Archos 80 titanium Pro Reviews

Impressive build and slick performance go some way towards making up for this cheap tablet’s disappointing battery life

This 4:3 Android tablet has excellent build quality, but its battery life and performance are fairly average

Is the 8-inch Archos 80 Titanium a Low-Budget Mini in terms of a cheaper alternative to the much more expensive Apple iPad Mini, which has obviously been the inspiration for the design? We can already say that the - admittedly - good looking Frenchman cannot quite keep up with the small size Californian tablet. However, this has no negative impact on the overall impression of the well-built and thin tablet with an aluminum chassis. In the end the device performs well against other devices in its (price) range. We liked the solid case that leaves a high quality impression, the good build quality and the port variety. The very reactive capacitive 8-inch multitouch display left a positive impression too. With a panel brightness of up to 288 cd/m² the tablet is also suitable for outdoor use. Small drawbacks are the occasionally weak WLAN reception and the small internal storage of 8 GB; at least it can be extended up to 64 GB with a micro SD card. That the small Frenchman is a solid mid-range device can also be seen in the results of our benchmark suite; here the device performs well compared to other competitors like the Prestigio MultiPad 7.0 or Braun B-Tab 711. In many aspects the iPad Mini is in another league, for example in terms of brightness, battery runtime or performance. The inexpensive Archos device cannot keep up with that. But it does not have to, for around 170 Euros (~$218) - at least this is our verdict - it is a successful, visually and technically appealing device that fulfills all the daily demands for tablets of this size and price range.

The Archos 80 Titanium proves that you can get a decent tablet without breaking the bank. Its screen isn't high resolution, but it's a good IPS panel which matches the iPad mini for half as much. Performance is also good, as is build quality; only the cameras let the side down. If you're on a tight budget or want a tablet for your kids, this is a great choice.