Archos 80钛平板测评

Software

The Archos 80 Titanium is based on the operating system Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which enables user-friendly and pretty smooth operation of the tablet. The device has full access to the Google Play Store and comes with some preinstalled apps like Office Suite - to read office-documents, News Republic for news from all around the globe as well as the app Brief me, which bundles Facebook, Twitter and news feeds.

Communication & GPS

The tablet is WLAN-ready (802.11 b/g/n). However, the reception is pretty weak from time to time and somewhat "inconstant". The user also has to live without data transfer via Bluetooth as well as a modem to use the internet on the road. A GPS module is also not integrated. Here Archos only offers meager standard.

Accessories

Next to a manual the box contains a power supply unit with three different connectors for use in other countries. They can be replaced with two steps. Otherwise there is just an USB cable. Archos offers optional accessories in its online shop, for example a stylus pen for the capacitive display for 14.99 Euros (~$19).

Warranty

In terms of warranty the manufacturer acts based on the law and offers a 24-month warranty, which is handled by the dealer.

The stylish Frenchman left a good impression so far, at least from the outside. But starting with the rating of the handling and a closer look at the input devices of the big brother Archos 97 Titanium HD, which was also good looking, it became evident that there were some problems with the "inner values". With the activated HD-Mode a smooth operation was hardly possible, neither browsing the Google Play Store nor relaxed web surfing were possible. All inputs were accompanied by annoying flickering and shimmering of the display.

So how does the new 8-inch device, which waives the HD-Mode completely, perform in this regard? Our determination: There is no criticism with the highly reactive and precise capacitive multitouch display with IPS technology. Inputs are recognized very precisely, typing on the virtual keyboard is smooth and precise. Even scrolling and swiping are very smooth; browsing the web with opening and closing multiple tabs is no problem for the Archos 80 Titanium either.  

Let us have a look at the 8-inch IPS display of the Archos 80 Titanium, which presents contents in a 4:3 ratio - the latter is similar to the 7.9-inch Apple iPad Mini. How is the brightness of the display with a resolution of 1024x768 pixels? Not bad at all, we determine a maximum brightness of 288 cd/m² and a minimum brightness of 236 cd/m² for the handy tablet from France. With these values it clearly outshines the larger Archos 97 Titanium HD. The 9.7-inch device from the Titanium series could not even reach 200 cd/m² with a maximum value of 193 cd/m².

But how does it perform compared to higher quality devices? If we consider the Californian handbag sized tablet as a reference, we quickly see that the Archos device offers good yet not overwhelming brightness values. The Apple iPad Mini has a maximum brightness of 363 cd/m²; with 100 cd/m² more it is clearly better than the French device. However, if we consider the price performance ratio, the Archos device shows solid results. After all the brighter iPad Mini is almost twice as expensive.    

The good brightness values of our review unit are accompanied by a similar good black value of 0.26 cd/m². Colors are rich and the high contrast results in sharp pictures. In terms of color brilliance and contrast the display offers solid results.

Despite the quick Mali 400 MP4 GPU gaming is not really one of the Archos 80 Titanium strengths. Less demanding games like Angry Birds run smoothly, even the racing simulation Need For Speed - Hot Pursuit runs smoothly, although the grainy graphics are not very enjoyable. All in all, the tablet can be used as a mobile gaming console. Most users should not expect more from the 8-inch device anyway.

Temperature

During daily tasks the Archos 80 Titanium does not even reach body temperature. We measure a maximum of 33.6 °C at the center of the lower frame, which should not attract any attention during handling. Even under maximum load with the App Stability Test (GPU and CPU) for at least one hour the temperature does not rise very much. Under load the maximum temperature is just 35.6 °C. In this scenario, for instance, the Prestigio MultiPad is considerably hotter with more than 40 °C.

Now we have a look at the performance of the lithium-polymer battery (we did not get any capacity specification from the manufacturer), which we determine with three tests. The maximum runtime is determined with a script that ran for 10 hours and 6 minutes with minimal brightness and deactivated communication modules before the battery of the Archos device was empty. In this scenario the iPad Mini with a 4,400 mAH lithium-polymer battery reaches a considerably longer runtime with 24 hours.

In the more realistic WLAN scenario, a more practical determination of the runtime with surfing via WLAN, adjusted display brightness and activated WLAN module, different websites are constantly refreshed. In this scenario the Archos device works for 5 hours and 5 minutes before it has to be recharged. The iPad Mini runs for 12 hours, the Prestigio MultiPad only around 4 hours.

Under load we determine the minimal runtime with the Stability Test with maximum display brightness and activated communication modules. Here the battery of the 8-inch tablet lasts for 3 hours and 5 minutes. 5 hours and 20 minutes is the runtime for the Apple iPad before the battery is empty. The battery of the Prestigio MultiPad only lasts for 2 hours and 31 minutes.

With these values the Archos 80 Titanium is in the medium range in our group of devices in regard to the battery runtime.