ARCHOS unveils the 50d Helium smartphone - Android 5.1, 13MP camera, $129

If you aren’t familiar with French smartphone and tablet manufacturer ARCHOS, perhaps now is a good time to do so. Over the past few years the company has aimed to produce high-quality software and hardware for a low price point, and it looks like its new offering does just that. ARCHOS has just unveiled the budget-friendly 50d Helium smartphone that may actually give other low cost smartphones a run for their money.

The 50d Helium offers up a 5.0-inch IPS display with 1280 x 720 resolution, a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor, Adreno 305 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of on-board storage and microSD expansion. It also features a dual SIM card slot, 4G LTE connectivity, a 13MP rear-facing camera, a 5MP front-facer and runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. The non-removable 2100mAh battery is perhaps the worst specification this device brings to the table, but I’m pretty sure the price point will make up for it as far as many users are concerned.

The ARCHOS 50d Helium ships with two soft, “stone finished” interchangeable backplates in Storm Blue and Stone Grey color options, and will be available this July for just $129. ARCHOS didn’t reveal a specific release date for the device, so we’ll let you know when it becomes available.

So what do you think, is the 50d Helium worth $129? Or is that too much to ask? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments.