Minimal bezel, flagship specs, shiny surface, low price: it's the Elephone S8

This story is sponsored by Elephone. PhoneArena's opinions in this article have not been affected in any way!
One can argue that, in 2017, bezel-less is the new black. Well, nearly bezel-less — we still have some components in a smartphone that need a spot on the front, as well as something to grip the device by. Right now, we've got two movements — the “thin top and bottom bezel” design, which looks more or less like the traditional evolution of the smartphone of yesteryear. Then, we have the unorthodox, but cool-looking “chin only” smartphones, which have a very tiny window frame all around the display, save for the device's bottom, where a more pronounced part of the body sticks out and houses a physical home button, selfie camera, and other important stuff such as, say, a microphone.

What we are looking here is a member of the latter family. The Elephone S8 is what they call a “tri-bezel-less” phone — a device that has a slim frame all around the display, save for the “chin”. It is a glass-and-metal sandwich, with a shiny finish, designed specifically to shine through and give you a premium “bling” feel.

The screen on the front is a Sharp-made 6-incher and rocks a 1440x2560 pixel resolution for a 490 PPI density. As per manufacturer specs, the screen-to-body ratio we have here is 92.4%, which is quite impressive, considering the industry is currently hovering around the 85% mark.

But what kind of power are we dealing with? The Elephone S8 rocks a MediaTek Helio X25 (MT6796T) with a deca-core CPU, clocking out at 2.5 GHz. It's paired with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of onboard storage. A generous 4,000 mAh battery is in place to keep the lights on and the data / charging port on the bottom is of the modern USB Type-C variety. Unfortunately, it's one of the phones that took the courageous step of removing the 3.5 mm headphone jack, so you'd have to hunt for USB Type-C phones or dongles if you want to use your old favorite set of earbuds.

The handset is no slouch in the camera department, too — the main snapper is equipped with a 21 MP Sony sensor and a dual-tone flash, while the selfie camera has an 8 MP resolution for detailed shots.

Elephone has just kicked off the pre-sale stage for the Elephone S8. You can have the phone in either blue or black for $279.99, prior to any shipping or import taxes, of course. Actual devices will start flying out on the 26th of September.