Archos 80 Cobalt Android tablet aims at the mid-range

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Posted on 2 Nov 2012 at 10:38, by Gareth Halfacree

Archos has officially announced its latest Android-powered device, the 8in Archos 80 Cobalt.

Designed for those who want a full tablet experience and who find the smaller screen sizes of most Archos devices limiting, the Archos 80 is slightly larger than Apple's 7.9in iPad Mini but features the same 1024x768 resolution. Behind the display is a dual-core 1.6GHz ARM-based processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, with a micro-SD card slot providing room for up to 32GB of additional storage if required.

The device also features a 2-megapixel rear camera, VGA-resolution front-facing camera for video conferencing, integrated Wi-Fi connectivity, in-body microphone and speaker, accelerometer and headphone jack, as well as a micro-USB port for charging and data transfer. Sadly, there's no sign of mobile broadband connectivity or GPS satellite navigation capabilities in the company's specification sheet.

The tablet, aimed firmly at the mid-range market, runs a largely unmodified version of Google's Android 'Ice Cream Sandwich' 4.0 operating system, rather than the newer 4.2 Jelly Bean, with Archos silent about plans for future updates to the software. Access to the Google Play store is included, along with pre-loaded copies of all the usual Google applications including Google+, Google Maps, Google Calendar and YouTube.

Pricing for the Archos 80 has yet to be confirmed, but with Google's own Nexus 7 tablet - with, admittedly, a smaller 7in display - costing just £159 the company will have to price the device competitively in order to steal market share.