Archos isn’t the biggest name in tablets, but the company has been brisk about offering Android 4.0 at bargain prices. After the launch of the Child Pad in late May, Archos is apparently turning its attention to competing with the Nexus 7. The Archos 97 Carbon is the first in a new line of Ice Cream Sandwich tablets called Elements. It’s a 9.7-inch device with a 1024 x 768 display, running on a 1GHz ARM processor and 1GB of RAM. Most of its features — like a front- and rear-facing camera and 16GB of internal memory expandable via microSD — aren’t all that notable, but they’re coupled with the kind of price you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere: $249.99.
Archos announces Carbon 97, a 9.7-inch $249.99 tablet with Android 4.0
Archos has launched a new budget line of tablets starting with the Carbon 97, a $249.99 9.7-inch tablet running Android 4.0.
Archos has launched a new budget line of tablets starting with the Carbon 97, a $249.99 9.7-inch tablet running Android 4.0.
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
As with the $129.99 Child Pad, we’re fairly skeptical of the build quality here, even if the brushed-aluminum casing is a bit sleeker. But the 97 Carbon is the largest (and presumably most expensive) of the low-cost Elements line, so we’ll be seeing corresponding 7- and 8-inch tablets joining it sometime after launch at prices that could put Google and Amazon to shame. The Carbon 97 launches some time in July; no dates are given for its brethren.
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