First Look at the Archos 5 Android Internet Tablet

The brawny Archos 5 tablet packs a variety of multimedia features into a slim, portable design.


The past couple of weeks have been exciting for Android fans. Last week Motorola announced its entry into the Android game with the Cliq, the first phone to run the company's Motoblur user interface. Hot on Motorola's heels, LG announced its first Android phone, the LG-GW620. But the latest Android device isn't a smartphone--the Archos 5 is a full-featured Internet tablet.

This slick device does just about everything, from speedy Web browsing to HD video support. I got some hands-on time with one of the flash-drive models, and its slim size and light weight impressed me. It sports a fairly minimalist look, with a 4.8-inch 800-by-400-pixel display dominating its face and power and volume buttons at the top edge.

Oddly, the 3.5mm headphone jack is on the side of the tablet, rather than the top or the bottom. This makes the player awkward to hold, since the headphone plug jabs into your palm if you're holding the device. The first player we reviewed in the Archos 5 tablet family, which ran Linux, also had this design flaw; it's unfortunate that the company didn't fix this.

The Archos 5 Internet tablet supports a wide range of media files, including HD video. Right now, it is the only Android device that supports video formats in HD, which opens up some interesting possibilities for Android app developers who want to explore high-def territory. In my tests, video looked smooth, with bright and accurate colors, when played on the device and on an HDTV.

The browser on the Archos 5 supports Adobe Flash 9, and will be compatible with Flash 10 when that becomes available. Multimedia-rich pages such as those at NewYorkTimes.com loaded quickly and looked great on the large screen. One nice thing about viewing Web pages on tablets rather than on smartphones is that you can see their full width rather than having to shrink the pages down or scroll them.

Preloaded on the tablet is a suite of Android applications such as eBuddy for instant messaging, Twidroid for using Twitter, Deezer for streaming music, and Tinksfree for viewing Microsoft Office files. You can, of course, download more apps from the Android Market or from Archos's own AppsLib store for the Archos 5 and future Android tablets to come.

One of the most intriguing apps is the TeleAtlas application. The software has not only the usual GPS features (such as turn-by-turn directions and voice assistance) but also a 3D Photo Realistic mode. In that mode the maps use multiple angles and zoom levels to show landmarks and streets as accurately as possible. You get a free 7-day trial of TeleAtlas; afterward, unlocking the software will cost $50. Each 3D Photo Realistic map of a city will cost $5 when the option becomes available in the United States in the first quarter of 2010.

The Archos 5 is available today from Amazon.com and from the Archos Web site in two models: The flash 8GB model (expandable up to 32GB with a microSD card) costs $250, while the hard-drive 160GB model costs $430. The tablet will ship with earphones, a DVR station adapter, and a standard USB cable.

Archos' Android-based A5S and A5H Internet Tablets outed by FCC

Archos Internet Media Tablet with Android?

If you don’t know what Archos is, then you’ll be happy to find out that it’s a France-based manufacturer which is very well known all around the world for developing innovative portable media players. The company has just announced that it decided to join the family of those who are trying to design and develop devices based on the Android mobile operating system.


First of all, we’re not talking about a common smartphone, but about an Internet Media Tablet (also known as IMT) that comes with mobile phone capabilities, indeed. The reason for something like this to happen is that the device is a mixture between the “Google’s Android telephony stack and the Archos’ multimedia framework”. Then, you should know that the IMT is equipped with the OMAP 3 platform, which is created by Texas Instruments Incorporated.


If you’re curious about the features of this Archos Internet Media Tablet, here’s what you can find on board: a 3.5 inch touchscreen display, support for Adobe Flash and Flash Video, full screen, unlimited access to TV, movies, photos, music, games, 3.5G 7.2 Mb/s HSUPA, High-class TV recording and High Definition (HD) playback and up to 500GB or memory. Measuring only 10 millimeters in thickness, the Archos IMT is equipped with a powerful battery that provides up to 7 hours of video playback.

“Archos was proud to announce the introduction of its ARCHOS 5 HSDPA IMT last year with SFR. We are continuing to advance our efforts in the IMT space with the introduction of this new product”, said Henri Crohas, CEO and ARCHOS founder. In addition, he said that “support for an Android-based device represents a historical opportunity for ARCHOS to combine all the best of our IMTs with a phone in a single device delivering high quality video and a full web experience in true mobility”.

Archos and Texas Instruments say that the Android mobile operating system based device will become available starting the third quarter of 2009.