Sharp isn’t a name that is popular in the smartphone world, here in the West. But in their homeland of Japan, they produce some of the best looking Android smartphones around. The Sharp AQUOS Mini SH-M03 is the latest in their AQUOS line, which features a bezel-less display, just as you’d expect from Sharp. The company brought their AQUOS Crystal to the US in 2014 and it was available on Sprint as well as their prepaid brands – Virgin and Boost Mobile. The AQUOS Crystal had no bezel on the left and right sides as well as the top. With everything fitting into the chin of the phone. It was a pretty interesting smartphone and at the time, we thought Sharp might bring more of their offerings over here. They’ve pretty much kept that design here with the Sharp AQUOS Mini SH-M03.
As the name hints at, the AQUOS Mini SH-M03 is a pretty small device. Sporting a 4.7-inch display. This panel is of the 1080p resolution variant, and uses Sharp’s IGZO technology. Sharp says that this technology is more power-efficient than most LCD’s available today. Additionally, the specs inside include a Snapdragon 808, which is Qualcomm’s hexa-core processor from 2015. The same processor that has powered other flagships like the Google Nexus 5X, Motorola Moto X Style (Moto X Pure in the US) and many others. That’s paired with 16GB of storage and 3GB of RAM. Luckily the 16GB of storage is expandable using the micro SD card slot. Camera-wise, there’s a 13-megapixel camera around back, which also features a f/1.9 aperture. The front-facing camera is a 5-megapixel sensor. The entire body is waterproofed, rated at IPX68. Powering this bezel-less smartphone is a 2810mAh battery.
The Sharp AQUOS Mini SH-M03 is available in Japan now for ¥44,800, which roughly converts to around $436. Like most of Sharp’s other smartphones, it’s highly unlikely that they will ever actually make it into the West. A bit sad, considering a phone like this could definitely give the big-time Android OEMs like Samsung, LG, Motorola, Sony, and even HTC, a run for their money. As it’s a sleek smartphone, with relatively high-end specs, but it also has a small screen. Something that is wanted among a small niche of users, that most OEMs are ignoring, at least for now.
