Smartphones released under the Archos brand do not appear in news feeds very often, although there is something to talk about. The concept of a “super screenshot” alone is worth it... But the phone also has plenty of other features, including an unexpected price of more than twenty thousand rubles.

The smartphone really costs around 22,000 rubles, which arouses interest and a desire to see what it offers, given that in this price category there are already a considerable number of devices from famous brands that are fighting for a place in the sun and for the love of consumers.

Archos smartphones often act as testing grounds for certain innovations. Either the manufacturer will install a memory amount that no one else has yet, or he will come up with smartphone control gestures that no one has used before. Therefore, it is interesting to understand such a device, which is not yet so widespread. At least for now.

Appearance of the device

Externally, the smartphone body does not look like something new and revolutionary. It is somewhat reminiscent of OnePlus, and in some ways even an iPhone, but it still has more of the former. Although there were some interesting features.

This feature is the red-orange ring under the screen, which is located in the same place as the Home touch button. In addition to the front panel, this color is present on the rim of the main camera and around the perimeter of the box in which the smartphone is sold.

Otherwise, this is a classic aluminum case with a slightly rough surface, a fingerprint scanner on the back wall, a headphone jack on the top edge and a charging socket USB Type-C. The tray that pulls out from the left side can accommodate two SIM cards or one SIM card and a microSD memory card up to 256 GB.

Tactilely, Archos Dimond Alpha feels very pleasant in the hand. It is moderately heavy, with aluminum side edges and is only 7.5 mm thick. It is thanks to these parameters that it feels like a holistic, monolithic and strong smartphone.

Contents of delivery

Lately Manufacturers rarely include headphones with their smartphones, especially if these are not top brands that install DACs in their smartphones, and therefore they simply need good headphones. In the case of Archos Diamond Alpha, we see an exception, and headphones are included in the package. True, they are suspiciously reminiscent of Apple's EarPods in design.

In general, the delivery package is as follows:

• Archos Diamond Alpha
• charging cable
• power adapter
• headphones
• “paperclip” for removing the tray
• paper materials

Nice interface features

The nice features of the interface that I mentioned earlier include the “super screenshot” function and the “gesture control” function. This is the case when the manufacturer really tried and surprised with a large number of nice features, although not always unique.

The “super screenshot” function, in addition to the classic method, allows you to take screenshots by holding your finger on the fingerprint scanner, which is located on the back wall. Moreover, you can take not just an ordinary screenshot, as happens if you press the Volume and Power keys, but it gives you the right to choose. You can simply take a screenshot in the form of any shape, or you can take an elongated photo when you scroll through the screen with your finger, and the system itself will stitch it together. In addition, you can even make a full screencast.

Gesture controls offer even more interaction options. Among them you can find the following:

• switch between applications by swiping from the edge of the screen
• output to external screen by swiping from the corner
• clearing memory with a double swipe from the corner
• adjust brightness with two fingers on the screen

To better understand how it works, a demo mode is provided.

There are some other options, but it’s not worth dwelling on them, since they are located in other menu items and are found in most Android smartphones.

Screen

By and large, there is only one complaint about the screen. It's not as bright as I would like. In bright sunshine it will not be easy to use, and the automatic brightness adjustment system works very aggressively and reduces the brightness value to such a value that it becomes impossible to use at all. That's why the first thing I did was turn off automatic adjustment and simply set the backlight to maximum.

If you don't find fault with the brightness, the display is good. This is the good old IPS with a 5.2” diagonal and FullHD resolution. The aspect ratio is classic, namely 16:9. There is no trace of framelessness, so Archos Diamond Alpha can be called a smartphone for those who love the classics. Moreover, there are fewer and fewer such displays, and even the most budget models are beginning to be equipped with “elongated” displays.

Performance

The performance is based on the Snapdragon 652 processor with Adreno 510 graphics. RAM is 4 GB and internal memory is 64 GB, but expansion is possible using memory cards with a capacity of up to 256 GB.

For everyday tasks and a smooth interface, the performance is quite enough, but with games it will be a little more difficult. While simple games from a graphical point of view will still work, in demanding games the frame rate will sometimes drop to values ​​that are at the lower limit of what is comfortable gameplay.

All of the above is not surprising, since the primary focus of the smartphone is not games. Even a camera with a dual sensor can most likely be considered a device priority, but performance is definitely not.

Monochrome-color camera

The main camera of Archos Diamond Alpha has two sensors. The resolution is 13 megapixels, and Sony was chosen as the sensor supplier. The sensors themselves share responsibilities among themselves in the same way as can be observed in Huawei smartphones. One sensor takes monochrome photos, as they are clearer, and the second “colorizes” them in accordance with real colors.

This approach has its advantages, and this leads to the fact that the pictures are really clear, but sometimes you can observe a slight skew of the white balance towards cool shades, and indoor pictures turn out to be slightly less contrasting than those offered by smartphones of the main competitors in this price range .

The front camera has only one sensor and a resolution of 16 megapixels, and the pictures it takes are just ordinary. They don't stand out from their competitors in any way. Selfies are of decent quality under normal shooting conditions. In general, nothing new.

But the camera has a huge number of settings and modes. There are more of them than many competitors, and sometimes even more than in third-party applications. This can certainly be considered a plus, as is the ability to shoot 4K video at 30 FPS.

operating system

The smartphone runs Nubia UI 4.0, which allows you to implement all the software features described earlier. Moreover, it is based on Android 6, but this does not prevent it from making a pleasant impression. There is no information about the release of updates yet.

What else?

The smartphone is not deprived of a full range of necessary functions. Among them there is GPS, OTG support, and even NFC. But there is no radio, although this is important for many.

It doesn’t matter to us what city you are in, Moscow, St. Petersburg, or any other, we will show you the prices of your city, and you will simply select the best one and buy profitably.

(If you see other models or even empty space in the Y.Market list, then this device is not for sale)

Archos Diamond S can be bought on Aliexpress!

Perhaps the lowest prices for this smartphone can be found on the Chinese giant Aliexpress. To ensure a safe purchase and fast delivery, we will give you a list of only the best offers:

You also probably know that most cases are brought from there: they are ordered much more willingly because they are cheap, and delivery is almost always free. If you want to buy a case for Archos Diamond S, then look for it on Aliexpress! For convenient selection by model, we have made a special page on our website, and choose.

If you have decided on the amount you are willing to spend on buying a smartphone, but you don’t really like the Archos Diamond S, then in our catalog you can look at other models from the same price category: below we have listed models at the same price.

Xiaomi Redmi S2 4/64GB Android 8.1 2 SIM screen 5.99" camera 12MP RAM 4GB memory 64GB battery 3080mAh Smartisan U3 4/128GB Android 7.1 2 SIM screen 5.99" camera 13MP RAM 4GB memory 128GB battery 4000mAh OUKITEL U23 Android 8.1 2 SIM screen 6.18" camera 16MP RAM 6GB memory 64GB battery 3500mAh Apple iPhone SE 32GB refurbished iOS 10 1 SIM screen 4" camera 12MP RAM 2GB memory 32GB battery 1624mAh Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro 6/128GB Android 9.0 Pie 2 SIM screen 6.3" camera 48MP RAM 6GB memory 128GB battery 4000mAh Zoji Z9 Android 8.1 2 SIM screen 5.7" camera 21MP RAM 6GB memory 64GB battery 5500mAh

Detailed characteristics of Archos Diamond S

In this section, we lay out detailed technical specifications of the Archos Diamond S. Here you can learn about the hardware (components) of this device and the functions that the gadget is equipped with.

General characteristics

• Type - smartphone
• OS version - Android 5.1
• Case type - classic
• SAR level - 0.331
• SIM card type - micro SIM
• Number of SIM cards - 2
• Operating mode of multiple SIM cards - alternating
• Weight - 118 g
• Dimensions (WxHxT) - 71.5x145x6.5 mm

Screen

• Screen type - color AMOLED, touch
• Touch screen type - multi-touch, capacitive
• Diagonal - 5 inches.
• Image size – 1280×720
• Automatic screen rotation - yes

Multimedia capabilities

• Camera – 16 million pixels, LED flash
• Camera Features - Autofocus
• Video recording - yes
• Max. video resolution – 1920×1080
• Front camera (on the front panel) - yes, 8 million pixels.
• Audio – MP3, FM radio
• Connector for - 3.5 mm

Connection

• Standard - GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A Cat. 4
• Support for LTE bands - 800, 1800, 2600 MHz
• Interfaces - Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, USB
• Satellite navigation - GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou
• A-GPS system - yes

Memory and processor

• Processor – MediaTek MT6753, 1300 MHz
• Number of processor cores - 8
• Video processor – Mali-T720
• Built-in memory - 16 GB
• Volume random access memory(RAM, RAM) - 2 GB
• Memory card slot - yes, up to 128 GB

Nutrition

• Battery type - Li-Ion
• Battery capacity - 2300 mAh
• Battery - non-removable
• Charging connector type - micro-USB

Other functions

• Controls - voice dialing, voice control
• Airplane mode - yes
• Sensors - light, proximity
• Flashlight - yes
• USB host - yes

Additional Information

• Equipment: smartphone, Charger, USB cable, headset

Info

Other Archos models:

Archos Access 50 Color 4G Archos Core 50 Lite Android 7.0 2 SIM screen 5" camera 8MP RAM 1GB memory 8GB battery 2000mAh Archos Sense 55s Android 7.0 2 SIM screen 5.5" camera 8MP RAM 2GB memory 16GB battery 3000mAh

• Case materials: Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and metal
• operating system: Google Android 7.1.1 + Nubia UI 5.0
• Network: 2G (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)/3G (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)/LTE (800/1800/2100/2600 MHz), two nano SIM cards
• Processor: 8 cores, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (4x2.35 GHz Kryo and 4x1.9 GHz Kryo)
• RAM: 8GB LPDDR4
• Storage memory: 128 GB UFS 2.1 (no memory card)
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi (b/g/n/ac) MIMO DualBand, Bluetooth 4.2 (LE), USB Type-C (USB 2.0) connector for charging/syncing, USB-C for headset or 3.5 mm adapter
• Screen: capacitive, IPS 5.73"" with a resolution of 1080x2040 pixels, aspect ratio 17:9
• Camera: main module 12 (f/1.8, 1/2.55", 1.4 µm) / 23 (f/2.0) MP, front 5/5 MP, dual flash
• Navigation: A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
• Additionally: fingerprint scanner, accelerometer, proximity and lighting sensors
• Batteries: non-removable, lithium-ion (Li-Ion) capacity 3100 mAh, Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging
• Dimensions: 147 x 72.7 x 8.5 mm
• Weight: 170 g
• Price: from 38,000 rubles (Q1 2018)

Contents of delivery

• Smartphone
• Network adapter
• USB cable
• USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter

Introduction

The French company ARCHOS, whose name is an anagram of the founder’s surname (if anyone didn’t know), presented in Russia powerful smartphone Omega in the flagship Diamond line. The gadget has impressive technical specifications: inside you will find a Snapdragon 835, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory, two main cameras and two front ones, a FullHD+ display with an aspect ratio of 17:9 and thin frames, fast charging QC and all available communication capabilities.

It is worth emphasizing that Diamond Omega is the original version of ZTE Nubia Z17s. In this regard, everything is official: Nubia has entered into an agreement with ARCHOS to sell Nubia smartphones under the ARCHOS brand in Europe and Russia.

At the moment, Omega is sold at an extremely bold RRP price of 45,000 rubles. But if you search, you can find a smartphone, officially, for 38,000 rubles, which radically changes the perception of the device for the better.

Design, dimensions, control elements

Unfortunately, we will soon have to remove the “Appearance” item from reviews, since all smartphones will become the same: a large screen that occupies the entire front panel, and a rear glass panel of different colors. Already now you can notice the unification (or is it easier to call it copying?) of devices up to appearance any flagship gadget. For example, the entire 2018 will be marked by the Apple iPhone X and its signature “bangs.” You and I are making fun of this strange move, but you and I want to get high-quality footage with front cameras and an excellent earpiece. But how to create a large camera module and a better speaker if the boundaries of the screen are moving more and more towards the boundaries of the body? The only more or less reasonable move is a small island at the top of the front panel to accommodate all the necessary elements.

Taking a little break from ARCHOS. I wanted to say that the phones are now the same and describing their design is almost pointless. Another thing is materials. It uses third-generation Gorilla Glass on both sides. The front part has a slight 2.5D curve. The frame of the device is metal.

The color of the device is fashionable – dark blue. There are no other options. Since the back cover is mirrored, it shimmers beautifully in the light. Although they could have made a more original “drawing” from several layers.

For a gadget with a 5.7-inch screen, the dimensions are very compact - 147 x 72.7 x 8.5 mm. Now, if only the thickness were about 7 mm... The phone fits well in the hand and does not slip out.

The build quality does not raise any questions: a tightly assembled device without any play, creaking, or pushing the cover down to the battery. There is an oleophobic coating: the screen does not get dirty as much as the back panel.

A few words about the perception of minimal frameworks. The screen looks impressive, considering that the developers have reduced to a reasonable minimum not only the top and bottom frames (9 mm each), but also the side ones (only 2 mm each). Holding such a gadget is quite comfortable, that is, I did not notice any false positives. It is also worth noting that the side edges of the screen do not bend, as is implemented in many similar devices.

From top left to right: two cameras, sensors, an earpiece and a barely noticeable indicator of missed events (lights dimly). The speaker is loud, the sound is clear, ringing, the timbre is closer to high frequencies.

At the bottom: microphone, USB Type-C, speakerphone. On the right are the power button and the volume rocker. On the left is a slot for two nano SIM cards.

On the back side at the top left there is a module with two lenses. It is framed with a red metal insert. To the right is a dual two-tone flash, and just below is a fingerprint sensor. It seemed to me not very sensitive and fast.

In general, ARCHOS (or, more correctly, Nubia) turned out to be a good gadget in terms of workmanship and materials used in it.

Display

This device uses a screen with a diagonal of 5.73 inches. Physical size – 68x128 mm. There is an anti-reflective coating, which is quite effective.

ARCHOS Diamond Omega display resolution is 1080x2040 pixels, aspect ratio is 17:9, density is 402 pixels per inch.

Screen viewing angles are maximum, no distortion. Maximum brightness white– 350 cd/m2, maximum black brightness – 0.55 cd/m2, contrast – 635:1. Brightness and contrast, even without the use of special devices, are noticeably lower than in many similar smartphones. On average, the brightness is 400, and the contrast is about 800:1.

Judging by the calibrator data, the ARCHOS matrix produces excellent rich colors: all parameters are larger than the sRGB triangle. But the gray color of the Omega screen is a big lie.

Battery

The ARCHOS Diamond Omega uses a non-removable lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery with a capacity of 3100 mAh. The operating time of the device is typical for most similar devices with IPS matrices: about a day with a maximum amount of screen time of 3.5 – 4 hours. The smartphone plays 6 hours of HD video (MP4) at 100% brightness of the matrix backlight and sits down after 4.5 hours under the load of 3D toys (Marvell: Contest of Champions).

With battery charging, everything is very good here: thanks to Quick Charge from Qualcomm, the battery gets 50% charge in just 20 minutes. And 1 hour 15 minutes is required for 100% filling.

It seems to me that with a case thickness of 8.5 mm, it was possible to easily install a 3500 mAh battery, or even more. And so, without using AMOLED, it is almost impossible to achieve good results with 3100 mAh.

Communication capabilities

The device operates in 2G (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)/3G (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)/LTE (800/1800/2100/2600 MHz). Two nano SIM cards. VoLTE is present.

There is NFC, but, alas, without Mifare Classic and Mifare Ultralight.

The rest is standard for any Android smartphone: Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac MIMO two bands, Bluetooth 4.2, USB 2.0 with OTG support. There are GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS navigation. Accuracy up to 10 meters, sensitivity is average.

Memory and memory card

The device is on sale in only one configuration – 8/128 GB. The RAM speed is 5800 MB/s, the read/write speed of the internal memory is 725/235 MB/s. The reading is impressive, but the writing could easily be more!

Cameras

The ARCHOS Diamond Omega uses the same cameras as the ZTE Nubia Z17, which we tested not too long ago. The only point: ARCHOS also has two front cameras. The quality is similar, but you can do bokeh. In order not to burden the review with unnecessary information and not to engage in “copy-paste”, I refer you to the text of ZTE Nubia Z17.

I would like to add that the translation in the camera is not important, for example, the bokeh effect here is called “Book”. Why "Book"? Well, the rest of the pearls: “The beauty of a video call”, “Fno”, several untranslated moments.

Sample photos

Performance and OS

IN this device one of the most powerful chipsets is installed - Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. I won’t describe its parameters, I’m sure you all know it very well - only 845 Snap is cooler. Everything flies and loads with lightning speed. In general, the performance here is about 5 years old. The smartphone barely heats up under load. IN new version Antutu scores about 200,000 points. A lot of? A lot of! For what? That was!

The system is Google Android version 7.1.1 with the Nubia UI 5.0 shell (it’s all strange: the phone is ARCHOS, but everything inside speaks of ZTE). The main difference between the proprietary UI: only the notification panel drops down from the top, and quick access to Wi-Fi/Bluetooth and other things is launched by swiping up from the bottom. Another cool feature is split screen. Here it is honest, that is, absolutely any application can be launched either from above or from below simultaneously with other applications/games/settings. For example, on the upper half of the display a game is running, and on the lower half you continue to communicate in Telegram.

Our test object today is a smartphone from the French company Archos, which, almost six months after the official announcement at IFA-2015, begins to be sold in Russia.

Specifications

• Screen: 5.0"", AMOLED, 267dpi, 1280 x 720, Gorillas Glass 3;
• Operating system: Android 5.1;
• Processor: Mediatek MT6753, Cortex-A53, 8 x 1.3 GHz;
• GPU: Mali-T720 MP3, frequency 600 MHz;
• RAM: 2 GB;
• Built-in memory: 16 GB, support for microSD, MicroSDHC memory cards up to 128 GB;
• Cameras: 16 MP (flash, autofocus), 8 MP;
• Battery: 2300 mAh, non-removable;
• Dimensions (WxHxD): 145.3 x 71.2 x 6.6 mm;
• Weight: 118 g;
• SIM slots: 2, microSIM, Dual SIM Dual Active;
• Communication: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, WCDMA 900 / 2100 MHz, LTE 800 / 1800 / 2600 MHz;
• Price: approximately $169.

Equipment

Archos Diamond S comes in a large box for a smartphone. By grasping the special loop on the side, you pull out the tray, at the bottom of which the contents of the package are neatly placed. It’s been a long time since we found such plump and detailed multilingual manuals in a set. Judging by the variety of localized sections, Archos supplies products not only to its native France, but also to a good dozen other countries, including Russia and the more exotic Vietnam and Egypt.

In addition to the documentation, the smartphone comes with a needle for removing SIM cards, a 5V - 1A adapter, a simple stereo headset with a single control key, and a USB cable with an extended plug (not every wire can replace it).

Appearance

In its design concept, Diamond S is reminiscent of the Xperia Z line from Sony. Before us is an almost symmetrical body, covered on both sides with tempered Gorillas Glass 3.

The side edges of the phone are formed by a thin (6.6 mm) plastic frame with a texture vaguely reminiscent of metal. On its right side there is a volume rocker and a power button, and on top there are jacks for a headset and a USB cable.

At first glance, everything is fine, but upon closer examination of the smartphone, flaws become noticeable. Both protective glasses on the test sample are recessed into the body slightly unevenly, so that the frame framing the front panel protrudes a little, a little more on the right than on the left. On the back side, on the left, in the corner of the camera module, the protective glass is located flush with the frame, and in the lower right corner it is almost a millimeter below the plastic side. Most likely, this is a feature of a particular sample, but the ineffective oleophobic coating of the front and rear windows will cause problems with many hard-to-erase prints for all users.

Display

Archos Diamond S displays information on a five-inch AMOLED screen with HD resolution.

Samsung, which has absolute control over the production technology of AMOLED screens, still reserves the best panels for its flagship products, so the Archos Diamond screen has completely typical properties: good brightness margin and color field uniformity, wide viewing angles (dark shades are only slightly brightened when tilted) , extreme contrast, accompanied by a PenTile subpixel layout that makes fonts appear “loose,” and unnatural color rendering. Also noteworthy are the wide frames at the top and bottom. In terms of all the characteristics, the AMOLED display of the Diamond S is slightly below average.

Iron

Despite the French origins of the brand, the Archos Diamond S is assembled in China using components from Mediatek. The eight-core 64-bit MT6753 chip was introduced at the beginning of 2015 and is positioned as a high-performance chipset intended for use in mid-price smartphones. Over the course of a year, the central processor has lost its novelty, but overall has not lost its potential - the system runs smoothly. There is also a merit here to the surprisingly fast RAM. At the same time, the Mali-T720 graphics accelerator used in conjunction with the central processor is already more than two years old and its age greatly affects the gaming capabilities of the device.

In many titles you will have to sacrifice graphics quality, and in others the frame rate will drop below a comfortable level. It’s better not to try to play products ported from PC.
Low speed reading files from internal memory slows down access to heavy applications, so to improve performance it is worth moving them to other directories.

Software

Archos Diamond S runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with a minimum of changes introduced by the developer. During testing of the device, two updates arrived over the air. I would like to hope that the manufacturer will not limit itself to this, and the phone will receive an update to Android 6.0.

Of the two gigabytes of RAM, the system occupies an average of 700 megabytes. Interestingly, in the Archos firmware, in the “applications” menu, you can choose whether to show cached applications located in RAM or only active processes. Another feature of the firmware is the integrated MiraVision technology, which is used to correct the image on the phone screen. With its help, you can widely adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness and color temperature. Which in view of the not ideal factory calibration of the AMOLED matrix is ​​really useful. There are also built-in sound enhancement technologies. Subjectively, there is no particular benefit from activating them; the smartphone already sounds at an average level.

Concerning pre-installed applications, then, when starting the smartphone, the user is invited to voluntarily download a set of programs from partners, which consists of several popular free games and news aggregators. All of them can be easily removed later. Only the standard set of Google applications and the proprietary ARCHOS Media Center are built directly into the firmware.

Connection

In the body of this smartphone there was room for the simultaneous installation of an SD memory card and two microSIM cards. The good news is that they work according to the Dual SIM Dual Active scheme, that is, they can receive calls independently of each other. The bad news is that only one of them supports data transfer in 3G and 4G networks, while the second works exclusively in 2G.

The connection quality is average. During testing, interlocutors periodically complained of poor hearing, but problems were observed only in areas with an unstable signal. Diamond S supports all three global positioning satellite systems: GPS, Glonass and Beidou. The smartphone finds the first satellites quickly, but it takes seven to twelve minutes to determine the exact coordinates.

Battery

The non-removable 2300 mAh lithium-ion battery helped the Diamond S last seven and a half hours in our proprietary battery test at 50% screen brightness. Almost the same result was declared by the manufacturer on the official website for video playback.

Camera

The Mediatek MT6753 processor supports cameras with a maximum resolution of up to 16 megapixels. It is precisely this photographic module with autofocus support that is installed in the Archos Diamond S. The HDR mode works quite convincingly, there is support for continuous shooting, software stabilization, and recording Full HD videos at a frequency of up to 30 frames per second.

Despite this, it’s probably not worth knocking out Diamond S for photo quality. The main thing that the manufacturer should pay attention to when updating software cameras - white balance control. For now, it is better to set this parameter manually. We also didn't like the lack of smooth zoom and the general drop in image quality when zooming.

Let's sum it up

During testing, the Diamond S could not find fatal flaws, and yet the opinion about the smartphone was ambiguous. The beautiful glass panels of the case do not have an oleophobic coating, the fast central processor works together with an outdated graphics chip, the high-resolution camera systematically sets the white balance incorrectly, and so on. Overall, Archos did a good job good smartphone, but for every plus there is a significant minus. Cost information could tip the scales in one direction or another, but there is no confirmed data on the ruble price of Archos Diamond S at the time of writing these lines.

Pros:

• Android 5.1 without third-party add-ons;
• Fast central processor;
• Works in 4G networks;
• Separate slot for SD card.

Minuses:

• Outdated graphics chip;
• Ineffective oleophobic coating on glass surfaces;
• Poor white balance in most photos.

May not like:

• Only one SIM card supports Internet access;
• PenTile subpixel layout visible to the naked eye.

There are manufacturers on our market that we almost never hear about. Their devices are not prominently displayed in storefronts, there is little talk about them, and the gadgets themselves are rarely recommended. However, these brands remain afloat even in today's difficult conditions. One such manufacturer is the French brand Archos. The company has been around since 1989 and has always been involved in electronics. Smartphones with a company logo appeared relatively recently, in 2013, so the company is still new to this field. Today we will talk about the Archos Diamond S model with a glass case and 4G support.

Equipment and first impressions

The smartphone will arrive in the hands of the buyer in a beautifully designed package. The gadget comes with a charger with a detachable cable, a headset, a protective film for the front panel, a paper clip and accompanying documentation. Everything would have been fine, but the smartphone that came to me was packed and had not been opened before me, and the package was not quite neatly wrapped and the cardboard around the device itself was torn. The Diamond S is not the cheapest smartphone, and it would be nicer to receive a new device in its entire package.

Setting up the smartphone goes well and without any problems. As often happens, immediately after the first turn on the device receives a small update. Diamond S was not spared this. A small update that corrected a couple of errors was quickly installed, after which everything could be downloaded required applications And so on. The speed of operation is quite satisfactory. And this corrects the sensations spoiled by sloppy packaging.

Design and usability

Archos Diamond S is available in two color options: black and white. The first version is monotonous, without inserts of a different color, and the white version has a “golden” frame. The body materials here are a mixture of budget and premium levels: front and back panels glass, and the edging is plastic. Tactilely, this is a little misleading, because the usual metal frame of glass smartphones here, naturally, does not cool your hand, as you intuitively expect. This also affects the subjective feeling; personally, I don’t like the combination of glass and plastic. The latter can also be pleasant, but I would not say that Diamond S has it like that.

The dimensions of the case fit comfortably: 145 x 71.5 x 6.5 mm, weight – 118 grams. The smartphone is light, I would even like to add a little weight to it. It is not felt at all in your pocket, and due to the weak tenacity of the glass, it can easily slip out of there. It seemed a little strange that the kit included a protective film only for the front panel, since the back panel may also need such an accessory. However, using the gadget with one hand is easy, but lifting it from a table (or any other flat surface) is not so much.

The placement of all working elements on the case is as follows: on the left side there is a tray for two SIM cards, on the right there is a memory card tray, a volume rocker and a power button; there are slots for speakers at the bottom, a microUSB connector and a headphone jack at the top; on the back panel there is a camera with flash; in front above the display there is a speaker, proximity and light sensors and front-camera, and under the display (almost on the frame) is a conversational microphone.

The location of the charging connector on top is not the best (it is inconvenient to talk when the wire is connected), and the connector is also upside down. According to the instructions, both bottom holes have speakers, but only the right side plays. At the same time, the system does not have stereo settings, and third-party music players also do not offer such an option. So, we can assume that the second slot was made for symmetry, because its practical use has not been established. These are the main two complaints that arose about the device during use.

In general, the gadget turned out to be convenient. It does not slip out of your hands, with some skill you can use it with one hand, and you don’t need to get used to anything for a long time. Outwardly it looks quite good, vaguely reminiscent of glass Sony smartphones. Among its competitors, Diamond S looks quite good, although it is not as practical as devices made from other materials. Of course, there are some minor shortcomings (the buttons are a little “wobbly”, there are subtle defects on the edges), but you can live with them. Buyers of such smartphones are usually not so picky about minor assembly errors and key play.

Display

The smartphone has a 5-inch display with a Super AMOLED matrix. Its resolution is 1280x720 pixels (294 ppi). If the relatively low pixel density is not the worst thing, then the quality of color reproduction is already causing discomfort. After some time, for example, browsing on a smartphone, there is a strong difference when switching to a monitor screen with an IPS or TN matrix. Even without a direct comparison, it is clear that the picture is too green. At an angle, this effect, as usual, intensifies. Of course, fans of caustic pictures may like this, but if you’re not used to it, your eyes will get very tired after reading for a long time. social networks, books and other activities.

But the display has something to praise for. In the sun the picture remains readable. The light sensor quite clearly adjusts the backlight level, although in complete darkness you will have to turn it up to minimum manually. In the settings, you can adjust the picture a little - although you won’t be able to achieve major changes, you can still minimally increase the level of personal comfort. By using the AMOLED matrix, you can display the clock and notifications on the screen when it is turned off. The bonuses are very pleasant, but they do not greatly compensate for the flaws in color rendering. Moreover, there are a sufficient number of smartphones in this price category that can please you with a good picture.

Sound

As mentioned above, there are two slots for sound, but only one speaker works. There are no stereo settings in the system; the player also only shows mono mode. Of course, if there were 2 speakers, this would not change the sound quality much, and it is not at all the strong point of this smartphone. I am completely satisfied with the speaker only in the case of notifications (if the ringtone is not your favorite song, but a regular standard melody). The included headset also sounds bad, and good headphones do not receive a decent signal. Only the owners will have a pleasant sound wireless headsets and/or speakers.

The earpiece sounds comfortable even on a noisy street. The microphone hears the user well, but the lack of a noise reduction system still lets in noise, such as the road, and your subscriber will hear it.

Cameras

The 16-megapixel sensor, subject to certain conditions, can please you with a good picture. So, if there are no fast moving objects in front of the camera and there is enough light, then the frame will look beautiful not only on the smartphone screen, but also on a large monitor. The key to a good result will be the HDR mode, but, for example, passing cars can be displayed in several places in the image (visible in test photos). Quite expectedly, in low light, a lot of noise appears in the photo and the sharpness is greatly reduced. The video is recorded without stabilization, focusing takes quite a long time, it is better to adjust it manually (using Tap-to-focus).

You won't be able to quickly launch the application and focus. This is another reason why the camera is not suitable for dynamic scenes. For those who like to photograph, for example, their pet, it will be difficult to take an acceptable photo at this speed of the camera. But the application is quite intuitive and easy to use.

The front 8-megapixel camera is similarly dependent on light. This is an ordinary, average “front-facing” camera that makes the photo look soapy, hiding skin defects and other little things. At the same time, in artificial lighting the entire frame will be covered with artifacts. In general, such cameras may be sufficient for those who rarely take photographs and are more in need of other smartphone functions. But such cameras are not suitable for people who cannot imagine life without Instagram.

Hardware platform and software

Just a couple of years ago inexpensive smartphones Could not please with good performance. Today that has changed. The Archros Diamond S is equipped with an eight-core MediaTek 6753 processor, a Mali-T720MP video core, 2 GB of RAM, a 16 GB storage capacity and a microSD card slot. Like the one we recently visited with exactly the same hardware, Diamond S does not show any records in tests, but behaves remarkably well in everyday work. At the same time, it allows you to install a memory card without compromising the second SIM card; it also supports LTE networks (only one card has an Internet connection). Very good.

For demanding games, this is certainly not the best solution. There are often drops in FPS and short delays in the picture. But everything else works quite nicely. Simple tasks are completed quickly enough; launching applications and switching between them does not take long. This makes the device really enjoyable to use. During games, navigator operation and video recording, you can feel the heating of the rear window, but it cannot be called high. Otherwise, only positive impressions.

Out of the box, the user will have access to Android 5.1 with virtually no changes. I'm glad that there was no large amount of pre-installed software (although a couple of old games will still be offered during the first setup). As is usually the case, such devices do not receive major updates, so you shouldn’t count on Android 6 and higher (I’ll be happy to be wrong). However, I personally did not have any global complaints about the performance and operation of the software while using the device.

Autonomy

One of the key factors when choosing a smartphone is often the battery life. In Diamond S, the capacity of the non-removable battery was 2300 mAh, which is not very impressive compared to the figures of competitors. But the device holds up well enough for an active day. I most often got 5 hours of screen operation per day, with the remainder being 20-30% of the charge. Yes, you have to connect to the outlet once a day, but the battery consistently lasted for a day without resorting to the energy saving mode.

Those who play a lot of games and/or often use a navigator will need to carry a power bank or charger with them. A full charge from the included unit will take almost 3.5 hours.