You may remember the rumours of a $US99 Nexus 7 that were popping up a few months back. That never came to pass, but it looks like Archos is trying its hands at that pricepoint now with the new line of Titanium tablets, including a $US119 7-incher. And it feels… OK.
Archos has rolled out heaps of different varieties of tablets in the line, including the 7-inch ARCHOS 70 ($US119), the 8-inch 80 ($US169), the 10.1-inch 101 ($US200) and the 9.7-inch 97 ($US250). All of the tablets share basically the same core specs: dual-core 1.6GHz CPUs with quad-core GPUs, 8GB of storage (upgradable to 64GB by microUSB), lacklustre 2MP front-facing cameras, and they all run Jelly Bean 4.1. The Archos 9.7 boasts a 2048×1536 display, but the rest aren’t so lucky.
As for how they feel, well, they feel like they cost. The beauty of the Nexus 7 was its low-price point and smooth experience, and in that respect, the Achros 70 is no $US99 Nexus 7. While the performance seems serviceable, there’s definitely a certain jankiness to the scrolling, even on the home-screen. It’s workable, but clearly sub-optimal. The tablets themselves feel well-made, but there are little points of cheapness that stick out. The buttons, for instance, were somewhat loose and plasticky.
It’s hard to make a real judgement with just a few minutes of hands-on time, but I’m not going to let that stop me. It seems like the Archos 70 (and its kin) are pretty damn good considering their low price-point, but you’d get so so so so much more bang for you buck if you pony up the extra 80 for a Nexus 7. But if you can’t spare the extra scratch, the Archos Titanium line looks like a promising budget offering. But it’s just that: budget.