The Archos 5 Android tablet just dropped itself through our letterbox, so we thought we’d do the decent thing and give one of the world’s first Google PMPs an unboxing of its very own. Is this epic slate enough to make you ditch your iPod touch? See for yourself in our gallery!
We’ve nabbed a 32GB Archos 5 Android tablet of our very own to test drive, and on looks alone, we’re hooked. The SSD versions are incredibly slim for a 5-inch tablet, although the 500GB hard drive model is chunkier, and although it’s largely plasticky, the corrugated plate on the back looks ace. The headphone jack has sensibly been placed on the side so it’s well placed for narrow pockets, and the Archos 5 Android tablet is just the right size for holding while watching movies on the train.
Archos 5 Android tablet: hands-on photos!
From our first play, the Archos 5 Android tablet’s interpretation of Google’s software is hit and miss. Video playback annihilates any other Android gadget on the planet right now thanks to the sharp WVGA screen and Archos’s wide format support. But it’s often slow, especially to pull up the Now Playing screen, which is a bit of a kicker when there’s no physical pause button on the Archos 5 Android tablet.
We took Twidroid, the Android Twitter client, for a spin on the Archos 5 Android tablet, and while it looks great on the wide screen, installing it meant a trip to the AppsLib Archos app store. Compared to the Android Market, its UI is weak, with no mandatory screenshots – and as it’s new, there are few user reviews to base decisions on.
Still, that should change over time, so get a close look at the Archos 5 Android tablet now, and get it down on your Crimbo wishlist, stat!
Out Now | £from 274.99 | Archos
