I've been looking for a strong alternative to the iPod Touch
for a long time. The original had several shortcomings, although there were no decent competitors to it at that time. Some challengers have shown up since. Apple didn't rest on its laurels, and the latest Touch answers almost every complaint I had with the first one.
Archos appears to have decided to win back bragging rights for tablet media players, and the Archos 43 Internet Tablet
looks like it shoots straight at the Touch. I have both, and am getting many questions about which is better. This is my showdown. I'll rank for technology, media support, ease of use, build, and a few other things. You may not agree with every conclusion, but hopefully this showdown will help you make your own decision.
I have reviewed both. The Archos 43 has been updated since that review. Here is how they compare price-wise:
iPod Touch 8gb for $229. 32gb for $299.
Archos 43 16gb for $249. 16gb MicroSD-HC card for $36. Total for 32gb = $285.
Hardware:
- Processor: Tie
Touch: Apple A4 1GHz processor running iOS 4
43: ARM Cortex A8 at 1 GHz with DSP running Android 2.21
- WiFi: Tie
Touch: 802.11b/g/n (802.11n 2.4GHz only). 802.11n no speed
improvement over G.
43: 802.11 b/g/n (including 5GHz for 802.11n) 802.11n doesn't work
at the moment. Archos is looking into it.
- Bluetooth devices supported: 43 wins.
Touch: Profiles include A2DP, AVRCP, PAN, HID. Headphones, Keyboard, some accessories.
43: Profiles include A2DP, AVRCP, HID, PAN, Headphones, Keyboard, Mouse, GPS, File Transfer,
Phone tethering.
Touch: 3.5" diagonal. 1.984375" x 2.9375", 5.83 square inches.
43: 4.3" diagonal, 2.09375" x 3.75", 7.85 square inches.
- Screen resolution: Touch wins.
Touch: 960 x 640
43: 854 x 480
- External controls: Both have volume toggle power/hold button. Tie
- Power button options: 43 wins.
Touch: Simple press to turn screen off. Long press for power OFF
screen.
43: Simple press to turn screen off. Long press brings up several
device options including Airplane Mode, Buttons Mode, Power
Off, and Silent Mode. Choosing Power OFF brings up a second
set of choices including Deep Sleep, Reboot, and Power Off.
- Ports: Inputs, outputs, and memory expansion. 43 wins.
Touch: Dock port, headphone jack.
43: Micro USB sync port, HDMI output, MicroSD-HC slot, headphone jack. USB storage drives and devices supported with adapter cable (not included, typically under $10).
- Cameras: Touch wins with 2. Both devices require great lighting to take good photos. The 43's camera app was updated in the latest firmware with 6 white-balance settings, resolution/quality choices, color effects, and (video) unbanding choices. It has a Photo/Video toggle as well. The Touch has a choice of cameras (front or back), the shutter button, and a digital zoom slider that shows up when you tap the screen. Both have links to their photo galleries from within camera app.
Touch: Front facing VGA 640 x 480 resolution. Rear facing 960 x 720 for Photos, 1280 x 720 for Video.
43: Rear facing 1280 x 720 photos and video.
- Speakers: The 43's speaker reaches to lower frequencies. The iPod's speaker is louder at the same position along the volume slider (about 50%). Both serve fine for notices, games and chat, but are not recommended for music listening. Tie.
- Microphone: Touch wins. Its microphone is more sensitive, and the voice memo app is better integrated than the Audio Recorder app on the 43 is.
- Speakers: The 43's speaker reaches to lower frequencies. The iPod's speaker is louder at the same position along the volume slider (about 50%). Both serve fine for notices, games and chat, but are not recommended for music listening. Tie.
- Microphone: Touch wins. Its microphone is more sensitive, and the voice memo app is better integrated than the Audio Recorder app on the 43 is.
Media Support:
- Music File Types: Tie. Differences in what is supported by each, though.
Touch: AAC, Protected AAC, HE-AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV. 9
43: Stereo MP3, MP3 VBR, WMA, WAV (PCM/ADPCM), AAC3, AAC+ stereo audio files, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, AC3, AC3 stereo audio(options plugin required). 9 or 10
- Video File Types: 43 wins. Many file types are simply containers. Still the 43 is easily most capable. It also can play videos from shared folders on your home network. Above are scenes from videos playing on both. The MULAN video on the 43 was streaming from my PC over my home WiFi network.
Touch: M4v, MP4, MOV, AVI
43: M4v, MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WMV, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF, 3GP.
- Photo File Types: Tie.
Touch: JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
43: JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
- Photo apps: 43 wins.
Touch: Pictures app. Sources include local, from cameras, from email, and from Web that you've downloaded.
43: Galley and Photo Frame apps.
- Music Sort Options: Tie. Differences. On the 43 you can find separate apps for Audiobooks and Podcasts.
Touch: Albums, Artists, Songs, Playlists, Audiobooks, Compilations, Composers, Genres, Podcasts, iTunes U, Seach
43: Albums, Artists, Songs, Playlists, Recently added, Recently played, Favorites, Storage, Party shuffle, Search.
- Music Now Playing: 43 wins. Info and Features accessible directly from within the Now Playing screen.
Touch: Artist, Album name, Song name, Position slider/info, Volume slider, Next/Previous, FF/REV, Play/Pause, Shuffle toggle, Repeat options, Album art, Shortcut to song list, Song x of Total, Back. 17. Music app changes to limited cover flow view in landscape position.
43: Artist, Album name, Song name, Position slider/info/absolute, Volume slide/up-down/position bar, Next/Previous, FF/REV, Play/Pause, Shuffle toggle, Repeat Options, Album Art, Shortcut to Song List, Shortcut to initial Library screen. Tap menu for Info, Party Shuffle, Add to Playlist, Add to favorites, Delete, and Audio Settings choices, Search (any text on the screen for related info using) Music/Web/Pandora/YouTube, Back. 30. Music app presents same options in landscape and Profile views.
Experience:
- User Interface: Ease of use. Finding what you want. Managing your files and apps. 43 wins. Neither device is intuitive, despite YouTube videos of toddlers play with an iPad. Many options are hidden in Settings, and the only way to know about them is to search through them one by one. Android apps generally have related settings accessible within the app. On the Touch, you have to leave the app and then open Settings to find related options.
Touch: Folder support. Multiple (11) App pages. System wide search. Capacitive screen +. Multitouch. Uninstall downloaded apps. Multitasking. Bookmarks as icons. 8
43: Folder support. Multiple (5) App pages. System wide search. Resistive screen -. Uninstall downloaded apps. Multitasking. File browser. Delete file capability. Put icons anywhere on a screen. Widgets. App icons (shortcuts) and widgets on more than one page if you want. Shortcuts to contacts, bookmarks, direct messages, directions, an email, Gmail label, Latitude, any setting, Google Voice toggle as icons on a home page. 18
43: Folder support. Multiple (5) App pages. System wide search. Resistive screen -. Uninstall downloaded apps. Multitasking. File browser. Delete file capability. Put icons anywhere on a screen. Widgets. App icons (shortcuts) and widgets on more than one page if you want. Shortcuts to contacts, bookmarks, direct messages, directions, an email, Gmail label, Latitude, any setting, Google Voice toggle as icons on a home page. 18
- Build: The Touch (below) is too thin. I find myself getting hand cramps when holding it more than a few minutes. The 43 weighs a little more, but with its larger screen the weight is expected. Both are well built, but Apple again demonstrates that they are on top of engineering and production. The 43 is well made. I greatly appreciate the built-in kickstand (above). The Touch is a beautiful piece of work. Both are fingerprint magnets. Although not the easiest to hold or use, the Touch wins build.
Touch: 7.2 millimeters thin. Engineered glass front and stainless steel back.
43: 9 millimeters thin. Glass front with plastic body molded over a steel frame.
- Reliability: Tie. The Touch I have now is a replacement for my original purchase. The power button failed and Apple replaced it for me. So far my 43 doesn't work using 802.11n for WiFi connectivity as it claims to. It still connects using 802.11g. Archos is aware and hopefully will fix it in an upcoming firmware release. Of three iPod Touches I've owned, two have gone back to Apple as defective. Of the 6 Archos product I have none has needed to be sent back as defective, yet nagging firmware glitches so far keep this 43 from being all that it can be. Both products thus appear tied for reliability.
Summary:
43 = 16. Touch = 12. Wins worth 1. Ties worth 1 point to each device. By numbers the 43 is easily the winner. Android 2.21 is a more versatile OS than iOS 4. Since my 43 arrived it has become the one device I prefer to use over everything else you can find reviewed on my blog. The larger screen of the 43 is more welcome than the higher-resolution screen of the new Touch. Applications are available for both. The range of android apps, despite fewer in number than Touch apps, covers every category well. With no restrictions there are Android apps that do things Apple doesn't allow Touch/iPhone apps to do. The Touch is a great piece of hardware. Archos has a better device in its 43 though. In fact, Archos can't seem to make them fast enough to satisfy demand.
4D
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