thanks to handset maker like BLU Products, consumers are now able to acquire pretty looking smartphones with decent specs without burning a huge hole in our wallets, and without being tied to one particular Telco. with the newly announced ARCHOS Helium 4G Series Smartphones, budget conscious folks and anti-customer agreement smartphone users have another reasons (or maybe two reasons) to rejoice. two flavors will be offered: ARCHOS 50 Helium 4G and ARCHOS 45 Helium 4G, with the former being the higher spec-ed example with 5″ HD IPS display and the latter, sporting a 4.5″ FWVGA (854 x 480 pixels) IPS display.
both handsets share some same key features like a quad-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Cortex A7 chip, 450MHz Adreno 305 GPU, 1GB of RAM, Full HD video recording, micro SD card for expandable storage, 4G radios, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi, A-GPS with GLONASS support, plus the usual serving of sensors. the 50 Helium is offered with 8GB of onboard storage, 8MP autofocus BSI camera with LED flash, a 2MP front-facing camera, and a 2,000 mAh lithium-ion battery. the 45 Helium, on the other hand, comes with 4GB internal storage, a 5MP autofocus BSI camera with LED flash, a VGA front-facing camera, and a slightly smaller capacity 1,700 mAh lithium-ion battery.
the real deal sealer here is of course the pricing. the ARCHOS 50 Helium 4G goes for $249.99, while the ARCHOS 45 Helium 4G cost under $200 – both unlocked and non-binding to any telcos. at launch, both handsets will be running on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, but the firm has promised an upgrade to 4.4.2 KitKat – though no indication of when. ARCHOS will be showing off the duo, along with the firm’s other smartphones, tablets and connected devices at the 2014 CES next week (booth #9844, Central Hall).
