As most mobile manufacturers move more and more towards touch, Sony is moving decidedly away from it. The new Sony Xperia Sola doesn’t have a touchscreen, instead this phone allows users to “float” one finger above the screen in order to click, swipe, and control all on-screen happenings. While innovative and unlike anything else on the market, this reviewer isn’t sure that Sony actually has an audience for the Sola device.

Seemingly, it would be on the annoying side of things to constantly hover one’s hand above a screen in order to get that screen to function. However, I do have to give Sony props for forward-thinking and creating phones that aren’t just iPhone clones. Still, I’m not sure about this whole no-touch screen (though it would prevent a screen from collecting a bunch of fingerprints).

Other Sola Features

Sony has equipped the Sola with a number of other features as well. If you like (or can get past) the hovering screen thing, you’ll find that the features Sony has included in the Sola are quite nice. These features start with a 3.7-inch display, the ability to use the Sony Entertainment Network, a 5-megapixel camera, and lots of other very interesting features. When looking at the recently released Sola video that Sony has put up on its site, it’s clear that the Sola is a smart-looking phone and a sleek one at that.

In fact, Sony has been putting out a lot of nice-looking phones lately. Thankfully, the Sola is not an exception to this rule as the phone is thin, easily pocketed, and does come with a brightly lit screen. Again, I’m just not so sure about the whole non-touch thing, but I’m guessing that Sony will provide some explanatory videos and commercials within the near future. Sony is expected to ship the phone within the next few months, and you will be able to purchase a white, red, or black Sola.

Is Sony Ahead of the Times?

It’s quite possible that Sony is ahead of other mobile manufacturers by creating the no-touch screen. Then again, this could be a gamble that is bound to flop. Still, it’s interesting to note that many mobile devices are moving away from fingers altogether. Even though Sony is the first to come up with the no-touch screen, various other mobile phones are now offering artificial intelligence apps or built-in AI like Apple’s Siri. All of these options allow users to skip finger tapping or moving around a screen using one’s digits. Of course, the new Sony phone still requires some finger movement (albeit the hovering kind), but the new Sola is still quite innovative.

Innovation counts for a lot these days. In a mobile world fill with too many phones that just look the same, the Sola is a breath of fresh air. Now, whether or not this phone will sell or find a market that needs this type of no-touch screen has yet to be seen, but, if nothing else, the Sola will be a fun phone to play around with when it does reach store shelves.