Archos 50 Cobalt Full Specs Pricing Pros & Cons Unveiled

Overview of Archos 50 Cobalt

The Archos 50 Cobalt is a smartphone that was announced in January 2016 and released in March of the same year. It falls into the budget category, catering to users who seek a functional smartphone experience without breaking the bank. Although the device is now discontinued, it serves as a notable example of the entry-level smartphone market during the mid-2010s.

Design and Build

The Archos 50 Cobalt measures 141.5 x 71.5 x 9.2 mm and weighs 135 grams, making it fairly compact and lightweight for its time. Its design features a plastic build available in Blue and Gray colors, offering a sleek and practical look. The device accommodates two Micro SIM cards in a dual stand-by configuration, appealing to users who require dual network functionalities.

Display

Sporting a 5.0-inch IPS LCD display, the Archos 50 Cobalt provides a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, achieving approximately 294 ppi pixel density. The screen takes up about 68.1% of the front panel, offering a reasonably immersive viewing experience for its size, which was quite standard for budget smartphones during its release period.

Performance

Under the hood, the device is powered by a Mediatek MT6735P chipset built on 28 nm technology. It houses a Quad-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU and a Mali-T720MP2 GPU. Although the 1GB RAM might feel limiting by today's standards, it was sufficient for basic tasks and lightweight applications at the time. Running on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, the user interface comes with standard Android features and supports a fair number of apps available during its era.

Storage

The Archos 50 Cobalt comes with 8GB of internal storage, which is quite limited for users who store multimedia content. However, it does offer expandability through a microSDXC slot, allowing users to increase storage capacity as needed, a crucial feature for the target market of the phone.

Camera

This device is equipped with an 8 MP main camera featuring autofocus and an LED flash, capable of capturing HDR and panoramic photos. It's also capable of recording video at 720p@30fps, which was a common standard for budget phones at that time. The front-facing camera is a modest 2 MP, designed for simple selfies and video calls.

Battery

The phone comes with a non-removable Li-Ion 2000 mAh battery, which provides up to 330 hours of standby time and up to 20 hours of talk time. While this may not seem substantial by today's standards, it offered a decent lifespan for typical daily use at the time of its release.

Connectivity and Network

The Archos 50 Cobalt supports a range of network technologies, including GSM, HSPA, and LTE, with LTE Cat4 offering speeds of up to 150/50 Mbps. It's equipped with modern connectivity options like Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and a microUSB 2.0 port, although it lacks NFC support. Additionally, it includes FM radio capabilities for users who enjoy listening to broadcast radio.

Sensors and Additional Features

The device includes several basic sensors such as an accelerometer, gyro, and proximity sensor, which serve various functions from enhanced gaming experiences to basic mobile functionalities. Although missing advanced features like fingerprint recognition or facial unlocking, these sensors were typical for its target audience.