Archos 50 Diamond review: Emerald cut

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

5" 1080p IPS LCD

The display on the Archos 50 Diamond is a 5" IPS LCD with a resolution of 1920 x 1080px and a resulting pixel density of 440 ppi. That's plenty sharp on paper and also in practice - everything from icons to text is rendered pixel-sharp and is very pleasing to the eye. 2.5K displays on recent smartphones are a bit sharper but 1080p is certainly good enough.

Archos 50 Diamond

Under a microscope the pixel arrangement can be seen. It's a standard RGB one with equal in size and number red, green and blue pixels that make up the display.

Archos 50 Diamond

Looking at the numbers from our dedicated display test we can see very good contrast and good brightness levels from the Archos 50 Diamond. Compared to its peers the 50 Diamond also offers deeper blacks.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Archos 50 Diamond	0.23	273	1221	0.39	454	1168
Lenovo S90 Sisley	0	119	∞	0	344	∞
Huawei Honor 6	0.13	125	943	0.62	507	812
Oppo R5	0	238	∞	0	417	∞
Motorola Moto G (2014)	0.24	253	1039	0.43	413	968
LG Nexus 5	0.31	298	948	0.54	526	967
ZTE Blade S6	0.26	248	986	0.46	457	946

Sunlight legibility determines the contrast of the display under sunlight and also the level of reflectivity. The Archos 50 Diamond posts a middling result which is nonetheless above average for a midrange smartphone.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView
4.698
Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241
Samsung Galaxy S6
4.124
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
4.033
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
3.997
Apple iPhone 5
3.997
Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
3.799
Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679
Oppo R5
3.678
Samsung Galaxy K zoom
3.675
Nokia Lumia 930
3.567
Apple iPhone 5s
3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5
3.549
Nokia Lumia 735
3.547
Motorola Nexus 6
3.543
Alcatel Idol X+
3.527
Apple iPhone 5c
3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
3.509
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
3.487
LG G Flex2
3.465
YotaPhone 2
3.453
Motorola RAZR MAXX
3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
3.419
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
3.406
Nokia Lumia 925
3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5
3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
3.352
Samsung Omnia W
3.301
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
3.155
Samsung Ativ S
3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
3.118
Nokia N9
3.069
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier
2.958
Sony Xperia Z1
2.95
HTC One S
2.901
Lenovo S90 Sisley
2.892
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
2.861
BlackBerry Q10
2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
2.832
HTC Desire Eye
2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1
2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
2.801
BlackBerry Z30
2.79
Meizu MX4 Pro
2.765
Sony Xperia ZR
2.672
Huawei Ascend P1
2.655
Sony Xperia Z3
2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
2.616
Sony Xperia T3
2.609
BlackBerry Passport
2.595
Nokia Lumia 900
2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G
2.546
HTC One Max
2.537
Nokia Lumia 720
2.512
HTC One
2.504
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini
2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
2.416
LG G Flex
2.407
HTC Desire 820
2.372
HTC One (M8)
2.371
Motorola RAZR i
2.366
Meizu MX4
2.366
Meizu m1 note
2.362
Sony Xperia ZL
2.352
HTC One M9
2.334
HTC One (M8) for Windows
2.291
Oppo Find 7a
2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Apple iPhone 4S
2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim
2.262
Nokia Asha 311
2.25
Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233
LG Nexus 5
2.228
Nokia Lumia 820
2.193
HTC One (E8)
2.185
Oppo N3
2.181
Nokia Lumia 920
2.17
Huawei Honor 6
2.169
HTC One X
2.158
Nokia N8
2.144
Nokia Lumia 620
2.142
Nokia 515
2.134
Archos 50 Diamond
2.134
HTC Desire 500
2.129
Sony Xperia C3 Dual
2.12
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Sony Xperia acro S
2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020
2.103
Oppo Find 5
2.088
Sony Xperia SL
2.078
Nokia Lumia 630
2.056
BlackBerry Z10
2.051
Huawei Ascend Mate7
2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
2.022
Apple iPhone 4
2.016
HTC One mini
2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001
Huawei Ascend P7
1.992
LG G2
1.976
OnePlus One
1.961
Oppo R819
1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
1.955
Lenovo Vibe X2
1.952
Sony Xperia Z2
1.944
Sony Xperia E3
1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320
1.941
HTC One mini 2
1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera
1.938
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
1.935
Sony Xperia J
1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500
1.931
ZTE Blade S6
1.927
LG Nexus 4
1.926
LG G Pro 2
1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
1.913
Nokia Asha 308
1.911
HTC Butterfly 2
1.905
Sony Xperia T
1.894
Nokia Lumia 830
1.887
HTC Desire X
1.878
HTC Butterfly
1.873
HTC Windows Phone 8X
1.873
HTC Butterfly S
1.867
Huawei Ascend P6
1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate
1.845
LG G2 mini
1.838
LG G3
1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520
1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim
1.797
Sony Xperia V
1.792
HTC Desire 816
1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim
1.769
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Meizu MX3
1.754
LG Optimus G
1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
1.735
Acer Liquid Jade S
1.734
Sony Xperia SP
1.733
Oppo Find 7
1.691
LG Optimus 4X HD
1.691
HTC One V
1.685
BlackBerry Q5
1.682
LG Optimus Vu
1.68
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
1.672
LG Optimus GJ
1.666
LG Optimus 3D Max
1.658
HTC Desire V
1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
1.622
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
1.578
Sony Xperia go
1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core
1.563
LG Optimus G Pro
1.552
Motorola Moto E
1.545
LG Optimus 3D
1.542
Nokia Asha 302
1.537
Samsung Galaxy Core Prime
1.507
BlackBerry Curve 9320
1.488
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Oppo N1
1.47
Sony Xperia E4
1.467
Meizu MX 4-core
1.462
Nokia Lumia 610
1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos
1.4
Microsoft Lumia 535
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
1.393
Sony Xperia M2
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
1.38
Sony Xperia E1
1.372
Nokia Lumia 625
1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355
1.361
Sony Xperia L
1.351
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
1.35
Xiaomi Redmi 1S
1.35
HTC Desire 510
1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
1.331
Sony Xperia miro
1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
1.315
Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311
HTC Desire C
1.3
Nokia X
1.291
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Nokia Asha 503
1.281
Nokia Asha 501
1.27
LG Optimus L7
1.269
Nokia Lumia 510
1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame
1.245
LG Optimus L9
1.227
Meizu MX
1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young
1.22
Sony Xperia E
1.215
Nokia XL
1.204
Sony Xperia E dual
1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket
1.18
Nokia Asha 305
1.178
Nokia Asha 306
1.175
Sony Xperia neo L
1.169
Sony Xperia tipo
1.166
Nokia Lumia 520
1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2
1.114

Battery life test

The non-removable 2,700mAh battery of the Archos 50 Diamond was above average in our tests. It managed a 60 hour endurance rating with average browsing, above average video playback and superb talk time endurance.

In our dedicated standby test the Archos 50 Diamond endured around 340h with a single SIM inside and 240h with both SIM slots occupied - both good numbers. Note that the endurance rating below features the stand-by with two SIM cards. If we were to factor in the single SIM standby performance, the endurance rating would rise to 64h.

Connectivity

The Archos 50 Diamond comes with quad-band 2G/GPRS/EDGE support, tri-band 3G with HSDPA and HSUPA, as well as quad-band LTE support with band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 20(800) support.

It comes dual-SIM, dual-standby functionality by default - 3G and LTE are supported only on SIM1, while SIM2 can tap into 2G GSM networks only.

The 50 Diamond has Wi-Fi with Direct functionality but interestingly can't see any 5GHz networks, leading us to believe it's a single-band radio. Bluetooth 4.0 is also on board with A2DP support.

The microUSB 2.0 port supports USB host so you can attach USB flash drives or connect peripherals.

You can also stream your display via the Wireless Display feature (Miracast).

Just as expected, GPS support is also available, but not the GLONASS variety.

There's also FM Radio and NFC but no IR port and no way to get wired TV Out functionality either.

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3. Display, battery life, connectivity

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