Powerful hardware and low prices make Archos’s new Android phablets worth a look

By Williams Pelegrin Published February 23, 2016

Archos says it wants to “shake up the mobile market.” In a few days, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company has the opportunity to do just that with its two new additions to the Diamond smartphone family: the Diamond 2 Note and the Diamond 2 Plus.

True to its name, the Diamond 2 Note looks to be a monster of a smartphone, with a 6-inch, 2,560 x 1,440p resolution display on the front. Before jumping into the ocean of smaller-screened smartphones, Archos swears the Diamond 2 Note has a high screen-to-body ratio. In other words, Archos claims that, in the hand, the Diamond 2 Note feels the same as a smartphone with a 5.5-inch display.

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Right above the 6-inch display is an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera, with the 16MP rear-facing camera capable of 4K recording. That’s thanks to the octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor, which should be more than capable of standing up to Android’s most demanding games.

Also under the hood is a healthy 3GB of RAM, which is quickly becoming the standard, as well as a 3,600mAh battery that gives you an 80-percent charge in 45 minutes, thanks to its fast-charge capabilities. Finally, you’re given 32GB of expandable storage.

Meanwhile, the Diamond 2 Plus packs a smaller 5.5-inch, 1,920 × 1,080p resolution display. Above it sits an 8MP camera, while a 20.7MP Sony sensor sits around back. Unlike the rear camera found on the Diamond 2 Note, however, the Diamond 2 Plus’s rear shooter cannot record 4K video.

Regardless, the handset contains impressive internals, such as an octa-core MediaTek P10 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable memory, and a 3,000mAh battery with quick charge support. The Diamond 2 Plus also embraces features originally found on high-end smartphones, such as a fingerprint scanner on the back and a USB Type-C port on the bottom.

The Diamond 2 Note and Plus both pack LTE connectivity options and dual SIM support. In addition, they both run Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. The best part of the Diamond 2 Note and Plus, however, has to be the price — $280 for the former, and $230 for the latter. If you’re interested in grabbing either smartphone, they will be available starting in May.

Williams Pelegrin

Former Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

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