Archos 5 Internet tablet with Android (32GB) Review
Archos 5 internet tablet is specially designed for hard-core digital media lovers. It has got lot of features in its kitty. It features huge 4.8-inch screen, integrated GPS, FM transmitter, 720p HD video playback. It is the main competitor for Apple’s iPod, iPad and Zune HD. It is the gadget for those who demands more technical features, it satisfies all of them.
Design
Archos 5 is gorgeous and nicely designed phone. It had overcome the main design complaints over its predecessor and it has been enhanced to give new innovative look. It has a built-in kickstand which projects out from the back, a good feature; it is very convenient for watching more or lengthy videos. It measures 5.5inch wide, 3” tall and relatively slim 0.4” thick. Archos 5 is fits very nicely in the pocket and it also gives sturdy feeling in the hand as well. This time, Archos comes with microUSB port to sync with PCs. Dock connections provided at the bottom facilitates the compatibility for accessories like battery packs and media docks.
Features
The Archos 5 is packed with lots many features. The advanced features include GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, but lower end features like an speaker, FM radio/transmitter, microphone, and accelerometer.
The Archos 5 as an “internet Tablet”, provides Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n). Bluetooth streams the audio very nicely onto the wireless headset; it offers good range and as well as best audio quality. It also comes with extra Bluetooth 2.0, such as, EDR, AVRCP, and HID, which has the capacity to extend beyond basic A2DP audio streaming feature. It also let you to join the Archos 5 with your cell phones for cellular data communication. It has built-in advance GPS system User can avail complete NDrive GPS navigation system for just one time fee of $39. GPS capabilities are accurate, in-depth coverage, offer turn-by-turn driving directions. But occasionally it takes lot of time to get to the selected point. It has FM radio with RDS feature. It also included with a microphone and integrated speaker.
The Archos 5 has good multimedia player which support WMV, WMV HD, MPEG4, MPEG-2, AVI, MKV, h.264, and Flash video content, many of which support resolutions up to 720p HD-quality. Multimedia player also supports the audio player formats like AAC, WMA (including DRM-protected files), MP3, Ogg, FLAC, and WAV files. Archos 5 comes with new album art grid view, which lets you view over all music collection. It is very pretty with nicely designed icons and good animations. The Photo viewer in the Archos 5 supports popular picture formats like BMP, JPEG and GIF. It can be sync using microSD card, optional picture transfer protocol (PTP). It offers convenient, wide screen, digital photo album and but navigation is not so user friendly. Zooming and re-sizing of the photos are not possible here. Loading of the thumbnails are sluggish.
The Archos 5 comes with Android Web browser included which provides very good mobile Internet experience. As Flash Light is present outside the android web browser; many services and websites are incompatible. Occasionally, even online radio stations like Pandora, Last and Slacker faced the same problem of incompatibility. It supports streaming of audio & video to local PCs using windows’ Universal Plug and Play’ protocol. A media club provides thee directories for web radio and web TV. The Archos also supports Flash games and Playin’ TV games. You have the download option to download more games.
Android
The Archos 5 is operated on Android platform, which has lot of built-in android apps, which offer greater extendibility and flexibility. The Archos 5 has android apps like Wikipedia, Moov, Twitter, Youtube, Craigslist, High Paying Jobs, a ThinkFree app for viewing PDF and Office documents, LinkedIn, Yellowbook and much more. It also comes with media apps such as Deezer and Dailymotion. With the inclusion of Android web browser and email, facilitate easier and faster surfing. But it doesn’t support zooming, multitouch, no predictive key entry. Cut-copy-paste is really difficult to execute.
Performance
The Archos 5 has Lithium-Po (1000 mAh) powered battery. With Bluetooth & Wi-fi deactivated, it offers good battery life, Up to 7 hours of video playback, 22 hour on music play and Up to 300 hours on stand by. Both Audio and video quality are unexceptional.
Final Word
The Archos 5 is coming with lot of features like GPS, good multimedia capabilities which supports most video formats like MKV, DivX, XviD and h.264, good sync features, lot of android apps, good battery life, impressive large screen with good resolution, good connective features like Bluetooth and Wi-fi. Its web browser’s flash has to be made much more compatible and convenient. It comes at a price of $355-$399.
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