Archos 5 Review

The new Archos 5 is the newest Portable Media player / Internet tablet on the block and is packed with a whole lot of features. It replaces the Archos 605 Wi-Fi as Archos’ do-it-all device and competes with the hugely popular Apple iPod Touch. It features a sleek new design, is fully touchscreen and has a large 4.8″ display for excellent video playback - which is its strongest point. It features a much refined interface compared to the previous Archos devices. In this review we attempt to find out if this is really Archos’ best device yet in this range.

Archos 5 Specifications:

• Display: 4.8″ TFT LCD at 800 x 480 pixels, 16 M colors, Touch enabled
• Processor: ARM Cortex TM A8, 32 bit clocked at 600 MHz, 32bit DSP at 430 MHz
• RAM: 128 MB
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g , USB 2.0
• Hard drive: 60 GB / 120 GB / 250 GB (2.5″ HDD)
• OS: Linux based
• Audio Playback: MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV
• Video Playback: MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, WMV, H.264
• Image formats: JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PNG, GIF
• Other documents: PDF, Flash
• Video recording: VGA resolution (640 x 480 px) at 30 or 25 f/s
• Audio recording: WAV format
• Transfer Protocol: Mass Storage Class (MSC) and Media Transport Protocol (MTP), Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP)
• Battery Life: 12hrs Audio, 4 hours Video
• Size: 127.5 x 78.3 x 12.9 mm (60GB) / 127.5 x 78.8 x 19.4 mm (120/250GB)
• Weight: 250g (60GB) / 300g (120/240)
• Applications: Email (POP/IMAP), Opera Web Browser with Widgets, PIM (vCard support), Calculator, News Reader.
• OS Compatibility: Windows (MTP), OS X, Linux (MSC)
• Accessories: Earbuds, USB cable, DVR station adapter.

Design and Display:

The Archos 5 has a new super stylish design with ultra sleek looks. It is way better than the bulky designs of the previous Archos devices. The body is almost fully made of shiny glossy metal that imparts a never-before-seen kind of sleekness to it. Though a full metal body also has some downsides - it is fingerprint prone. Also it gets scratched a bit too easily. The build quality is very good. The device feels sturdy and solid. It should be able to withstand light drops without any problem.

It sports a superb 4.8″ TFT LCD screen with 16.7 M colors which has an operating resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. The screen is bright and offers good contrast. The display quality is great and produces crisp images and accurate color reproduction. It is a glossy screen which provides for a much better overall movie watching experience. The sunlight legibility is average. It is a fully touchscreen display with superb responsiveness and sensitivity. It adds to the overall appeal of the device, after all touchscreen is in these days. The huge 4.8″ screen provides for a much better touchscreen typing experience than other devices increasing the typing accuracy substantially. There isn’t much to complain about the touchscreen display, it is almost perfect.

Interface and Multimedia Playback:

The Archos 5 has a superlative, brilliant and easy to use interface. It is a vast improvement over the user interfaces of the previous generation Archos players. The fully touch interface is too good and much better then the previous hybrid interfaces. It does have some bugs but those are paltry, and can easily be squashed out with firmware upgrades. The interface is very intuitive and would take just about an hour or two to get used to. You shouldn’t even need to look at the quick start guide. The interface has very neatly and logically organised options so you shouldn’t have any problem navigating through it.

Video Playback is one of the strongest points of the Archos 5. The video playback experience is one of the best in PMPs, with smooth playback and no lags. It supports the MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, WMV formats natively and AAC encoded audio and H.264 codecs can be purchased separately to enable their playback. It would have been great if they provided these codecs for free. Nevertheless, there is nothing to complain of in the video department as far as quality and playback is concerned.

The Audio playback is also pretty good with great sound quality. The quality may not be the best, but it is definitely near the top of the list. It supports MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV formats natively. Pairing it with good earphones, you can have a superb audio experience. The built in speakers leave a lot to be desired. They are low on volume as well as sound quality. The music interface is quite good and has all the standard features you would find on any PMP - playlists, tags, sorting etc. There are many EQ presets available with a custom five-band EQ and balance controls. You can also view images on it and they look quite good on the brilliant 4.8″ display with accurate color reproduction. You can also convert the Archos 5 into a DVR using the optional DVR station and DVR snap on accessories.

Transferring media onto the Archos 5 is a breeze as it supports both the protocols - MTP and MSC. You can use it with any OS - Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X or Linux.

Other Features, Battery and Accessories:

The Archos 5 comes with a customised version of the very famous Opera browser. It can be used to surf the internet over a Wi-Fi connection. The browser is arguably the best mobile browser ever and offers a browsing experience in the league of the iPod Touch’s Safari. The Archos 5 also has supprt for Flash content and PDF files. A beta email application is also pre installed and it supports the POP and IMAP protocols.

The Archos 5 comes bundled with all the basic accessories - earbuds, USB cable, and an adapter for the optional DVR station. There are many other accessories available which can be bought - a DVR station, DVR snap on and a battery dock. You also have TV tuners, FM tuners and GPS addons.

The included Li Polymer battery has a rated life of 12 hours for audio playback and 4 hours for video playback. It manages slightly less than that in actual testing. The battery life is a letdown and can be a deal breaker for some. There is an optional battery dock for $50 to increase the battery life.

Pros:

• Stylish design and great Build quality
• Brilliant Touch Screen Display
• Improved new UI
• Superb Video and Audio playback

Cons:

• Low Battery life
• Codecs cost extra
• No TV out / FM with addons

Final Words:

The Archos 5 is a huge improvement over the previous Archos PMPs and has many compelling features like excellent touch screen display, UI and video playback going for it. However it also does have its shortcomings - low battery life and the extra cost of certain codecs. It is still a great buy at $350.

Our Rating: 3.5 / 5.