Simplifying Archos' set of Elements tablets

Archos is making efforts to keep its tablet game strong with the release of its Elements series of tablets. The series offers a wide selection of budget-friendly tablets with a variety of options, but the similarities and differences among the many models have become difficult to navigate and decipher.

Below you will find a breakdown of Archos' Elements series beginning with the Platinum and Titanium lines followed by the rest of the, slightly obscure, Element tablets.

The most recent releases in the Elements series of tablets are currently divided into the Platinum or Titanium range. Both sets feature a variety of sizes and run Android 4.1, but the main distinction between the two is that the Platinum range of tablets runs a quad-core CPU, whereas the Titanium range house a dual-core CPU.

Platinum
The Platinum range is Archos' venture into high-performing yet affordable tablets and comes in a trio of 8-inch, 9.7-inch, and 11.6-inch models. All Platinum tablets feature IPS displays, a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, an eight-core GPU, Android 4.1 OS, 2GB RAM, and front and back cameras. The design is white and slim with an aluminum back casing, and all of the tablets sport Mini-HDMI, microSD, and Micro-USB ports. The stand-out tablet is the 97 Platinum HD because of its 2,048x1,536-pixel IPS display, which is comparable with the iPad's Retina Display.

Titanium
The Titanium set of tablets can be seen as the weaker-performing range of tablets, with a few downgraded features from the Platinum lineup. The Titanium set houses a 1.6GHz dual-core A9 processor, a quad-core Mali 400 MP4 GPU, and 1GB of RAM. Designwise the tablets look similar to the Platinum but with different camera placement. The Titanium range has its own "HD" tablet with a 2,048x1,536-pixel resolution in the Archos 97 Titanium HD. The Titanium lineup is bigger than the Platinum's with the addition of the 7-inch 70 Titanium and a 10-inch 101 Titanium at the competitive prices of $119 and $199, respectively. 

Archos has three solitary models as part of the Elements series that don't belong to a larger range of tablets. Archos might be counting on the power in numbers with the inclusion of ranges of tablets, seeing as the Archos 97 Carbon is the only solo Element tablet that I was easily able to find online for sale. The Archos 80 Cobalt and the 97 Xenon don't appear to be easily available in the United States for purchase, but I've included them in an effort to provide the complete landscape of tablets offered in Archos' Elements series.

Archos 80 Cobalt
The 80 Cobalt is a very simple and minimal tablet with limited connections. The 8-inch tablet features a 1,024x768-pixel resolution, front and rear cameras, and houses a 1.6GHz dual core CPU and quad-core GPU.

Archos 97 Carbon
The 97 Carbon teeters on below average for a tablet with its 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 1,024x768-pixel IPS screen. The 9.7-inch tablet ships with Android 4.0 and features front and back cameras as well as a Mini-HDMI port.

Archos 97 Xenon
The 9.7-inch Archos 97 Xenon was met with little fanfare when it was released late last year. The 3G tablet sports a 1,024x768-pixel IPS display and Android 4.0. The 97 Xenon shares a screen size with the 97 Carbon but has less internal storage and RAM.

Archos is known for skimping on high-quality performance parts, centering its tablets around a budget-friendly ethos instead, so we're hopeful that the Platinum and Titanium lines make up for Archos' previous mistakes. The idea of high-performing yet affordable tablets in a variety of sizes is promising but we'll have to wait to see how well these tablets actually perform.