Archos 2 GamePad Game Review

DesignImproved controls Comfortable most beautiful to be used for long periodsButton perfect Screen not yet mapping quality is good but not great game still matters persistThe support that Archos 2 GamePad is the second attempt of the French company to make an Android tablet gaming. The first GamePad was a disaster in many ways. From the economic aspect, buggy software and lack of Android games that really could benefit from physical controls. In his second coming, the GamePad 2 rights of some of the greatest wrongs of the first GamePad, but it's still not perfect. For almost ?180, is still hard to justify recommending 2 Gamepad over a Nintendo 3DS or the PS Vita.

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If there was anything the GamePad really needed was to get rid of the gray plastic construction naff-looking. Fortunately, it has now been replaced by a slick-looking gloss black top layer and now screen surround combines seamless with the actual screen. The rear now has a plastic feel more grippy, textured effect, making it more comfortable to use for long periods of time.

With a weight of 400 grams, is slightly heavier than the first GamePad (330 g) and only 9 mm thick and has a deal significantly less cumbersome than Wikipad. It is much better to look a second time, even though it lacks some of the glossy good looks and 3DS.

Minor tweaks were made for physical checks where some are more obvious and more necessary than others. Awesome PSP analog buttons-as they have been let down for more sticks slightly concave and raised. The D-pad is now a full button and face buttons (X, Y, B, A) are circular instead of small triangles. Clear shoulder buttons are broken into two buttons without doubt to compensate for the lack of triggers.

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Changes to the buttons D-Pad and face certainly make the fit more snug 2 GamePad with two hands and offer the best answer. The analogue sticks work better for first-person shooters, although the directional movement sometimes make it difficult to narrowly aim quickly and accurately. It is all too easy to press the smaller part of the shoulder buttons divided when you are frantically trying to shoot quickly.

Elsewhere, the stereo speakers, select start, and are still in place and around the top edge you'll find from left to right the micro USB charging port, 3.5 mm headphone jack, micro HDMI port, volume rocker and standby button. There is no 3 g versions at present and no GPS, but you get the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a front-facing camera rather average.

The microSD card so important is the bottom of the body. We say important, because as soon as you will discover if you have the 8 GB version (? 179) like we did, it only takes a few Gameloft games to grab the remaining space.

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2 GamePad has a decent 1,280 x 800 pixels screen IPS up from 1024 x 600 resolution display showcase one on the original. It is nothing like as good as the 1,920 x 1,200 screen incredibly sharp on Nexus 7 2 or Kindle Fire HDX 7.

The low resolution screen is pretty obvious in games. Playing 8 asphalt and Modern Combat 4: Zero hour the jagged edges of objects are clear so they are not simply on the screen of a higher pixel density. Contrast and color tone, however, are both well represented and certainly a step up from the first GamePad.

Indoor game is clearly the best environment like the screen surface is quite reflective. When you use the GamePad 2 just like a standard Android tablet, watch HD videos on YouTube or on web pages is fairly sharp and viewing angles are good.

Just seems to miss the real punch of color that you get the Nexus 7 2 or Kindle Fire HDX 7. Reactivity of the screen is as good as you would expect so you'll have no problems playing games based on touchscreen when you need to take a break from the controls.

With all the minor trade-offs considered, the screen is still light years ahead of the original GamePad even if they fail to outperform the best from 7 inch Android tablets.

Elsewhere, two stereo speakers are surprisingly strong and powerful yet lack of clarity when you pump up the volume. The Kindle Fire HDX 7 has set the bar for the quality of the speakers and the GamePad 2 tablet falls short of sound warmer, more detail of Amazon's tablet.

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