By 
A new competitor has stepped into the smallish tablet game today as Archos has announced the existence of the Archos 80 Cobalt. Following the naming scheme of many of its other tablets, the “80” in its name stands for 8.0 inches, putting it in the same class as devices such as the Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, Acer Iconia Tab A110, and the iPad Mini. The 4:3 aspect ratio might be off-putting for some but if the 9.7 inch iPad can do it then we see no reason for the 80 Cobalt not to be able to pull it off.
The tablet sadly comes with Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box instead of Jelly Bean, but it boasts a 1.6GHz dual-core processor (quad-core GPU), 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a 2 megapixel rear camera with a VGA front camera, and supports a microSD card with expansion up to 32GB. Its screen resolution of 1024×768 isn’t quite HD, but its shortcomings should be negated by a lower-than-normal price point when it’s compared to similarly-specced tablets.
Judging by the photos the tablet is a bit heavy on the bezel, but its “smooth-touch, easy-grip body” should make for comfortable use. Although Adobe has respectfully bowed out of the mobile flash game Archos is touting “full” Flash 11 support. That should be a nice marketing bulletpoint now that a lot of tablets won’t be coming with that Flash stamp on the box.
Questions about build quality will still need to be answered as this is one area where Archos doesn’t tend to shine (and is probably the biggest reason why the OEM is able to sell its products so cheaply). The desirability of the 80 Cobalt will depend on a VERY attractive price with the attractive offerings Google, ASUS and Acer have brought to market so we expect this thing to be no more than $200 (but don’t take that as gospel just yet — Archos hasn’t given the official word on pricing or availability). Find more details on it at the OEM’s website. [via Facebook]
No more than $200? If it isnt well under $200, then they should bother releasing it.
Seen a Cronos, or something with a “C”, going for $120 one time. These cheaper tablets usually go for well below $200. These are usually viewed as updated eReaders.
the tablet market is getting pretty packed now, so hard to focus on one single tablet with 20 new ones popping out of no where each week
Welcome to Android.
No different from the Windows ecosystem.
Just focus on the Nexus’s :-)
Welp, that’s Android. The ecosystem you want hails from Cuptertino, CA.
Android tablets are so unattractive outside of the N7, too many of them and not enough tablet support. Sad. My iPad still rocks tho
take a look at the Nexus 10, its an android tablet with support straight from the big G
Archos is not new to the smallish tablet market. They were one of the first to the tablet market.
Just focus on the Nexus tablets, and Nexus phones, and everything will be fine, no need to flood the market with other products that try and compete with the nexus but aren’t better than NEXUS FTW !
no SD card, no thanks
Yeah. No SD card and no HDMI make the Nexus 7 useless to me.
“A new competitor has stepped into the smallish tablet game today”
WTF? I’ve been using an Archos 7″ tablet for about two years now.
I was mainly speaking about 2012 devices.
Regardless, Archos has a long history of competing with small Android tablets… It’s not quite fair to refer to them as a new competitor.
Archos has never attempted to compete with anyone spec-for-spec or from a marketing standpoint, so I consider them a new competitor in that regard. Just my opinion. =/
Archos is an interesting company in that regard. Unlike so many other knockoffs, they’ve been making some innovative products for quite some time.
I really liked my Archos AV-420, but my Archos 70 IT, well not so much. It’s actually a very nice, amazingly thin, gingerbread era capacitance screen 7″ tablet, but it’s just too slow.
I wish they were more successful, fwiw, though they may be a new competitor here, well, I just don’t think it’s fair to lump them in with the mob.
Indeed.
Where’s THIS guy been?
I’d like to warn everyone to stay away from Archos products. They use low grade (budget) circuitry, and have poorly held together casings. This is from personal experience.
i dont know if this is true for all their stuff, but i did make the mistake of buying their gen 8 101 tablet. never again Archos. thing made me want to smash it almost every time i used it and I eventually did -_-
Well, at least this one has tablet software, my Archos tablet is still running 2.2 (phone software), because Archos refuses to make an update. You should not buy this french rubbish!!!
“The tablet sadly comes with Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box instead of Jelly Bean…”
It’s an Archos. The sadness only BEGINS there.
DONT DO IT! 8 inches is to close to Apple’s 7.9 inches. I smell a lawsuit. lol
Look out Apple, a challenger has appeared.
Obviously I’m kinda joking other than the size. Would much rather have my N7 which has a massive dev community and awesome hardware.
I had an Archos G8 101. It was my first tablet, I got it mainly because it was cheap and I wanted a tablet but wasn’t sure what use I had for one. I’ve never really fully recovered from that, but my nexus 7 helps . Still sometimes I get flashbacks
*shudder*
That piece of crap is now loaded with kids tv programs for my 3 year old, that’s about all it is good for.
hmm flash 11
Archos used to be an awesome company that always seemed to be on the verge of greatness. Over the past 3 years they’ve been struggling to find acceptance due to selection of second grade hardware while maintaining a middle of the road pricing structure. It’s sad really. I want to like Archos again, but I just can’t. I think the tablet market has them lost as people don’t want mp3 players anymore.
with specs like that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it around $150, maybe even less, if they actually wanted to sell any. With the wider screen ratio, it might make a good e-reader.
Nice product! You may also like the new amazing Celluon
Magic Cube, Bluetooth keyboard and mouse that provides an ergonomic way of
typing on small devices such as iPads, iPhones, Tablets, smartphones and more.
For more info, please visit http://magiccubestore.com/ a cool and ultra-portable,
full-sized virtual computer keyboard.