Incoming Low Priced 5" Android Smartphone to Reach the UK?
I love a budget handset, and I was excited to learn that there soon be another lesser-known manufacturer reaching these shores in the next month or so.
This Android 5.1 handset will have a 5 inch screen and be LTE/4G enabled for the anticipated price of £99.
The specifications are not too bad for this price - full details HERE.
ARCHOS have been making tablets and mobile phones for a few years, and I am glad to see another potential player in the UK handset market - especially one who isn't from the Far East.
I don't have a gripe with Xiaomi, doogee, and all of the other Far Eastern manufacturers, it's just that the price usually matches the quality: Pay £70 for a Galaxy Note-styled handset, and expect it to go wrong for no reason or miss out on a major feature such as decent RAM, camera, etc.
Of course, if/when things do go wrong, you might as well bin your purchase, as sending it back to the Chinese retailer who you bought it from probably won't get you very far.
So what;s not to love about this new handset? £99 for a decent-sounding phone is pretty good. More to the point, ARCHOS are French, so surely you stand a chance of this being a bit more reliable? Or at least you won't have to post it too far if things do go wrong.
If you haven't heard of ARCHOS, they have mainly been selling affordable tablets through retailers such as Carphone Warehouse for the last few years.
In fact the first tablet that I bought was an ARCHOS tablet from Carphone Warehouse in 2011. It was cheap (£70) and I was looking forward to having a portable, large-screened device that I intended to use as a media player around the house.
Unfortunately, it threw a wobbly about six months after I bought it and Carphone Warehouse refused to take it back as their policy at the time was not to repair/refund ARCHOS tablets. I tried to get in touch with ARCHOS, but I don't speak French, so I gave up and wrote the incident off after I read some ARCHOS tablet reviews online.
For this reason, I'm not going to buy any ARCHOS products any time soon.
But, this isn't a review. I merely wish to state that there is a potential bargain on the horizon in the shape of the ARCHOS 50d Helium.
In 2010, LG phones were so unreliable, Carphone Warehouse wouldn't give them any more than a six month warranty - In 2015, LG are producing some of the best flagship Android handsets available, so things can and do change.
Would I buy the ARCHOS 50d Helium? Not until I see some good customer reviews. It might sound like a good handset for the price, but let's wait and see how it performs in the real world with everyday use - Apologies to the Guinea pigs out there.
I would like to put some faith in ARCHOS, as they surely can't be as poor as they were a couple of years ago, so hopefully they have got their game together and this handset release will be the start of something new for the UK handset market.
