Archos 80 G9 Pro Reviews

It’s hard to stratify tablet manufacturers into market categories; they don’t distribute themselves neatly into bargain, mainstream and high-end. Certainly some have cemented their place; you won’t find us arguing that Coby’s products are high-end. And some are trying to be all things to all players (Samsung and Asus come to mind). Even hardware platforms transcend pricing, with the same chipsets being used in bargain and high-end devices. This lack of clarity between the high-end and low-end is Archos’s opportunity and its hurdle. With no clear way to stratify based on cost, simply pick a price and offer features of a particular flavor. The 80 and 101 G9 Turbo line are no better or worse than other dual-core Android tablets at being just that, Android tablets. But where they rise above is in targeting the media hungry user that’s not interested in signing up for another movie rental service, and knows their way around an SD card adaptor. Measured against the early class of Tegra 2 tablets, Archos puts up a good fight and hits the right price. Where things start to get fuzzy is when you look at the top of the line 101 G9 Turbo equipped with a 250GB HDD. At $369, this spec is just $30 short of the Transformer Pad 300, whose screen, battery life and performance outpace the G9 in key areas.

After months of testing Honeycomb tablets with similar specs, we didn't begin our review of the Archos 80 G9 expecting to be blown away. And yet, by the end of our testing period, we had grown rather attached to the thing. Curiously, there wasn't just one feature that bowled us over. The display offers excellent viewing angles, but isn't the most vibrant we've seen. Its performance is snappy enough, but nothing to write home about. It's one of the few tablets we've tested recently without a rear-facing camera. But none of that matters much when you remember this is a $300 tablet we're talking about. For what it is, its value is unmatched. Here you have an 8-inch slate running (mostly) vanilla Android 3.2, whereas some bargain-basement models costing just $50 less run Gingerbread. While its battery life can't hold a candle to a 10-inch tab, it's still quite healthy for a 7- or 8-incher. Moreover, what other tablet this small and this cheap has a full-sized USB port? Or a kickstand? Yeah, we're coming up short, too.

The Archos 101 G9 offers plenty of features for $369, including a big 10.1-inch screen, Android Honeycomb, and even HDMI output. However, its poor build quality, short battery life, and high operating temperature make it a bad deal at any price.

The Archos 101 G9 sets out a specific stall for itself and does incredibly well at delivering on that goal, although only in a functional way. There's no innate joy or passion on show here. If you're in the market for a capable tablet, but have a limited budget, then this is one of the best options outside of price cuts that you can get.

This is the most capable Android Honeycomb video player. Format support is excellent, the screen's decent and battery life compares fairly well with more expensive tablets. The power's there too - its dual-core 1GHz processor able to handle high bit-rate 1080p content with ease. What's wrong, then? It's the design and general performance. The plastic body just doesn't feel as nice as any of the pricier models, and several on-body bits get in the way while you're holding it. Plus there are just too many buggy bits to make it particularly enjoyable to use. When much more luxurious tablets like the Acer A500 and BlackBerry PlayBook are now available for less, the G9 proposition just isn't that convincing. It's just a bit too late.

The Archos 101 G9 is a functional, up-to-date Android tablet at a reasonable price, although it doesn't really stand out aside from 1080p file support.

The 8GB Archos 80 G9 delivers a complete Honeycomb experience at a low price, but its rough design, low-quality camera, and awkward button placement make it feel rushed to market.

This is the first Texas Instruments dual-core 1GHz OMAP4 processor-toting Android tablet on the market, and it’s pretty decent. This tablet is uniquely sized, has the ability to plug in many devices and cards, and is reasonably priced at $299 at the ARCHOS online store right now with a 1.5GHz version on the way for an increased price. At this price, I think we’ve got a winner. At least for those students looking to purchase a tablet computer without dropping their whole week’s wages on one.