French device maker Archos was producing tablets before they were cool… but the company’s recent offerings have been largely underwhelming. But Archos does seem to have big plans for Mobile World Congress.
The company will be showing off two new smartphones with premium specs and affordable price tags.
Archos Diamond 2 Note
This model has a 6 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel IPS display with a bezel slim enough for Archos to say the phone has a borderless screen.
The Archos Diamond 2 Note also has a MediaTek Helio X10 octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 3,600 mAh battery plus a fast-charging feature that lets you get an 80 percent charge by plugging in the phone for about 45 minutes.
Other features include a 16MP rear camera and 8MP front-facing camera with an 84 degree lens
The Diamond 2 Note is expected to ship with Android 6.0, and Archos says it features stock Android software, with no added customizations.
It’s not clear if this phone will be available in the US when it goes on sale in May. But Archos says it’ll sell for £249 in the UK or about 350 Euros in other parts of Europe.
That’s about $350 – $390 in US dollars.
Archos Diamond 2 Plus
Despite the Plus name, this model is actually a little smaller than the Diamond 2 Note. It has a 5.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS display, a MediaTek Helio P10 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage.
The phone has a 20.7MP rear camera and an 8MP front-facing camera, a fingerprint sensor, and a USB Type-C connector.
It’ll also come with stock Android 6.0 software.
Archos says the Diamond 2 Plus will sell be available in May for £199 or 300 Euros (about $285 to $320)
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15 Comments on "Archos unveils two phones with premium specs, mid-range prices"
Brad, I would be extremely interested in seeing you review these. The “plus” looks like a grrat value on paper
MicroSD slots? How does that MediaTek compare performance-wise to similar Qualcomms?
MTK are usually more locked-down than Qualcomm, when you buy a Mediatek phone you’re most likely guaranteed to stick with the stock OS.
Other than that they are a sound investment, as long as the OEM optimises their firmware
the xelio x10 performs somwhere near the SD801
http://www.androidauthority.co…
Is the Note another rebrand of the Gionee Elife e8 http://www.gsmarena.com/gionee… ?
That one has been making the rounds, I think BLU has it too ?
Archos has historically been always slightly behind the times and released hardware that has been slightly (or significantly) behind the current iteration of available hardware. However, the stuff usually has been decent enough that, as long as you are aware of it, worth getting if the price is right. Hard to compare with current gen hardware though.
Archos has always been the first out with everything. They were the first tablet. The first PMP. The first Android tablet. The first 10.1″ tablet. The first 7″ tablet. Etc etc. More than 10 years ago I had my Archos pocket Linux Wi-Fi device with 500GB storage and it was cheap. Now you can’t even get 128GB unless you pay a fortune.
Gee, I don’t think you can actually buy Archos stuff anymore – outside France anyway.
They sell millions of devices per year all over Europe.
really? eastern or western eu?
Because in romania, archos left years ago…… high prices for cheap devices
no idea how Archos stays in business. they just shovel out mediocre crap.
yes, please try to get a review Diamond 2 Plus. The hardware is definitely very good for the price.
Looks nice although that company doesn’t have a good reputation for quality.fast charging is a great feature much more input than wireless
I would buy the note if it were reliable and worked, it had exactly the right features with the exception of removable battery
Why are the images so low resolution?