Announced for the end of October 2013, the ARCHOS GamePad 2 (model with 8 Gb storage) started to sell on ARCHOS online store in time. For the 16GB version we had to wait longer and finally, it is now shipping from the Archos online store.
You can grab yourself one for 199.99€/£.
Is it worth the money?
While the GamePad 2 is a great product, the main issue on the ARCHOS GamePad2 is a relatively poor processor performance, mainly on the graphic processor (GPU) side. Sure it can execute most current games, but they won’t run at full frame rate and coming games that require a high performance device will probably give hard time with the GamePad 2.
We have done a quick benchmark comparing the performance between the ARCHOS GamePad2, a Nexus 7 (2013) and a Tegra Note (Tegra 4 processor based) on 3DMark benchmark v1.2.0.1232 – Ice Storm Extreme.
The results show that the Rockchip RK3188 processor has very limited performance compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro and Tegra 4 tablets. The new tablet models like the Google Nexus 7 (2013) or the Tegra Note with an additional controller are interesting replacements for the ARCHOS portable console.
 |  | AMAZON USA | Usually ships in 24 hours | $ 219 |  | AMAZON UK | Usually dispatched within 24 hours | £ 171.99 |  | AMAZON DE | 245 EUR |  | AMAZON FR | Habituellement expédié sous 24 h | 211.51 EUR |
 | | AMAZON USA | Usually ships in 24 hours | $ 26.85 | | AMAZON UK | Usually dispatched within 24 hours | £ 21.09 | | AMAZON FR | Habituellement expédié sous 24 h | 25.99 EUR |
Considering GamePad 2 alternative: JXD S7800b
Compared to the GamePad 2, the JXD S7800b portable Android game console offers similar features for less money.
Here are the JXD S7800b specifications:
| Screen | 7 inch IPS LCD, Resolution: 1280×800 5 point touch Capacitive Screen(G+G LCD) |
| CPU | RockChip RK3188, Quad Core, 1.6GHz (ARM Cortex A9 CPU, ARM mali400 mp4 GPU) |
| RAM | DDR: 2GB DDR3 |
| OS | Android 4.2.2 |
| Games | 100.000 Android games, 9 Emulator games(PS1, N64, Arcade CP1/CP2/Neo-Geo, GBA, SFC, MD, FC), Game Cloud, Tested games download Channel |
| Games Control | 3 ways to control the games: 5-point capacitive touch screen, Buttons(L+R button, Dual joystick), G-sensor Buttons: Direction buttons, ABXY, LR, Dual joysticks, Select, Start, Vol+/-, Reset, POWER, Home, Back, Menu, Mode switch button |
| Storage | 8GB |
| Network | Wi-Fi(802.11 b/g/n), External Ethernet and 3G Dongle |
| Camera | Back 0.3 MP camera |
| I/O | USB2.0 High Speed OTG: to connect Keyboard, mouse, Ethernet, 3G dongle, U disk and Hard disk 3.5mm Stereo earphone mini jack Micro TF card slot, max 32GB HDMI: HDMI Dual screen display, up to 1080P |
| Gravity Sensor | 3 Axis Gravity Sensor |
| Charge and Battery | Charge and Battery: Built-in 5000mA rechargable Li-polymer battery Charge with 5V 2A DC adaptor or USB |
 CPU RK3188 Quad core 1.6Ghz, 7" display, 2G RAM, 8GB Storage, Dual Camera | Worldwide | Aliexpress | $157 / ₤97 |
| Worldwide | DinoDirect.com | $138.99 | |
| Touch-4U | 179.90 € |
