French manufacturer Archos has just pulled the wraps off its first 4G handsets just days ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas.
As their names suggest, the Archos 45 and 50 Helium are lighter on their feet than the company’s most recent 3G-only Platinum or Oxygen-families of handsets, sporting cat 4. LTE, which promises theoretical 150Mbps download speeds on the go.
Much like previous Archos devices, the family name isn’t the only thing that’s similar. The Archos 45 Helium, offers a 4.5-inch FWVGA IPS display, the 50 Helium a 5-inch 720p HD variant using the same technology. Both handsets also share the same 1.4GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an identical GPU and a near-stock Android 4.3 Jelly Bean-based user experience.
On the imaging front, the 45 Helium features a VGA front-facer and a 5-megapixel rear snapper, whilst both sensors get bumped up to 2-megapixels and 8-megapixels respectively on the larger handset. The additional size also means an extra 300mAh’s of juice over the 1700mAh cell found in the 45 Helium and beyond that, the only other key difference is storage, with 4GB in the smaller handset and twice that in the larger device. Both also support microSD expandability, but by how much is uncomfirmed, we suspect up to 32GBs.
Whilst Archos is entering into the 4G game a little late by comparison to the likes of Nokia, Sony and Samsung, the company’s focus on affordability is reflected in the price of these mid-range, quad-core-laden Android devices. The Archos 45 Helium will be priced at around £199.99 when it hits retail, while the 50 Helium will cost around £239.99.
We’ll hopefully be able to get our hands on these affordable new 4G handsets at CES 2014, before they hit stores and offer up a new affordable 4G choice for consumers.
Image: Dereky Key/Flickr
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