We've seen our fair share of budget tablets from the Augens, Cobys, and Viewsonics of the world over the last six months, but let's not forget that before everyone and their mother jumped into the cheap-o Android tablet pool, Archos was already in the shallow end with its own sub-$200 tablets. But, while the company was first to market, products like the Archos 5 and 7 Home Tablet certainly weren't anything to wait in line for -- they both packed slow processors, resistive displays, and ran outdated versions of Google's mobile OS. Whether it was the mediocre reviews or the competition coming up behind them, the French company knew it was time to step it up, and its Archos 70 and 101 attempt to right all those wrongs. The 7- and 10-inch tablet both have Android 2.2, 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processors, and capacitive screens. Oh, and don't forget the front-facing VGA cameras. With each ringing up at $299, has Archos finally mastered the art of the cheap tablet? Find out in our full review!
Archos 70 and 101 Internet Tablet review
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Gallery: Archos 70 and 101 Internet Tablets | 66 Photos
Pros
- Very thin design with built-in kickstand USB and mini-HDMI ports Over seven hours of battery life
Cons
- Discolored screen with poor viewing angles Performance can be sluggish at times Flimsy build
Look and feel
What does that mean in real life? Well, that they are much easier to manage than the other tablets out there -- the 70 is very comfortable to hold in one hand when reading a book, and the 101 is easier to handle than the iPad while lying down (although, you'll still probably want to prop it up more often than not). Speaking of propping up the tablets, both of them have integrated plastic kickstands -- the 70's extends from the right back side, while the 101's is centered on the back of the tablet. The one on the 101 can actually be extended quite far, putting it at a nice angle to type on. The stands, like the rest of the tablet, feel extremely flimsy -- these aren't HTC quality by any means (see: Evo 4G, HD 7), but it is really nice to have them integrated into the design, and it certainly saves you from having to pick up an extra accessory.
As we've already seriously hinted, the 70 and 101 look and feel very cheap. Both are primarily made of black plastic, though a squircle-shaped piece on the back, which is adorned with a white Archos logo, feels like it could be made of some sort of metal. And that's really the unappealing part of the designs: there are lots of different shades and types of plastic being used, and they both just look like a toddler that picked out their outfit -- mismatched and untidy. For instance, the bezels aren't flush with the edges and the material covering the edges is different than the one being used on the rear cover. Neither of the devices are what we'd call attractive, especially once they become seeped in fingerprints. We just don't have much confidence in the longevity of the device either. In hand, the materials feel far from solid, and even after wrapping it in a scarf, we worried about keeping it safe from bumps and bruises in our bag. While they won't be winning any design or durability awards, both do have a very well-rounded array of ports, including mini-HDMI, mini-USB, 3.5mm headphone jacks as well as a microSD card slot. The 101 uses its extra edge room to accommodate an additional full size USB port.
Screen and speakers
The displays are also both sufficiently bright; a 720p clip of Black Swan looked crisp and vivid. That was only when watching straight on or just a tad to the right or left of the screen, however, since vertical viewing angles are incredibly bad. Tilting the screens slightly off axis to about 30-degrees caused a ton of color distortion, and if you happen to be standing above the displays while they are propped up on the kickstands, it's nearly impossible to see what is on screen -- seriously, we've had to bend down just to select the home button. We have heard a few cases of people getting units with faulty screens or ones that may have been placed upside down within the unit, but thankfully, our review unit didn't have that issue.
Camera and speakers
Surprisingly, the speakers on the backside of the 101 and on the edges of the 70 are quite loud. The 101 seemed to blast out our tunes at a higher frequency, but still they are both decent for watching a movie. Archos does include a pair of standard 3.5mm headphones in the box, though you'll want to take the money you saved buying one of these tablets and get yourself a more comfortable pair of earbuds -- take it from our irritated inner ears.
Android experience
Other than that, the Android experience is well, you know, Android-y. There are no physical navigation buttons on the device, so Archos has added a permanent panel with Search, Home, Back and Settings buttons. For the most part those work just fine, though there were a few instances where we found the panel to be sluggish or overlaying an app. Speaking of apps, Archos has preloaded a handful of them, including Touiter for Twitter, eBuddy for chatting, and Aldiko for reading. The stock Android keyboards were fine for inputting text -- though, unsurprisingly, we were able to type at a faster clip on 70 as we couldn't thumb type on the 101's wider display.
Oh, and don't forget about Archos's superb codec support. As you'd expect from a company with deep PMP roots, the 70 and 101 support AVI, MP4, MKV, MOV, WMV, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, FLV, and loads of others. Both the 70 and 101 come with 8GB of storage -- there's also a 16GB version of the 101 and a 70 with a 250GB hard drive.
Gallery: Archos 70 screenshots / test shots | 15 Photos
Performance and battery life
Update: Turns out you can get the processor running at 1GHz by selecting the Overdrive option in Power Management menu. That should definitely speed up multitasking and solve some of the issues we had, but be mindful that this will also decrease battery life.
Battery Life |
|
Archos 70 |
6:00 |
Archos 101 | 7:20 |
Samsung Galaxy Tab | 6:09 |
Apple iPad | 9:33 |
Both the 70 and 101 provide some impressive battery life. One our video rundown test, which loops the same standard definition video at 65 brightness, the 70 lasted six hours while the 101 lasted seven hours and 20 minutes. That's not as long as the iPad's nine hours and 33 minutes, but it's still a solid showing and both will last you the flight from New York to California. We also found battery life to be very good during average use, but we encountered some issues with standby, so we'd suggest turning off the device completely when you're not using it. We should also mention that the back right side of both the 70 and 101 became quite warm while playing video or just running some applications. It's not totally uncomfortable, but you'll notice it.