The year 2017 will go down in history for being the beginning of the end for bezels. Who needs 'em anyway? Samsung, LG, Apple, and others are doing everything possible to get rid of all that unused space on the front of their phones, but Sharp has been tinkering with the bezel-free approach for some time. Remember the Aquos Crystal from a few years ago? Now, Sharp has unveiled the Aquos S2, which bears a striking resemblance to the Essential Phone.

The Aquos S2 was rumored to have an in-display fingerprint reader, but that appears to have been inaccurate. There's a fingerprint sensor below the screen in a bit of bezel that has remained on the phone. The 5.5-inch 1440p display reaches all the way up to the top of the chassis, save for a cut-out in the middle occupied by the front-facing camera. This is what gives the Aquos S2 the Essential Phone vibe. However, the corners of the Sharp phone are not rounded but cut off. It's a strange look, but it's probably cheaper and easier to do.

This phone looks fancy, but inside it's relatively modest. There are standard and premium versions of the phone. Both include a 3,020mAh battery, dual cameras, and the bezel-free design. The cheaper model has a Snapdragon 630 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. The more expensive one includes a Snapdragon 660, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.

https://youtu.be/BJAYGhFnF_Y

The Sharp Aquos S2 is currently only on sale in China with a starting price of about $370. It runs Nougat, but no Google services because China. There's no word on an international release.