Sharp’s no-bezel smartphone is coming to Sprint

Sharp’s Aquos Crystal, a 5-inch smartphone that features hair-thin bezels on its sides and top, is coming to Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile. The launch — neither company is revealing exactly when it will be — will mark Sharp’s first Aquos phone release in the United States. The electronics maker has been competing in Japan’s smartphone market for years. Sprint says this is also a “a monumental step in the Sprint and SoftBank merger” since the device will be available across the entire company; it’ll be on Softbank in Japan, and on Sprint and its prepaid brands in the US.

On Sprint, you’ll be able to pick between black and white. But prepaid customers will only get one color choice: Virgin’s getting black, and Boost’s getting white. The Aquos Crystal will cost $149 prepaid, though Sprint is pushing potential postpaid buyers towards its Easy Pay installment plan, which will let customers buy it for $0 down and 24 monthly payments of $10. Aside from the truly impressive display engineering, there’s not much else about the Aquos Crystal that will blow anyone away. It’s a midrange phone with a 720 display and Snapdragon 400 processor. Music should at least sound pretty good thanks to Harmon Kardon’s audio processing.