Archos' 5g is a portable media player with 3.5G HSDPA data support, featuring an integrated web browser and 5-inch touchscreen. Network connectivity is over either HSDPA for wide-area roaming or local 802.11 b/g networks. The 5g's 600MHz ARM processor runs the included Opera web browser, which features Flash support. The device plays MPEG2 and MPEG4 video, able to play files up to 720p in resolution. Though the 5g's 800 x 480 screen isn't capable of displaying such files at full-size, an optional DVR dock, in addition to providing A/V inputs for recording, adds an HDMI output for connection to high definition displays.

The 5g can play a wide assortment of natively supported audio formats from its 30GB hard drive, with Archos offering downloadable plugins to support even more file types, including AAC. Besides A/V functions, the 5g will display PDF files and provides wireless email over POP3 and IMAP servers.