p quality, 32% of the charge was consumed, which is equal to about 11% per hour. This is about the same result as or. The smartphone sleeps well and does not drain the battery in standby mode. With a native charger it charges 64% in 1 hour and fully in 2 hours 25 minutes. But the smartphone supports QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging, and if you have the appropriate adapter on your household, you can reduce the charging time.
VERDICT
So, if you look at the price of about $160 (at the time of publication of the review) and if you compare it with competitors, then I conclude that this is one of the best options. And for those who don’t need a big shovel, this is probably the only smart one. Yes, it is not ideal; I have not yet seen ideal smartphones in this price category. The disadvantages include the lack of an audio jack, the impractical glossy panel on the back with a protruding camera, and I would like the sound when recording video to be better. To whom all this is critical, let’s pass by. But otherwise the smartphone is cool. It is not like its competitors, its appearance is original, it is convenient due to its size, it has a gorgeous screen, the processor gives decent performance, there is a lot of memory, and the camera does not let us down. And many will pay attention to it due to the presence of an NFC module. And for those who consider its appearance somehow awkward, there is a huge selection of smartphones of the same type.
WHERE TO BUY SHARP AQUOS S2:
SAVE WITH CASHBACK:
VIDEO REVIEW:
Review version for the site Mobile-Review.com.
Losers and lazy people can watch the video version of my review:
Hello friends!
To begin writing this review, I admit honestly, it was excruciatingly painful, for several reasons. Firstly, completely unexpectedly, our daughter’s godmother was offered a ride to the Black Sea tomorrow afternoon practically for free. To refuse such an opportunity would be the height of stupidity, especially since it had long been necessary to give up on everything and stupidly change the situation. Well, and secondly, looking ahead and actually revealing all the cards, I can admit that as a result the device turned out to be quite interesting, both externally and functionally. And now, when I already have the smartphone in my hands, admitting this, given all my mocking censures directed at the AQUOS S2 before, is extremely unpleasant.
It is worth admitting that the new owners maintained the intrigue until the last, without refuting, but also without at least indirectly confirming what all fans of the brand expected from the “new” Sharp, even taking into account the fact that the once head over heels of the Japanese company is now more than half owned by Foxconn.
Phablet Sharp AQUOS Tab SH-06F vs. Sharp AQUOS S2
...vs. Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3
I have already expressed my disappointment in the darkest terms more than once regarding the “full screen” of the AQUOS S2, which everyone believed in so much from the very beginning. The bummer that ultimately awaited fans of the brand is comparable only to the indignation over the very fact of the purchase of the Japanese giant by the Chinese. However, many have already even managed to come to terms with this reality. As for the “full-screen body,” the iPhone X, introduced not so long ago, fits this definition very well.
iPhone X
Agree, because visually its display occupies a larger part of the front surface than the display of the new Sharp. In fact, the difference in these indicators between the iPhone and Sharp is slightly less than 1% in favor of the first: 79.55% versus 78.51% (according to data from mobiltelefon.ru). Of course, no one will measure these ratios in everyday life. But the fact remains that in 2017 the main trend among flagship devices (and not only) is the race for maximum frameless facade. An excellent comparative table on this matter is provided by the same site mobiltelefon.ru (not as an advertisement, I was just too lazy to do the calculations myself).
A controversial point for me is the fact that the world has only now begun to offer frameless fashion. Let me remind you that at the beginning of 2014, the then Japanese Sharp was the first to present its revolutionary solution - EDGEST technology, which was used to produce several subsequent generations of flagship smartphones with three narrow frames on the sides and top. The pioneer in this direction was the Sharp AQUOS Zeta SH-04F. The peak of perfection was the hitherto unbroken record of frameless (not full screen) smartphones of the CRYSTAL series (Sharp AQUOS Crystal 305SH, AQUOS Crystal X 402SH and AQUOS Crystal 2 403SH).
Sharp AQUOS Crystal X 403SH
For a moment, three years have passed since then. It turns out that not so long ago, the Japanese continued to be trendsetters, but no one cared about that. All of these smartphones were sold exclusively in Japan (except for the AQUOS Crystal, which could be bought in the USA) and only a few knew about them, and most thought that they could only work on Japanese networks, which, of course, was a misconception. In addition, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the 3D promo images never differed in appearance from the originals. That is, the frames of live devices remained the same in thickness as those of advertising photographs, and not as is the case now in most cases. By the way, Foxconn decided to make full use of this subtle marketing trick in the case of its AQUOS S2. A small comparison below. On the left is an image from the official page of Sharp AQUOS S2, on the right is a real photo. Such actions on the part of manufacturers are designed to attract the attention of a potential buyer, distracting from the real picture. But what the buyer will say later, when he receives the treasured gadget, remains behind the scenes.
Specifications
On the technical side, the new Sharp AQUOS S2 looks decent compared to most of its current competitors. Do not forget that the smartphone was developed in parallel with the Essential Phone, in the creation of which Andy Rubin himself participated. Externally, the devices are very similar. Yes, in principle, approximately the same can be said in relation to most similar devices: Xiaomi Mi Mix/Mix2, Doogee Mix, Elephone S8, etc. Moreover, if you pay attention, in this format (equally narrow frames on the sides and top ) it is Chinese manufacturers who work. None of the market trendsetters from other continents offer such solutions. Somehow I've slipped back into appearance...
Operating system: OS Android 7.1.1 Nougat, Smile UX shell
Support standards: GSM, 3G, LTE
Dual SIM support: Yes
Processor: 2.2GHz/1.8GHz, eight-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 630/660
ROM: 64Gb/128Gb
Display: 5.5", FullHD+, 2040x1080 pix, FFD, 420ppi, 2.5D, 16 million colors
Main camera: 12+8 Mpix, CMOS, dual optics, 4K video recording, autofocus , two-color LED flash
Front camera: 8 Mpix, CMOS, fullHD video recording
Memory card support: microSDXC up to 128 Gb
Fingerprint's scanner
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac
Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging function
All aluminum frame
Battery: Li-Ion, 3020 mAh
Dimensions: 141.8x72x7.9 mm
Having many years of experience in creating and producing completely different smartphones, Foxconn-Sharp, as it seemed to him, put all the best and most advanced into his brainchild - a “unique” appearance and top-end hardware. In addition, Chinese marketers offer the buyer a choice of two versions of AQUOS S2 - with 4Gb RAM/64Gb ROM with an 8-core SDM 630 A53 processor and 6Gb RAM/128Gb ROM with an 8-core SDM 660 Kyro, respectively. But don't rush, that's not all. In addition to technical subtleties, designers suggest playing around with the color and material of the case. The device with a rubberized body will come in 4 colors: black, white, blue and turquoise. The company logo on the back will be applied with regular paint. This so-called standard version was not for sale at the time of writing this review.
But the top version with a glass case and an engraved SHARP logo on the back can already be purchased. However, here too there are some limitations, albeit temporary. At the moment (09/19/17) Sharp does not offer a 6Gb/128Gb option in white. But this color is often liked by those who do not want to regularly wipe the glossy black surface covered with greasy fingerprints of the owner.
In terms of performance, the Sharp AQUOS S2 is capable of satisfying the needs of any pervert. A powerful processor, tons of memory, a huge 5.5-inch display and a 3020 mAh battery will delight the most sophisticated user of flagship toys. On this thing you can easily launch and comfortably play any modern 3D games, overload it with a bunch of simultaneously running applications, or spend hours on the phone. He'll endure anything, the bastard.
In my usual mode (a lot of writing on social networks, phone and Skype calls, email, Excel spreadsheets), the phone holds a charge for at least 2-2.5 days, alternately using either mobile or Wi-Fi internet. The device supports the Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging function.
Considering that Foxconn is a Chinese company, it would be stupid not to equip the smartphone with a slot for 2 SIM cards. They work simultaneously. Traditionally, instead of one SIM card, you can use a memory card with a maximum memory capacity of 128Gb. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a card with a large capacity to test its undocumented capabilities, but something tells me that it will swallow it with pleasure, so as a result, it will be possible to spoil the shared memory with all sorts of photographs and videos for a very long time.
Equipment
Unlike Japanese mobile operators, who actually entered into a criminal conspiracy with manufacturers, Chinese businessmen have never skimped on a rich array of accessories, especially when it comes to flagships.
So, included with the phone we find:
Network adapter
USB-Type C cable
Audio adapter USB-Type C-minijack
SIM tray needle
Hard translucent bumper case
Instructions and warranty, printed on the cheapest paper
Like most manufacturers, Foxconn is gradually equipping its devices with a USB Type-C connector. This, of course, often comes with some limitations, such as the lack of a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack. A tribute to fashion, you ask? I think it's more of a technical need.
First impressions. Design
And this is where my cognitive dissonance begins. Thinking that the “new” AQUOS S2 is already a long time ago for me, taking into account, again, my more than rich experience with Japanese frameless Sharp smartphones, I understand that the sensations from its presence in the palm of your hand are truly new and, what is important, pleasant. It is incredibly light and compact. What I am used to seeing in third-party photographs and what I hold in my hand are completely different things. And I immediately like this thing. 140 grams does not at all correlate with the dimensions, which, it would seem, despite their not small indicators, are also pleasantly surprising. A 5.5-inch display, albeit housed in such a “frameless” frameless body, does not seem large. And then I come across the thought that it turns out I haven’t used frameless smartphones for a long time. This is incredibly convenient and this is definitely the very near future.
And here it is, another disappointment. As it turns out, you have to use not the case, but the display. And as soon as you start moving your finger across the screen, you immediately realize that for an ordinary housewife like me there is too much of it. It’s time to grow my fingers so that I can enjoy just such diagonals, but, apparently, it’s not meant to be. That is why the ultimate dream for me is still displays no larger than 5 inches.
For some reason, Sharp decided not to use the IGZO matrix this time. As for the picture quality, I personally didn’t have any questions about it. The 2040x1080p resolution is quite reasonable given the non-standard 17:9 aspect ratio. The display itself is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass, however, which generation is not specified. The glass has 2.5D rounded edges and an oleophobic coating, from which dirt and fingerprints are wiped off with the first pass of a cloth. Those who complain about the change in color when viewed from an angle, I wash my hands of this. In this case, answer the question for yourself: under what conditions do you look at the screen at an angle of 30 degrees? Well, that's what I'm talking about...
The screen performs great in the sun. Everything, even small texts, is readable perfectly. The screen can also be read without problems with sunglasses. I decided to mention this fact because... I encountered the opposite situation on my current Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3 - it’s simply impossible to see anything in the sun without turning on the special “Outdoor” checkbox. With sunglasses the screen is just black. I have to take it off every time to answer a call or write a message. Well, that’s a topic for a completely different review.
The AQUOS S2 feels comfortable in your hand, but its soapy shape can easily play a trick on you. The glossy surface and cold metal frame with smooth edges are traditionally the best reason to drop the phone from your hand. To prevent this from happening, Sharp suggested putting the phone in a hard matte case with sharp edges. In my opinion, this symbiosis looks poor and cheap. The whole meaning is lost in framelessness. It's like buying a red phone because you like it and sticking it in a black case. Stupid!
The matte case also effectively retains all the greasy fingerprints of your hands.
One of the frequent and logical questions that arises when looking at the facade of the AQUOS S2, as well as the Essential Phone, is the radical placement of the front camera inside the screen. The lens simply divides the top edge into two parts. Immediately upon closer inspection, you can see all the standard sensors above the lens. The solution is truly non-standard. Why in the minds of Xiaomi engineers and other companies the decision was made to place the front camera in the beard under the screen remains a mystery. And if you look at the frameless Sharp smartphones from the past, we will see exactly the same camera placement under the screen. The future will tell whether Foxconn’s idea can be considered a kind of experiment in the field of technology that allows the display to be given absolutely any shape. At least Sharp has already made it clear that this is technically possible. It is likely that in the AQUOS S2 and Essential Phone we are seeing the first commercial samples using similar technologies.
Is this spot noticeable when using a smartphone? Definitely not. You stop paying attention to it almost as soon as you start using the phone. It just becomes interesting to observe in what applications and under what circumstances the lens “cuts into” the image, and in what cases it is a harmonious part of the curtain with standby information or part of the black stripe, given that the screen has an aspect ratio of 17:9. I'll give a few examples below.
Lock Screen Screensaver
Fully opened curtain with functional icons
Camera operation in video recording mode
Camera in photography mode with screen width resolution
View photos in the gallery. Photos in 4:3 aspect ratio are displayed with black borders around the edges,
but when you zoom in, the camera “crashes” into the image
Playing widescreen video with a black stripe near the camera
The narrowest HOME button, with an integrated fingerprint scanner. For some reason, marketers decided to make this one of the features of the smartphone. The functionality of the scanner is standard and does not differ in originality from its competitors. The settings allow you to touch the button to go back a level, and pressing it throws the user to the desktop. This functionality is optional.
A barely noticeable earpiece, covered by a perforated grille, is very elegantly integrated into the corner between the top of the metal end and the display.
To the right of it is a no less aesthetically pleasing indicator light.
Hidden on the left side is a hybrid slot for SIM cards/memory cards. Sharp AQUOS S2 works out of the box with any telecom operators around the world. To do this, the system supports a bunch of ranges. No additional unlocks are required. As soon as the device picks up a cellular signal, the mobile Internet and MMS profile is automatically configured. There is no need to manually configure this menu item, as is the case with most Japanese analogues. The smartphone uses nano SIM cards.
The smartphone body is not protected from water or dust. So be careful with liquids. At the bottom end, behind grilles symmetrical with respect to the USB connector, a microphone and speaker are hidden.
The chrome on/off and volume buttons are partially painted in the color of the body. Looks nice.
Bitterness and resentment! I personally, and I’m sure that many others, are upset by such anti-elegant elements of phone exteriors, such as camera lenses sticking out impractically from the body. AQUOS S2 has an incredible amount of this. It seems that this artifact was emphasized deliberately. Yes, I agree that the thickness of the smartphone tends to be record thin, but the decision made regarding the pair of lenses makes me despondent.
The way and what the body of the smartphone rests against when lying on its back indicates that the point of contact will soon be erased. After all, sooner or later, small scratches and abrasions will begin to appear on the case out of nowhere. It's unavoidable.
The glass surface covers both lenses without breaking, i.e. The camera bulge is a monolithic part of the rear wall. It looks unusual. A kind of pimple on a smooth body.
As I already said, the back surface has a glossy finish and gets very dirty. You'll have to get used to it or put all this beauty in a case.
The SHARP logo is etched into the glass. Whether it looks expensive or not, I’m not sure, but one way or another, it didn’t evoke any special feelings in me, although it is presented as a feature that was awarded to the expensive version of AQUOS S2.
Camera
In order not to describe in detail one of the best cameras in the entire history of the creation of smartphones by Sharp, including the period when it was in the hands of Chinese owners, it is better to immediately point out the disadvantages. The main disadvantage I discovered was the lack of any stabilization. If you can somehow fix your hands during photography, it is extremely difficult to do this during video shooting. Below, using the example of 4K video, you can clearly see why at least optical stabilization is needed, and even more so in flagship models.
I carefully searched all the camera settings menus, but I couldn’t find anything related to image stabilization.
It’s still not clear to me how to change the size of a photo. The default is the highest resolution. There are three image formats: full screen, standard and square. You cannot make any other changes to the image size. At least I didn’t even find such an item. In any case, if absolutely necessary, all these shortcomings can be eliminated by installing a suitable third-party camera application.
As for the quality of photos and videos, here I personally saw a huge leap forward, even compared to current flagships released for the Japanese operator market. Firstly, it is more realistic color rendition. Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to compare the results of the AQUOS S2 cameras and the most current AQUOS R for Japan at the moment. Therefore, I will not rashly declare the victory of the Chinese Sharp.
The maximum photo resolution on the AQUOS S2 camera is 4032x3024p. Maximum video resolution is 4K (3840x2160p) at 30 fps, with stereo sound (96 kbps). MP4 file extension.
The second lens is only needed to blur the background (Bokeh level). Examples of photos below. The LED flash can work as a flashlight. The corresponding button is in the set of icons in the top curtain.
Having bought most of Sharp Corporation, the Chinese giant Foxconn began to think about what to do with its mobile division. First, InFocus smartphones began to be released under the Japanese brand, and last year timid attempts began to release something more interesting. They started with the Aquos S2 model, a device that tries to repeat and rethink the almost legendary design concept of EDGEST. This spring, Sharp Aquos S2 appeared on the shelves of cross-border trade stores with a very tasty price tag - about ten thousand rubles. We couldn’t resist and ordered a smartphone, and now we’re telling you about it.
Technical characteristics of Sharp Aquos S2:
- Network: GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz), CDMA (800 MHz), WCDMA (850/900/1900/2100 MHz), TD-SCDMA (Band 34, 39), FDD-LTE (Band 1, 3, 4 , 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 28), TDD-LTE (Band 34, 38, 39, 40, 41)
- Platform: Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Smile UX shell
- Display: 5.5", 2040x1080 pixels, 420 ppi, LCD
- Camera: dual, 12 MP + 8 MP, phase detection autofocus, 6 lenses, f/1.75, 1.4 micron pixels
- Front camera: 8 MP, 5 lenses, f/2.0, 1.4 micron pixels
- Processor: 8 cores, up to 2.2 GHz, 64 bits, Qualcomm Snapdragon 630/660
- RAM: 4/6 GB
- Internal memory: 64/128 GB
- Memory card: microSD (up to 128 GB)
- A-GPS, GLONASS
- Bluetooth 4.2
- Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), 2.4/5 GHz
- Fingerprint's scanner
- Battery: 3020 mAh
- Dimensions: 141.8x72.04x7.9 mm
- Weight: 140 g
Equipment and design
The fact that this is not a real Japanese Sharp, but a Chinese product from Foxconn, becomes clear as soon as you open the box. No, no, nothing bad appears to the buyer’s eye - on the contrary, in the unusually arranged red and white box everything is very neatly laid out and there are a lot of all sorts of accessories, although the Japanese prefer to include only documentation and a SIM needle with the smartphone (a couple of years ago even flagships were sold with this kit). Here, in addition to the Japanese standard, there is also a 3.5 mm -> Type-C adapter, a USB cable, a 10-W charger with a Chinese plug and a plastic case.
The case protects all the ends, the protruding chamber, and, thanks to the sides, the front panel. There is only one problem: the sides are made quite crudely. Because of this, using a phone with a complete case is not very pleasant.
The smartphone is available in four colors: blue, white, green and black. There is also a top-end version with a glass back panel in three colors (black, white, blue) and more powerful hardware. For some reason it is much more expensive than usual, and the differences are clearly not worth such an overpayment. In the regular version, the back panel of the smartphone is plastic, and it is glossy plastic. Despite this, the panel looks very interesting: a layer of unevenly colored plastic is hidden under a completely transparent layer, giving the visual sensation of a glass backdrop. I especially like the Sharp logo, which is applied over the clear coat and casts a shadow on the paint - a small thing, but it looks very cool.
No less curious – and indeed, much more curious – is the design of the front panel. As I already wrote, Foxconn tried to replicate the EDGEST design, only this time without sacrificing the placement of the front camera. A small-width cutout in the screen was arranged for her. You can’t call it an eyebrow, more like a nipple. In order for the screen to fit more tightly to the edges of the case, which would not be too angular, the manufacturer decided to cut off the corners of the display. Not to round it, but to cut it off – and this is perhaps the worst decision of the Aquos S2 designers. Fortunately, there is a program in the Play Store that allows you to round off sections (the chamfers physically remain, but software rounding appears).
Finally, below the screen, in the best traditions of EDGEST, there is a rather large chin. There is a fingerprint scanner (it doesn’t work very quickly, sometimes it asks you to hold your finger longer, but it recognizes even dirty fingers) and another Sharp logo. This chin irritates many people, but somehow I didn’t pay much attention. But what you pay attention to when using the Aquos S2 is the ergonomics. The smartphone, despite the 5.5" display, feels compact. It is very convenient to use with one hand. All the buttons on the ends are located in convenient places and are easy to feel, you don’t have to reach for anything. The phone does not slip out of your hands, for which we must say thank you the absence of an oleophobic coating on the back. Yes, because of it it is difficult to maintain the phone in marketable condition, but ergonomics is perhaps more important. The assembly is perfect.
The 5.5" screen of the Sharp Aquos S2 is made using LCD technology and has a resolution of 2040x1080 pixels (17:9, like in the first Xiaomi Mi Mix). The screen is good. The clarity is high, the brightness range is wide, the color rendition is accurate, although a little oversaturated. White color quite white, but the black lacks depth - it is much lighter than the frame around it.However, within the limits of LCD technology it is difficult to do anything about this.
Software
Sharp Aquos S2 came to us with Chinese firmware, which has Russian language, but no Google services. However, it is very easy to upgrade to normal software; we have published instructions. The offered firmware is even GMS-certified! As is often the case with Chinese smartphones, the “green robot” is not given in its pure form; instead, Smile UX firmware is offered. Chinese firmwares don’t often leave a positive impression, but I liked this one. I'll tell you a little more about it.
All application icons are located on desktops; there is no separate application menu. However, it is still possible and not even difficult to get into the full list of programs: when opening any folder of shortcuts, you can scroll left and right, getting into other folders, and the leftmost folder is always “All”, which is, in fact, the same menu applications. In the launcher, you can change the grid (4x5 or 5x5), block the movement of shortcuts, or press them to the bottom of the screen (convenient if the phone still seems big to you). HiBoard can be configured as the leftmost desktop - search by application names, contacts and SMS texts. A swipe from above opens a completely ordinary curtain, and you can swipe from anywhere on the screen. Among the switches you can find a button to capture video from the screen.
The multitasking menu deserves special mention. He has two modes here. In the traditional one, it takes up the entire screen, and at the same time about one and a half application previews are visible. In compact mode, four previews are visible at once, and most of the screen on which you opened the menu remains visible. This menu seemed to me much more convenient than the usual one, although this is a matter of taste, of course.
The standard applications are really standard, there is nothing to talk about them. There is a “Themes” application, but it constantly complains about poor Internet (apparently, it has difficulty connecting to servers in China), and therefore it is impossible to use it. Among the interesting functions in “Settings” we can note the selection of display parameters, the ability to set a graphic key for applications, useless gesture control features, the S Boost accelerator (it can defragment the disk!), the function of changing the locations of the navigation panel buttons, the button to turn off the RoboS smart assistant and others little things. You can customize how full-screen applications work at 17:9 - stretching or leaving the notch bar black. Partial-screen applications start exactly below this bar, and the status bar with them looks very wide and ugly.
The firmware has not been fully translated, but overall it’s not bad. Many points lack explanations. For example, I never found any traces of RoboS working, because nowhere is it explained what it is. Having turned on HiBoard in the launcher settings, I looked for it for quite a long time, thinking that it was a keyboard - if I had not accidentally swiped to the left on the left desktop, I would have written in the review that this thing does not work at all. In the status bar parameters, you can turn off some indicator, but something like that is not explained anywhere. And so on. But even without these mysterious options, Smile UX has plenty of interesting things. Foxconn was able to make some cool firmware. After the terrible software of the InFocus M810T, I am very surprised by this.
Cameras
The main camera of Sharp Aquos S2 is dual. The second module is based on an 8-megapixel sensor, but is only needed to blur the background. The main one is more interesting: a 12-megapixel sensor with 1.4 micron pixels, six-lens optics with an aperture of f/1.75. There is a flash: two-LED, two-color. The camera application has a professional mode with manual adjustment of frame parameters. There is also a built-in time-lapse creator.
But first, about the photographs. The Sharp Aquos S2 produces them differently depending on what you are shooting. Close-ups and macros come out great. But there are some problems with distant plans - the noise reduction begins to turn the image into watercolor, and the sharper unnaturally highlights all sorts of wires and boundaries. At the same time, Sharp's resharpening definitely works after noise reduction - sometimes it highlights the boundaries of watercolor strokes. But, however, all this is not too striking. If you don't look too closely, you'll like the pictures. Well, I can’t help but note the very fast autofocus - I just pointed it at the object, and it was already in focus. It's also worth adding that enthusiasts will be able to get a lot more out of the camera when using Google Camera.
The front camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels and somehow does not stand out at all. The camera, like a camera, takes quite passable self-portraits, although it is not easy to get your face into the focusing area. The Sharp Aquos S2 cannot be classified as a selfie phone. It doesn’t justify its cutout in any way – a nipple/pimple/well of this size could have accommodated a more interesting camera.
Very fast autofocus is also pleasing when shooting video, but somehow nothing else is pleasing. The sound is not recorded very naturally, there is no stabilization. But you can record 4K. The acceleration of time-lapses is not configurable in any way, but by default it is an acceptable 30x.
Performance and tests
The regular version of the Sharp Aquos S2 is based on the Snapdragon 630 chipset, accompanied by 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of ROM. The amount of free RAM after reboot is approximately 2.5 GB. If the built-in memory is not enough, you can insert a microSD memory card up to 128 GB, however, it will take up one of the two nano-SIM slots. Let's return, however, to productivity. Benchmarks:
Snapdragon 630 is a fairly powerful chipset, especially in terms of its graphics component. Many even demanding games (Injustice 2, Unkilled, Asphalt Extreme, World of Tanks) run on the Sharp Aquos S2 without any complaints with the maximum available graphics settings. Stuttering occurs in rare cases - for example, in Injustice 2 when first launching, when it seems to be caching something. More demanding games may lag, but there are very few of them and only flagships can cope with them.
Sharp Aquos S2 is heating up. Sometimes it gets very hot. I tried to play Air Attack 2 while World of Tanks was downloading and unpacking its cache, and it was quite difficult. The back panel is plastic, it doesn’t heat up too much – but because of it, all the heat is transferred to the metal frame, which you don’t want to hold on to. But, curiously, there is practically no throttling. AnTuTu did not notice a change in performance at all; GFXBench recorded a drop of about 12% 15-20 minutes after the start of the long-term test.
The battery capacity is 3020 mAh. There is a USB Type-C connector for charging. The specifications state support for Quick Charge 3.0, but the included charger is only 10 W. With normal use, the smartphone lasts for a day, but no more. The Sharp Aquos S2 will spend every night charging. Results in our traditional tests: full discharge when showing a video - 6 hours 45 minutes, discharge per hour in Asphalt Extreme - 19%. GFXBench predicts 268.5 minutes of gaming on a single charge, which is more optimistic than our test results.
The smartphone supports LTE, including many Russian bands. On the forums, many users complain about problems with connection quality and find solutions to them, but I haven’t even encountered them. (Update: as we were told in the comments, those who updated to Oreo have problems with communication, which is not worth doing.) There is NFC, which is still an infrequent guest in Chinese non-top smartphones, and can be used for shopping.
In this review, I propose to get acquainted with the “frameless” AQUOS S2 from the world famous electronics manufacturer - Sharp. The smartphone turned out to be a little controversial, but at the same time quite interesting both outside and inside, and this is even despite the fact that the Japanese “roots” have now become part of the Chinese company Foxconn. It is also worth noting that since its release in August last year, the model quickly fell in love with customers and continues to be very popular to this day.
One of the main distinguishing features of the Aquos S2 was the use of Free Form Display technology, thanks to which the front camera remained in its usual place, being “fitted” into the screen. I don’t know exactly whether it happened this way on purpose or not, but thanks to this, the appearance of the Aquos S2 is very much reminiscent of the Essential PH-1, with which, by the way, it is sometimes even confused at a quick glance.
In addition, despite the large 5.5-inch display, which occupies almost 85% of the front surface area, there is also a fingerprint scanner located under the screen. In general, the list of characteristics of the smartphone is as follows.
| Operating system (OS) | Android 7.1.1 Nougat |
| Processor (CPU) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 630, 4x 2.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A53, 4x 1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A53, 8 cores |
| Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) | Qualcomm Adreno 508 |
| Random Access Memory (RAM) | 4 GB, LPDDR4, Dual channel, 1333 MHz |
| Built-in memory (ROM) | 64 GB |
| Screen | 5.5”, IGZO, 1080 x 2040, 420 ppi, 1.889:1 aspect ratio |
| Screen area | 85% |
| Other characteristics | Multi-touch, Capacitive, Scratch resistant |
| Main camera | |
| Sensor model | Sony IMX362 Exmor RS, CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) |
| Diaphragm | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 4.28mm |
| Flash type | Double LED |
| Image Resolution | 12.19MP |
| Video shooting | 1080p@30fps |
| Camera options | Touch focus, HDR, Scene select mode, Panorama, Geotagging, Self-timer, Exposure compensation, Digital image stabilization, Continuous shooting, ISO settings, Digital zoom, Autofocus, White balance settings, Face detection |
| Additional camera | |
| Sensor type | CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) |
| Diaphragm | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 3.51mm |
| Image Resolution | 7.99MP |
| Video shooting | 1080p@30fps |
| Wireless interfaces | Wi-Fi 802.11b, 802.11n 5GHz, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, Wi-Fi Hotspot, 802.11a, 802.11n, Dual band, 802.11g, 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS+GLONAS |
| Mobile communication technologies | UMTS (384 kbit/s), TD-HSDPA, TD-SCDMA, GPRS, EDGE, LTE Cat 7 (102.0 Mbit/s, 301.5 Mbit/s), HSPA+, EV-DO Rev. A (1.8 Mbit/s, 3.1 Mbit/s) |
Battery | 3020mAh, Li-polymer, Fast charging (Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0), Non-removable |
| Sensors | Compass, Accelerometer, Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Fingerprint scanner, Gyroscope |
| Housing material | Aluminum alloy, Glass, Plastic |
| Colors | White, Green, Black, Blue |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) | 141.8 x 72.04 x 7.9 mm |
| Weight | 140 gr |
Packaging and equipment
The smartphone comes in a rather weighty, very decent-looking box made of hard, durable cardboard, the opening of which is also very unusual - like a matchbox.
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Appearance and controls
The first thing that catches your eye is its very compact dimensions, which in no way can be compared with the declared 5.5-inch screen.
When describing the location of the camera, it is usually customary to say “above the screen,” but in this case it would be most correct to say that the camera is located at the top of the screen in the middle, in combination with light and proximity sensors.
Above them, in the narrow space between the screen and the frame, there is a speaker, as well as a small, I would even say barely noticeable, three-color LED for indicating events.
 |  |
Below, under the screen, there is the manufacturer’s logo, as well as an oval fingerprint scanner.
At the bottom end there is a USB Type-C connector, an external speaker, and a microphone hole.
The top end is free of any connectors; the headset is connected via the same bottom USB Type-C using the included adapter.
On the right are the usual unlock and volume buttons, on the left is a combined tray that allows you to place either two nano SIM cards or replace one of them with a microSD memory card.
 |  |
 |  |
At the bottom there is the manufacturer’s logo, at the top left there is a hole for an external noise-canceling microphone, a convex “island” of the dual main camera and a two-color LED backlight underneath it.
 |  |
I think that the very fact of having a protruding part on the back cover of the smartphone cannot be called the right decision, but from the point of view of scratches on the protective glass of the camera, perhaps everything is not so bad - the camera is located in a small recess and will not touch the surface.
Display
The smartphone has a 5.5-inch screen. The resolution is a very decent 2040 x 1080 pixels for this size; it also claims 135 percent coverage of the sRGB color space and a maximum brightness of 550 cd/m².
After turning it on, you get the complete feeling that this is an AMOLED. Bright, rich color rendering by default goes into warm shades, which can be adjusted if desired using the available software settings.
 |  |
Be that as it may, there are no questions about the quality of the screen, the picture is saturated, there is a good margin of brightness, and at maximum angles the picture is practically not distorted. The screen also looks readable in the sun, even with sunglasses.
The display itself is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass with smooth curves around the perimeter (2.5D), there is a high-quality oleophobic coating, so dirt and fingerprints are not so noticeable and can be erased without problems.
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
The screen with a resolution of 2040x1080p is excellent for reading; with a density of 420ppi, pixels can only be seen with great desire and magnification.
Dimensions and ergonomics
As I mentioned earlier, the small size of the AQUOS S2 at first makes us doubt that it really has the declared 5.5” screen. To understand how compact the smartphone is, I suggest looking at it next to the full-fledged “frame” Elephone P8 with the same 5.5” screen diagonal.
The weight and dimensions of the AQUOS S2 make it quite possible to hold and work with it with one hand, but unfortunately the rounded shape of the body does not allow the device to “catch” reliably in the palm, it slides a little and you constantly catch yourself feeling that the smartphone might simply slip out and fall. The problem can be solved quite quickly with the use of a complete plastic bumper cover. By the way, it is quite thin and practically does not increase the visual dimensions of the device, but at the same time it has a positive effect on the ease of holding. True, I would still advise using a silicone bumper of this kind rather than a plastic one; it’s easier to remove and put on, and if it falls, it won’t crack, unlike its plastic counterpart.
 |  |
Operating system and interface
Sharp AQUOS S2 runs on Android 7.1.1 OS, and Smile UX is used as the main shell. When you turn it on, the system setup wizard prompts you to select a language, among the list of which is Russian.
Depending on the market, AQUOS S2 is available with two firmware options - Chinese (CN) and Taiwanese (WW). The reviewed copy was ordered from China, so it comes pre-installed with Chinese firmware with the CN prefix in the assembly name, which differs from the Taiwanese firmware in the absence of Google services, as well as the presence of a number of applications in Chinese.
 |  |  |
The next step is to rename the archive by changing the firmware number in it up by one, i.e. if the stock assembly (in the information about the operating system) is called “00CN_1_35H”, then in the name of the archive you need to change “...135H...” to “...136H...”. This is done so that the system accepts this archive as a new firmware version.
After its completion, the smartphone will receive international firmware with the “WW” prefix with a pre-installed Play application store and other services from Google.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
The standard functionality of a “clean” operating system is supplemented by a number of useful functions, including:
- ability to adjust font size;
- reading mode (the screen becomes yellowish);
- game mode for selected applications;
- controlling the phone using gestures on the screen, as well as changing its position (somatosensory movement);
- built-in ability to record video from the screen (including audio from a microphone);
- customizable optimization of system resource use;
- changing the position of virtual on-screen control buttons;
- Battery saving modes, including by switching the screen to black and white mode.
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |
The scanner itself works just fine, there are practically no false positives, the fingerprint is recognized regardless of the angle at which the finger is applied. The only remark is related to the drop in accuracy if hands are wet; here recognition is not always successful.
 |  |  |
How to round the corners of the screen
We must pay tribute to the Sharp engineers by making the corners of the screen matrix not rounded (like everyone else), but beveled, they were certainly able to attract attention, but I would not be able to say that this solution falls into the category of successful ones.
In this case, it just “hurts the eye”, you can certainly get used to it and after a while you simply stop paying attention, but for those who cannot come to terms with this, there is a special free application Rounded Corner, with which you can quickly and easily solve this problem .
Download and install the application, in the settings set the Size option to 100, and in the Corners section, deselect the outer buttons responsible for rounding the bottom corners and thereby leave only the top ones. If you wish, you can experiment with the settings yourself, but in the end we get a result similar to the one shown in the photo below. It is worth noting that if previously all the corners in the screenshots remained straight, then after applying software rounding the result will also be noticeable in the screenshots.
 |  |  |
Communications and wireless interfaces
The smartphone supports the following mobile communication standards: GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz), CDMA (800 MHz), WCDMA (850/900/1900/2100 MHz), TD-SCDMA (Band 34, 39), FDD-LTE (Band 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 28), TDD-LTE (Band 34, 38, 39, 40, 41).
The quality of the connection is quite good, the audibility of both you and the interlocutor is not satisfactory. If you still get the feeling that the interlocutor is hard to hear, the volume of the intercom speaker can be increased using the adjustment rocker, although this must be done without fanaticism, otherwise everyone around you at a distance of about one and a half meters will hear it.
 |  |
The positioning system supports both American GPS and Russian GLONASS. In addition, although it is not stated in the characteristics, my copy also detects satellites of the Baidu system.
System and performance
The hardware of this version of Aquos S2 runs on an 8-core Snapdragon 630 processor (an advanced version of the very popular Snapdragon 625) with a maximum frequency of 2.2 GHz, Adreno 508 is responsible for the graphics component, the amount of RAM is 4 GB (LPDDR4), internal memory is 64 GB, Of these, about 47 GB are free. It is worth noting that the advanced version of this smartphone has a higher-class processor - Snapdragon 660, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
The smartphone successfully passed the authentication test; as for performance, according to the Antutu Benchmark v.7 testing results, it managed to score a little over 88,000 points.
 |  |  |
More results from several popular tests.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Battery and autonomy
The smartphone has a non-removable lithium-polymer battery with a stated capacity of 3020 mAh, which even showed a slightly more modest result during testing. Of course, if we remember the high resolution of the screen, then such a relatively small capacity can already indicate in advance the low autonomy.
This would indeed be the case, but in combination with the fairly energy-efficient technology of the screen itself, as well as a very economical processor, everything turns out to be not as bad as it looked at first glance. As a result, in the mode of not very intensive use, the charge is enough for a day, but if you use the smartphone continuously with the screen brightness close to maximum while watching online videos, the battery will last for about 5-6 hours.
With the supplied charger, the smartphone reaches 100% charge in about 2.5 hours, but this time can be reduced slightly if you use “fast charging”.
Cameras
The main camera with a resolution of 12 megapixels is built on a Sony IMX362 Exmor RS sensor, the aperture is F/1.75, and the pixel size is 1.4 microns. The second, dual module has a resolution of 8 megapixels (used to create a “bokeh” background blur effect). The front camera is also 8 megapixel.
By the way, the Sony IMX362 Exmor RS sensor is very famous and does not need too much introduction. The camera has very realistic color reproduction, the maximum photo resolution is 4032x3024px, the maximum video resolution is 4K (3840x2160p) at 30 fps, with stereo sound (96 kbps). File extension – mp4. The LED backlight, like most modern smartphones, can work as a flashlight (activated using the button in the top “curtain”).
In addition to the automatic mode, the built-in camera app supports most of the manual settings you need, and there are a variety of color filters, editing options, and on-the-fly overlays and photo collage creation, including an option to automatically crop an object to place it on a different background.
 |
 |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
A few examples of photos taken in cloudy weather. By default, each photo is marked with a watermark, but this feature can be disabled through the settings menu if desired.
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
The smartphone also performed quite well in terms of the now popular background blur effect. No, of course, not everything is perfect here, the camera often makes mistakes, but this still cannot be compared with most budget dual-camera cameras, where blur is stupidly applied to everything that is not in the center of the picture and extends beyond a certain radius.
The degree of blur can be adjusted independently, thereby achieving a completely tolerable and interesting result.
For example, this is what the effect looks like at medium settings. Below you can see that the automation tried to smear everything that goes beyond the outline of the bench, but still blurred the image a little in the upper part.
For comparison, three photos of the same object (from left to right) with no blur at all, with blur at medium and at maximum value.
 |  |  |
The quality of the images is very good, I was especially pleased with the realistic color rendition, but unfortunately, due to the lack of autofocus on the front camera, the sharpness sometimes leaves much to be desired.
If desired, full-size originals of the above photographs can be downloaded.
As for shooting video, despite a good camera, the recording quality will suffer greatly when shooting handheld, since the smartphone does not have a built-in stabilization system. If, when taking photographs, given the amazing speed, this factor does not matter much, because... The pictures still turn out clear, but when shooting video, any shaking will be very noticeable.
Conclusion
Of course, as noted earlier, the smartphone is not perfect and has a number of disadvantages, such as the lack of a 3.5 mm audio jack, a protruding rear camera, lack of stabilization when recording video, and a relatively small battery. But nevertheless, if we remember all the advantages of the AQUOS S2, which include compact dimensions, a magnificent screen, quite powerful hardware, the presence of so many missing NFC, an excellent camera, a somewhat unusual appearance, and also look at the price that lies in the “less than $200” segment, we can conclude that this model is one of the best options today.
It is made unlike its competitors and has an original appearance, which of course may seem awkward to many, but this is also attractive.
At the time of writing this review, the cost of the Sharp AQUOS S2 in blue was $159.
The advanced version with a Snapdragon 660 processor, 6/128 GB of memory and a glass cover cost $255
Thank you for your attention and good luck to everyone!
On Tuesday, August 8, Sharp announced the Aquos S2 smartphone, which features a frameless display, an ultra-narrow fingerprint scanner and a dual main camera.
The screen of the new product is made using Free Form Display technology, thanks to which the manufacturer cut off the two upper corners and made a cutout for the front camera.
The 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 2040 × 1080 pixels, 550 nits brightness and 135% sRGB color space coverage occupies almost 85% of the front surface of the device. At the bottom there is a fingerprint scanner with a width of only 3.6 mm, which, according to the developers, is a record low. The phone body is covered with 3D glass and metal edging.
Sharp Aquos S2 is positioned as the first smartphone running the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor. This single-chip system contains eight processing cores with a clock frequency of up to 2.2 GHz and an Adreno 508 graphics unit. The device will also be offered in a version with an eight-core Snapdragon 660 chip.
The amount of RAM can be 4 or 6 GB, the capacity of the built-in flash drive is 64 or 128 GB. It is possible to connect removable microSD memory cards to the slot, where a SIM card is also inserted.
The rear camera is characterized by a 12-megapixel main image sensor and an 8-megapixel additional one, f/1.75 aperture, dual LED flash and phase detection autofocus. For the front camera, the manufacturer chose an 8-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 aperture.
Product dimensions 141.8 × 72.04 × 7.9 mm, weight - 140 grams. The handset is powered by a 3020 mAh battery and is controlled by the Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system.
Sharp Aquos S2 is available in black, white, blue and green body colors. The price of a smartphone in China will start at 2,500 yuan (about $372). The start of sales is scheduled for August 14.