Archos 605 Wi-Fi Preview

Launch price from £150

Loading...

Stuff says

A geek’s dream, the 605's addition of flash support and improved usability might just be enough to see it promoted from niche to mainstream

PREVIEW

Our new Archos 604 Wi-Fi had barely finished charging when the tres prolifique French company announced its spanking Generation 5 range. We can forgive it though – the 605 Wi-Fi brings some stellar new features that could finally get it into the big-time.  

The 605 is the leader of the Generation 5 range – the 2GB 405 will join it on the shelves in August – and differs from its predecessor in four main ways. Firstly, instead of a sole 30GB flavour, it’ll also be available as a super-size 160GB version and, for only £150, as a 4GB model with SD card expansion.

The second big change is the 4.3in screen’s resolution, which has been bumped up from 480x272 to a gorgeous 800x480 pixels. This not only makes films much more watchable, but makes it a much more potent web surfing weapon than its predecessor.

And the web experience hasn’t just been improved visually – the 605 now supports flash video, meaning you can watch videos on sites like Youtube and, of course, Stuff.tv. We’re just hoping the Wi-Fi connection is a little less temperamental than the 604’s.

The final improvement is a refined user interface, which includes a built-in Electronic Programme Guide (EPG). This means that when you’re recording directly from your TV via the dock – which is still an optional extra rather than in the box, sadly – the whole process should be a little slicker and intuitive.

With Archos also launching its own portal for direct video downloads later this year, the 605 looks well-placed to be one of favourite shiny boxes of the year. Look out for a full review soon.

Use it with…
Stuff Essentials – In-ear headphones