Skip to main content

Sharp jumps back into the phone market with a trio of midrange devices

Sharp is heading back into the smartphone market. At IFA 2018, the company announced three new smartphones for the European market — the Sharp B10, Sharp Aquos C10, and Sharp Aquos D10.

The new phones cover a range of different price ranges, and while we don’t expect them to make a huge dent in the smartphone market, they could represent a renewed push from Sharp to build and develop smartphones.

Here’s a rundown of the new phones and what they have to offer.

Sharp Aquos D10

The Sharp Aquos D10 is the most powerful model here, and like other new smartphones, the device features an edge-to-edge display with a notch up top and a small chin at the bottom. The display on the device comes in at 5.99-inches with a resolution of 2,160 x 1,080, and Sharp says that it covers 91 percent of the front of the device — which is very good, and a higher screen-to-body ratio than most other phones on the market.

Under the hood, the specs suggest that this is  truly a midrange phone. You’ll find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor, along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Thankfully, if you want more storage, you’ll also find a MicroSD card slot, which allows the storage to be expanded by up to 128GB. Powering all of this is a 2,900mAh battery.

On the back of the phone, there’s a fingerprint sensor, and a dual rear-facing camera with one 12-megapixel sensor and one 13-megapixel sensor. The front-facing camera comes in at 16 megapixels.

Sharp Aquos C10

The Sharp Aquos C10 is largely the same phone as the Sharp Aquos D10, though it offers a slightly different design. Unlike the iPhone X-sized notch on the Aquos D10, the Aquos C10 features a small bubble notch for the front-facing camera, similar to that found on the Essential Phone. The display on this phone comes in at 5.5-inches with a resolution of 2,040 x 1,080, but there’s a much larger chin, leading to a screen-to-body ratio of 87.5 percent. That chin does serve a purpose here — the device has a fingerprint sensor on the front.

Under the hood, like the Aquos D10, the phone features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage — with a MicroSD card slot to expand the storage by up to 128GB. There is, however, a slightly smaller battery in this device, coming in at 2,700mAh.

Like the D10, on the back of the phone you’ll find a dual-sensor camera, with the primary sensor coming in at 12 megapixels and the secondary sensor sitting at 8 megapixels. The front-facing camera is an 8-megapixel sensor.

Sharp B10

Last but not least is the Sharp B10, which is the lowest-end of the three phones. The device lacks an edge-to-edge design, and the 5.7-inch display comes in with a resolution of 1,440 x 720 pixels. On the back, you’ll find a fingerprint sensor and a horizontally aligned dual-sensor camera.

Under the hood, the phone features a MediaTek MTK6750T processor, coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. There’s also a MicroSD card slot here — and it supports up to 128GB of additional storage. The battery is a hefty 4,000mAh, which should help the phone last quite a while on a charge.

The camera on the phone is a dual-sensor, with the primary sensor coming in at 13 megapixels and the secondary sensor at 8 megapixels. The front-facing camera comes in at 13 megapixels.

Not much is known about the pricing and availability of these phones just yet, but we’ll update this story when we hear more.

Christian de Looper
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
I record interviews for work. These are my favorite free recorder apps
The iPhone 14 Pro and Google Pixel 7 Pro's voice recording apps running together.

The Voice Recorder app on a phone (left) and the Voice Memos on another phone Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Before you head to the app store on your phone to buy a voice-recording app, take a moment to consider the apps that may already be installed on your phone. Why? In my experience, they're likely all you really need. I’ve recorded interviews and voice-overs for work for years, and I’ve found the two best examples come preinstalled on your phone already, so they’re entirely free to use.

Read more
The best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 cases: 10 best ones so far
Two Galaxy Z Fold 5 phones next to each other -- one is open and one is closed.

Samsung’s next-generation foldable is here with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. This iteration has some notable improvements, including a new hinge design that eliminates the gap from previous generations when the device was folded. You also get a 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the outside while having a 6.7-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the inside, with both screens having a 120Hz refresh rate. In other words, they're about as nice as you could ask for.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is made with premium materials, and the triple-lens camera system packs in a 50MP main shooter, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide lens. There’s a 10MP selfie camera on the front cover, and a 4MP camera on the inner display. You also get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip inside for the best performance and power efficiency.

Read more
Google Pixel Tablet just got its first big discount and it’s worth a look
Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

Tablets are a dime-a-dozen these days, with offerings from all the great brands including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and more. So, if you really want to stand out in a sea of similar tech, you need to do things a little differently. That's what Google's Pixel Tablet offers. How? It comes with a unique speaker dock that can be used to both charge the device and offer room-filling sound -- almost like a smart speaker add-on. Better yet, when your Pixel Tablet is docked it benefits from the Hub Mode, turning the device into a smart display, with digital photo frame support, smart home controls, and hands-free Google functionality. Of course, it could set you back at full price, normally $499 unless you find it included in a roundup of the best Google Pixel deals. Well, guess what? Thanks to a Best Buy Google Pixel Tablet deal, you can get it today for $439 and save $60. Hurry, though, it's part of Best Buy's recent 48-hour sale so it won't stick around for long.

Why you should buy the Google Pixel Tablet
Okay, okay, so in our Google Pixel Tablet review, Joe Maring did give it less than stellar remarks, but he called out its reliable fingerprint sensor, comfortability during use and excellent speaker dock. Honestly, how many tablets come with a matching speaker dock that transforms the entire experience? This tablet also marks a "lot of firsts" for Google, as it's the first tablet from the company in nearly five years, the first Android tablet in eight years, and can be converted into a smart home display with the speaker dock. All of which are notable milestones.

Read more