I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Influence Central for Sprint. I received a sample device to facilitate this review.
Today I want you to take a walk with me — it’s the holidays; life is busy, and when life gets busy, I take a walk 🙂
For this walk, I brought along the new Sharp AQUOS Crystal smartphone as part of our latest Sprint Ambassador review. My daughter was good enough to plug it in and charge it for me (please tell me I’m not the only one who forgets to plug in their phone).
First, I should tell you that a walk for me never seems to be “just a walk”.
It’s when I go through my to-do list, try to relax and push aside the chaos, take photos of nature (something I love to do) and enjoy some music — you know, the kind I like to listen too without the kids asking me to put on their favorite songs 🙂
I also like to bring along a family member — ideally only one — so that we have a few mintues to catch up about life too.
And the best part about this phone — it can accommodate everything I like (and need) to do while walking!
A few details about the phone: Sharp is a company known for its unique electronics and this phone has some really cool features! The Sharp AQUOS Crystal is very sleek and fits nicely in my hand with easy reach to all the key buttons so that I can quickly flip through screens or adjust the volume using only one hand.
The first thing that caught my eye was the Next Radio app that was already pre-loaded. At this time of the year, I love to listen to our local Christmas radio station while I enjoy the lights in the neighborhood.
And I was just asking my husband if there was any way I can get radio on my smartphone (ha! obviously there is 😉
The sound quality of the music on the Sharp AQUOS Crystal is AAA-MAZING!
The smartphone includes Harman Kardon’s LiveStage with Clari-Fi Technology which provides a more lifelike headphone listening experience by adding dimension to the sound. Seriously, it was like Bing was crooning “White Christmas” right next to me!
With a nice large 5-inch edge-to-edge HD screen, watching videos is vey enjoyable — yea, my teen saw that and immediately wanted to pull up the videos. It’s really easy for two people to watch a video without being all squished together like we normally would on a phone with a smaller screen.
As part of Sprint’s offerings on this new device, the Sharp AQUOS Crystal smartphone will have the added benefit of running on the Sprint Spark network, which enhances the phone’s LTE service, allowing for high quality video.
The phone comes equipped with Google Mobile services including Google Search, Google Maps, Google Navigation, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google+ and YouTube! Perfect when you’re going through your to-do list like I do and need to make a few notes on the calendar or pull up your email to check an appointment time.
It’s also very useful when you’re on a walk and trying to help your child study for a test the next day (we do that all the time while walking) — it’s super easy to pull up the video that the teacher used in class.
The camera (once you can figure out which button IS the camera — in my opinion, they need to make this a little more obvious) has some neat features.
The one we like the most — you can swipe over the button to snap a photo — no need to actually press the button! This feature is called Clip Now and also saves the photos with an embedded URL for easy sharing.
And selfies just got easier too. The Sharp AQUOS Crystal smartphone automatically takes a photo when it detects a smile!
We always walk up to the lake at our local park. We were *hoping* to see the ducks and snap a quick picture of them but I think it was too late in the evening. The camera also has a “Night Catch” feature which brightens the subject and background for nighttime shots.
The ducks may not have been out but we still found something awesome in nature. We found this tree stump and took a photo because it will be perfect for one of our winter science discussions — can you see all those tree rings? They tell a great story! This is one of those nature shots I love to get while we’re out walking.
There are also a few unique settings on the camera — like two ‘Food’ settings that are pre-set to feature your favorite eats.
How about these pumpkin scones that just came out of the oven (notice that there’s already a few missing — they were so good, we couldn’t even wait for them to cool off!)
The phone is also able to make voice calls and send texts/messages over existing Wi-Fi networks which can be a great way to save money if you’re trying to limit the amount you spend on a calling plan.
Overall, it’s a great smartphone with some really unique features. Definately one that helps keep a busy mom connected with all the areas of life even while she’s trying to get some exercise 😉