Archos 50 Diamond review: Emerald cut

Final words

In our testing we found the Archos 50 Diamond above average to very good. We have to admit that we were surprised at times by its performance - especially in areas like the still camera. It takes many big names in the mobile space years to make a good camera and Archos has done it easily with their first real flagship.

We also liked the design put forward by the 50 Diamond, although we can't say we've grown fond of the name. The yellow back suits the flat black body well and the display does well to blend in with the rest. The feel of the device was very good as well and we got used to the left-placed power button easily enough.

Everything about the Archos 50 Diamond proved good and we're hard-pressed to call any of its shortcomings deal breakers. The Snapdragon 615 chipset will give most users enough power to work with, the battery life is good, the user interface is not some ugly representation of a skin but actual vanilla Android and the camera is great.

Key test findings:

• Good build quality, capacitive buttons don't take up display space
• Display has good contrast and reasonable brightness, above average sunlight legibility
• Battery life is good with great call times, adding a second SIM inside deducts 100 hours of stand-by
• Vanilla Android KitKat is fluid and bloatware free
• Snapdragon 615 performs as expected - good CPU performance but unimpressive graphics results
• Loudspeaker loudness is below average
• Great video player with online subtitle download; unfortunately, none of the videos with AC3 sound worked
• 16MP photos come with sharp and with good detail, though a bit noisy; HDR and Panorama modes are a disappointment
• 1080p videos are ok, but nothing special

Then there's the price consideration. Archos sell their smartphone for the reasonable 230 euro, which puts it in a good position against tough competition in the midrange market. The latter is business as usual as most makers make their bread and butter here and not in the high-end.

Looking at the competition there are a few names that are worth mentioning. The second generation Moto G is here with a 5" 720p display and Snapdragon 400 chipset. It's nothing special on paper and can't match the Archos 50 Diamond on pure specs but does come with better customizability and is cheaper and easier to buy subsidized or otherwise. Also the Moto G either has or is getting Android Lollipop too.

Motorola Moto G (2nd gen)

The next candidate is better-equipped than the Archos 50 Diamond and costs much more but does share a chipset with it. The similarities end there as Oppo R5 has a 5.2" AMOLED panel of 1080p resolution and 13MP camera not to mention a metal and glass body which is impressive and offers a more premium feel. The price difference is something to consider, though.

Oppo R5

Lenovo's S90 Sisley looks prettier than the Archos 50 Diamond and despite having just 720p screen resolution, it puts a SuperAMOLED panel on the table. There's also a 13MP camera on the back and 8MP on the front. The Lenovo costs around the same as the Archos 50 Diamond too.

Lenovo S90 Sisley

Another device that can challenge the 50 Diamond is the Huawei Honor 6. It sports a 5" 1080p display and a superior chipset but costs more.

Huawei Honor 6

Around the same price as the Archos 50 Diamond you could opt for ZTE's Blade S6. It's screen is 720p but the chipset is the same and there's a capable 13MP camera on board. It also matches the Archos 50 Diamond for its expandable storage and offers dual SIM and LTE. The software of choice is close to stock Android and it's the newer generation Android Lollipop.

ZTE Blade S6

The Archos 50 Diamond has a good set of specs and in order to get a better smartphone you'd really need to shell out more money. Some of the phones mentioned above are more expensive while sporting just 720p displays that aren't as sharp as the 1080p panel on the 50 Diamond.

The only thing that Archos need to worry about is placing their flagship in the hands of users and spreading the word that the phone is worth buying. As it stands, it would be hard for you to get an Archos 50 Diamond outside of the select markets the French maker operates on. Still the US is covered and so is a big part of Europe. Users in Asia already have a wider variety of cheaper brands to choose from anyway.

The Archos 50 Diamond is an above average smartphone that possesses some good and some very good qualities. It won't dethrone the Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S but could push some midrangers outside of their comfort zones.