• Tweet

French tablet maker Archos is introducing a new line of mid-range Android tablets. The Archos Elements line of tablets will be “entry-level” products which don’t have all the bells and whistles found in the company’s higher-priced tablets.

The first member of the Elements family is the Archos 97 Carbon, a tablet with a 9.7 inch, 1024 x 768 pixel IPS display and an aluminum case.

It has 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor. It ships with Google Android 4.0, and it’s a Google Certified device, which means it comes with the Play Store and other Google apps preloaded.

You can pick up an Archos 97 Carbon tablet for $230.

At that price, the tablet is a little more expensive than the $199 Google Nexus 7, but the Archos tablet has a larger display (and slower processor) than Google’s new tablet.

The Archos 97 Carbon also has a microSDHC card slot, mini HDMI port, and a 2MP rear camera — all features that are absent from Google’s tablet.

The Archos tablet also has a front-facing 0.3MP camera, a mic, stereo speakers, a USB 2.0 port, and audio jack. It can handle 1080p HD video playback, and Archos claims the tablet gets up to 8 hours of battery life while playing videos.

Archos first announced plans to launch its Elements line of tablets a few months ago, promising to release 7, 8, and 10 inch models. It looks like the Archos 97 Carbon is just the first to hit the streets.

Archos also sells a line of low-cost tablets under the Arnova brand, but if the Archos 97 Carbon is anything to to by, it looks like the Archos Elements brand will offer more bang for your buck.

via Engadget