Sharp is the first manufacturer to introduce a smartphone with two notches. The second notch is located at the bottom and contains the fingerprint reader
Sharp has decided to embrace the notch design for its Aquos smartphones for a while now, and now it's taking it a step further as well. The Japanese manufacturer has just announced the Sharp Aquos R2 Compact, the first smartphone with two notches. The first, at the top, is that of the camera already seen in other devices while the second, at the bottom, houses the biometric sensor for fingerprints.
Smartphones with a "notch", i.e. the notch (or "notch" or "bezel") in the display that usually houses the front camera with its sensors, clearly divide the public in two: there are those who can not stand to see the rectangle of the screen "invaded" by this disturbing element and those, on the contrary, willingly accept it in order to have a larger screen that "embraces" the notch taking all the available space on the body. But a smartphone with two notches has never been seen before and, perhaps, it might not please even those who accept "notch smartphones".
How is the Sharp R2 Compact
What will surely please everyone, however, are the technical features of this smartphone from Sharp: 5.2-inch full HD+ display (resolution equal to 2280×1080) with Sharp IGZO technology compatible with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, 64-bit Snapdragon 845 processor with 8 cores, 4 GB of Ram, 64 GB of expandable memory up to 512 GB (with SD Card) and a 2,500 mAh non-removable battery. The camera department sees a 22.6 MP camera with 22mm optics and LED flash, optical stabilizer (electronic for video), 8 MP front camera with wide angle lens for selfies and plenty of artificial intelligence to digitally improve the quality of shots. From the connectivity point of view, then, the Aquos R2 Compact will have Bluetooth 5.0 and 4G LTE. The operating system installed is Android 9 Pie, which supports the presence of up to two notches. All enclosed in 131x64x9.3 mm and for a weight of 135 grams. The second notch that makes this Sharp smartphone immediately recognizable hosts the fingerprint sensor, but this device can also be unlocked with the face. The colors announced are the classic black and white, to which Sharp adds the green.
Smartphone features definitely good level, medium-high end, then. It will be put on the market in Japan from early 2019 and then Sharp will decide in which other markets to present it. Remains, however, the doubt about the design: the presence of two notches, moreover not equal to each other, strongly characterizes the design of this smartphone and may not be accepted by the public.