Archos Gamepad review

Ultimately, the Gamepad simply can’t compete with dedicated gaming handhelds such as Sony’s PlayStation Vita or Nintendo’s 3DS. The buttons feel cheap, with an awkward layout that makes certain games very challenging to play. The analogue controls resemble the nub Sony used for its PSP portable and although we appreciate having two of them, they aren’t quite as responsive as the sticks found on the Vita.

Sadly, many games aren’t compatible with the Gamepad’s CPU and GPU combination, and this is a real shame because Grand Theft Auto would benefit greatly from physical controls. The ones that do run often lack the ability to assign individual buttons, or assign them automatically with no option to change the layout. You can assign the Gamepad’s buttons to functions within games, but there’s no guarantee that the game will accept those assignments. We couldn’t use the shoulder buttons in games such as Minecraft, for example.

Other games fared better, with zombie shoot-‘em-up Dead Trigger working perfectly once we’d set up a control scheme, but such games were in the minority.

At £120, the Gamepad’s reasonably priced for an Android tablet and cheaper than dedicated gaming handhelds from either Sony or Nintendo. However, the lack of games with full controller support and limited button customisation options make it more of a novelty than a bargain tablet. The general build quality, poor screen and average performance make it a sub-par tablet, to the point that dedicated gamers would be better off buying a Nintendo 3DS or Sony PlayStation Vita instead.