Until two years ago, the concept of a notch was alien to most smartphone users. But it was with the launch of the Essential Phone and later, the Apple iPhone X that a lot of other manufacturers jumped the bandwagon with an intention of wrapping the blank areas on their smartphone's front sides under displays. The trend slowly trickled down from premium smartphones to mid-range and eventually to the even the entry-level smartphones. Even more, manufacturers have been experimenting with other designs like hole-punch display or even mechanized parts to avoid using large notches. Further, to capitalize on the idea of displays with the highest achievable screen-to-body ratios, companies have been choosing to install fingerprint scanners under the display, but Japanese Sharp is taking a rather radical approach with its dual-notched display on its latest flagship, the Aquos R3.

You may have guessed by now that the notch at the bottom of the Sharp Aquos R3 is meant to house the fingerprint scanner. So, if you ever wondered why Google added an option to emulate a "double cutout" notch in Android's developer options, here's the answer. The notch on the top is much smaller and is intended for the selfie camera.

Despite the peculiar shape of the Quad HD+ display, Sharp has upgraded the refresh rate of the display to 120Hz, just like the Razer Phone. This enables much a smoother interaction with the touchscreen along with much better gaming performance. To complement the high refresh rate, there's a Snapdragon 855 onboard along with 6GB of RAM for high-grade performance. Additionally, there's a 128GB storage but no expansion options.

For photography, the Aquos R3 features a 20MP primary sensor with f/1.7 aperture and it supports pixel binning along with a wide-angle lens that supports a 125º field of view. For videos, there's OIS while the selfie camera on the front supports a resolution of 16MP.

Sharp's previous flagship, Aquos R2, also had the fingerprint scanner placed in the chin while the Aquos R2 Compact came with a similar dual notch design, so this design may not be very surprising to those familiar with the brand. For most of us, it is since the sale of Sharp smartphones is limited to Japan. As for its price, Sharp hasn't announced anything yet. In case you're wondering about the hindrance that the dual notch might bring, you can watch this video to know more.