Archos, the French company that is mostly known for its inexpensive Android devices, has presented its first product in the home assistant market. Archos Hello combines a smart speaker with a built-in display and will launch in 7" and 8.4" sizes.
Full technical details of the two smart home devices are still unknown, although Archos states that the 7-inch model features an 'HD' resolution while the larger 8.4-inch brother does have a clear and specific resolution of Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels). Both Archos Hello devices run on the Android Oreo operating system and will be using Google Assistant for the smart functionality. The design of the smart speakers is a combination of wood and metal, and also features a kickstand.
A 4000 mAH battery is built-in, which allows for use without a power cord although it's unclear how long the battery lasts for both models. The smart displays feature 2 GB of internal memory and offer 16 GB of storage capacity. Archos will be using an unnamed quad-core soc to deliver the necessary horsepower. You can also video chat and take pictures with the 5-megapixel camera.
Archos isn't the first to present a smart home device with a built-in screen, as Amazon launched its Echo Show with Alexa in 2017. Lenovo showed their own smart display at this year's CES.
The 7-inch version of Archos Hello will retail for 129,99 Euros (US$160) while the larger 8.4-inch model carries a price tag of 179,99 Euros (US$221). A specific release date hasn't been made available yet, although Archos aims to release the smart displays this summer.