These days, when most people think of office suites (integrated word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and personal information managers), Microsoft Office or Google Drive Office Suite comes to mind – and for good reason.
Both are well-designed and highly efficient solutions for the creation, management and archiving of business documents, as well as for the creation, processing and collection of correspondence data.
These two powerful hubs, Google and Microsoft office suites (designed and offered by two of the largest corporations in the world) are setting the standard. But Microsoft has always been the leader in office software, and their vast resources allowed it to develop and deploy non-stop at a pace that small software developers couldn’t keep up with.
As the number of computer technology enthusiasts grew exponentially at an astounding rate, Microsoft has responded with frequent and exciting updates to Word and Excel, its core word processing and spreadsheet programs for the digital office. Shortly thereafter, Microsoft expanded the suite by integrating the well-received PowerPoint presentation software, followed by a powerful combined email client and personal information manager, or PIM, called Outlook.
Over the next several years, other programs and utilities were added (and often removed) to Microsoft Office from time to time, including desktop publishing (Microsoft Publisher) and project management (Microsoft Project) applications.
In terms of time, Google Drive apps and office suites, despite their huge success, started to appear late. While they have not been of much use, thanks to the advancement of office document suite technology, Google Drive and its office applications (Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides) have played a significant role in improving the productivity of cloud offices. software.
Since the Android operating system is also one of the main activities of Google, the development of Google Drive and the applications for office suites embedded in this platform is another incentive for the company.
Other Android Office Packages
Other Android Office Groups
There are other contenders in the ongoing battle for market share in the Android office apps. Depending on how you look at it, the player count ranges from 5 to 20 or more, and some – with a tiny user base and generally unheard of – don’t pretend at all.
Others, including Kingsoft’s WPS Office, with over 100 million installations and due to their existence (as an alternative to the Windows Microsoft Office Suite) for a while, are easily viable candidates for inclusion here.
All six of the final candidates in this roundup except one, MobiSystems OfficeSuite, boast over 1 million installations, according to Google Play, the leading repository of Android apps; Thus, I took care of reducing the number of products to five.
Combined with my many years of analysis of office suite software, the number of installations of each product on Google Play, overall compatibility with major Windows versions of apps, and the purchase price, the products that made the cut were:
- DataViz Docs to Go 3
- Google Drive
- Infraware Polaris Office
- Kingsoft WPS Office and PDF
- Microsoft Office Suite (365)
Purchase the “best” Android Office Suite applications
Buy the ‘Best’ Android Office Suite app
Some of these apps are free in certain scenarios, and if you (like me) don’t make a living writing and managing documents, communicating with numerous contacts and potential clients, you may not need a full-featured office suite.
By full-featured I mean word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, although most business people also use PIMs like Microsoft Outlook to track contacts, reply to and manage inbound and outbound emails, schedule appointments and other events, track To-Dos ( or tasks), etc.
Only Microsoft and Google (Gmail) provide PIM with their office suites, but then many users get these services, or most of them, at least through their ISP or email providers. The online Gmail client, for example, has a calendar, contact list, to-do lists, and more, and like a Google property, it also integrates well with Android – and it’s well, free. You don’t need to buy anything to make up for the lack of a calendar in the office software.
Overview of Android Office Packages
Review Android office suites here
As usual with my reviews, this review does not make judgments about which of these products is “better†than the other, although in this case the pair is more lopsided than the others. However, as mentioned, to be ranked in this roundup, a package must have built-in word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications or capabilities.
The products below are listed in alphabetical order; therefore, you do not have to draw any conclusions by placing them in the list. However, fear not if, after installing each application and testing it – creating complex documents, presentations and spreadsheets – and analyzing the ease of use, performance and availability of important design and layout features, I stumble upon missing features and other questions, I will tell you about it without thinking. and completely.
Finally, while most of the newest Android smartphones have significantly larger screens than a few years ago, typing and laying out documents on their still relatively small screens is not always easy. If necessary, I will spend some time analyzing how the application is suitable for specific tasks. The fact that you can easily double-spaced homework pages without much of the frustration of display does not mean that working with large spreadsheets or creating complex full-page handouts with heavy graphics will also be easy
Okay. Let’s take a look at the five best Android Office suites.
DataViz Documents to Go 4
Product Levels
- Free version includes:
- Word Processing
- Tables
- Presentations
- PDF Viewer files
- Paid version: includes
- Word Processing
- Tables
- Presentations
- View pdfs
- Cloud site support (no storage)
- Desktop sync via USB
Price
- Free version = $ 0 for life, not trial version.
- Paid version = $ 14.99 / month
Pros:
- Simple and straightforward productivity apps.
- Powerful find and replace tool.
- Robust editing tools.
- The new interface design impresses new air in a regular application
- ready for Android v.9 (Pie)
Cons:
- Doesn’t track or record changes.
- Price per feature set.
- Lack of PowerPoint support.
- No storage space
Bottom line:
Docs to Go is a low-cost alternative to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that lets you make corrections and corrections on the fly on your Android PDA, without having the native Windows Office Suite programs at hand.
Several years ago, as a result of a sharp update to version 3.0, Docs to Go users started thinking about their lightweight, inexpensive and simple application for viewing and editing documents in the Android office suite. But with version 4, there was nowhere to go but up.
Now with over 50 million installations installed and 15 years ago, with Docs to Go, there is no need to download individual components, cloud service or disk applications. You get several options for saving and syncing files, such as saving and syncing directly to your Android device, desktop and / or laptop via USB, and various cloud services.
With version 4, you don’t need to upgrade to Premium to edit documents, and the app redesign modernizes the explorer-like user interface, giving you access to a wider range of editing and formatting features without losing valuable screen real estate.
The editing and formatting options for each application have also been redesigned. In Sheets to Go, for example, you can transfer pinned areas, sorting, auto-fitting, and other configuration options from Microsoft Excel for desktop to the Sheets to Go app for Android, as well as rename, insert, resize, and delete titles, etc.
DataViz’s InTact technology preserves the original document formatting used in Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, making Docs to Go a ready-to-use utility for editing MS Office files on an Android mobile device, but you must provide your own cloud storage.
Google Drive
Pricing Levels = Free up to $ 1,024
- Free version includes:
- 15GB of Google Drive storage
- Google Docs (word processing)
- Google Sheets (spreadsheets)
- Google Slides (presentations)
- Gmail (email client, calendar, schedule, tasks and more)
- Google PDF Viewer (PDF viewer and limited editing)
- Google Keep (Notes, Lists, Workflow, and more)
- Several other Google productivity apps.
- Paid version ($ 1.99 to $ 1,024) includes:
- 100 GB of unlimited storage in Google Drive
- Google Docs (word processing)
- Google Sheets (spreadsheets)
- Google Slides (presentations)
- Gmail (email client, calendar, schedule, tasks, etc.)
- Google PDF Viewer (view and limited PDF editing)
- Google Keep (notes, lists, workflow, and more).
- Several other Google productivity apps.
Cost
Personal Google One accounts
- Free version = $ 0 for 15GB storage and full app access.
- Paid Accounts
- 100GB = $ 1.99
- 1TB = $ 9.99
- 10 TB + = $ 99.99 with optional 10 TB upgrades for $ 99.99; 30 TB will set you back $ 299.99.
Business (G Suite) accounts
- Basic = $ 6 per user for 30GB storage, Office apps, and other services
- Business = $ 12 per user for 1TB storage, Office applications, and other services
- Enterprise = $ 25 per user for 1 TB of storage, Office applications, and enterprise-grade security and data protection services.
Pros:
- Extensive business-grade features at a relatively low cost.
- High compatibility with Microsoft Office applications.
- Powerful tools for creating, editing and archiving documents.
- Full integration with Android OS and Google apps.
Cons:
- Google support is mostly online and sometimes difficult to navigate.
- The Office Suite applications are not as reliable as the Microsoft Office applications.
Bottom line:
Google Drive Office Suite offers free cloud storage and several applications compatible with the Microsoft Office Suite, or, for a small fee, you can get full support and more functionality than most ordinary private users and businessmen will ever need.
I could go on with thousands and thousands of words and barely begin to describe this powerful suite of office suite apps that, like Microsoft Office 365 and OneDrive, are based on Google Drive cloud storage. You pay for storage in GB and TB increments, starting with free, and Google adds its Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail online email client and personal information manager, Keep app for creating notes and lists, and more. (I’ve had a G Suite business account for several years now, and I don’t use half of what I have.)
On a Windows PC, the Google Office Suite applications are in the cloud. However, Android versions are apps that you download and install on your device so that your work is available to you when you’re offline. In addition, you can open, share, and collaborate on office suite files saved on the Internet using Google apps that run in Chrome and some other browsers. Google Drive Cloud Storage also automatically downloads, saves, sorts and syncs with your smartphone’s storage folders, as well as your Windows, iOS and macOS installations.
The essence of the Google Drive Office Suite is that it works well, you don’t need anything in terms of features and performance, and it costs about a third less than the Microsoft OneDrive / Office 365 solution. And its integration with your Android mobile device is unmatched.
Infraware Polaris Office
Infraware Polaris Office
Product tiers
- Free version includes:
- 1GB storage
- 3 devices (1 PC or Mac, 2 mobile devices)
- Limited text editing
- Limited number of tables
- Limited number of presentations
- Real-time co-authoring
- Document versioning (restore to 3 previous days)
- Paid versions of Personal Smart and Pro
- Storage from 3 to 10 GB
- From 9 to 15 Devices
- No Ads
- Real-Time Co-Editing
- Word Processing
- Tables
- Presentations
- Create, edit and view PDF files.
- Document versioning (restore up to 15 previous days
- Convert PDF to MS Office documents
- Business Products – Standard and Business
- All Personal Product Features
- Lifetime Ownership Available
- 24/7 Support
Prices
- Smart = $ 3.99 / month or $ 39.99 / year.
- Pro = $ 5.99 / month or $ 59.99 / year
- Business Standard = $ 240.99 for lifetime
- Business = $ 6.99 per month or $ 83.88 per year.
Pros:
- Compact utility from one application for opening, editing and managing all types of documents.
- Stylus support.
- 1GB storage with free version, and support for other cloud sites.
- Robust collaboration tools
- Multiple licenses at the same price
Cons:
- Too many product options and price ranges.
- Additions in the free version
- Mobile applications take up the small screens of smartphones.
- Saving on document templates
Bottom line:
Polaris Office provides robust compatibility with MS Office Suite across all platforms and free storage with an ad-supported product, although the product and pricing models are a little picky and complex.
If you have been using Android devices for a while, especially Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets, then you will probably recognize Polaris Office as an alternative to MS Office that has been shipping with these portable devices for several years. Polaris Office for Android is a small (60MB) collection of word processors, spreadsheets, presentations and PDF creation and editing applications that you can access through the same Polaris interface, essentially merging business documents under one lightweight and easy-to-use banner, so to speak.
The document editors themselves, their MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint equivalents, are very similar to their Microsoft Office counterparts, and the complex, heavily formatted Windows versions that I transferred to Polaris Office on my Galaxy Note 9 looked almost perfect. without having to go back and do any reformatting.
However, the strength of Polaris Office is its ability to collaborate in real time or in real time. In other words, multiple users can access and work on the same document in real time, while the content edited by each user is automatically saved. The application also protects corporate documents from leakage and data leakage.
WPS Office – Word, Docs, PDF, Note, Slide & Sheet
Product levels
- Free version includes:
- 1GB storage
- Word processing
- Tables
- Presentations
- Save to PDF
- Paid version: includes
- 1GB storage
- Word processing
- Spreadsheets
- Presentations
- Save to PDF
Price
- Free version = $ 0 for life, not trial version.
- Paid Premium = $ 29.99 / year
- Paid Professional = $ 49.99 / year
- Paid Lifetime = 79.99 US dollar.
Pros:
- Excellent compatibility with MS Office.
- 1GB cloud storage.
- The interface is customizable.
- Easy to use tabbed documents, not standalone windows support
- Section navigation makes it easy to navigate large documents.
Cons:
- Collaboration is limited, no real-time co-editing.
- The free version includes too many ads.
- Missing grammar checker.
- Several advanced formatting and layout features are missing.
- No editing of PDF files.
Bottom line:
WPS Office is a no-nonsense and simple alternative to MS Office Suite, almost indistinguishable from the free and low-cost Premium and Business-focused Professional products, although you’ll have to look elsewhere to edit PDFs.
WPS Office has been around since before the turn of this century and is well known for looking and behaving just like Windows MS Office Suite programs, although MS Office applications are updated so frequently nowadays that Kingsoft (and everyone else) has problems. lagging behind. However, of all the existing clones of MS Office Suite, this one is the least expensive and simplest.
The ad-supported free version comes with three apps, Writer, Presentation, and Spreadsheets, as well as 1GB of storage, which coincides with the reasonable price of the $ 30 / year Premium version. The $ 45 / Year Premium and Professional ($ 80 Lifetime) products differ from the free version in that they are ad-free. And while WPS Office is not the most feature rich alternative to MS Office, during my tests it easily covered most business document scenarios, such as seamless import and export of MS Office compatible documents. In fact, it never failed to export documents without formatting errors once, and I only got into trouble when I got carried away and tried to port very advanced features like index and table of contents associations.
Alas, WPS Office, while it can export WPS Writer documents to Adobe Acrobat PDF files, does not have an application to format and annotate them. In other words, you will need to make changes in Writer and then export the PDF again with each revision. Compared to the capabilities of Adobe Portable Document Files (PDF), WPS Office support is nominal. But you get a robust alternative to MS Office Suite or Android for free or with little to no ads, making WPS Office an economical choice for creating and updating documents, spreadsheets and word processing presentations on your smartphone.
Microsoft Office for Android
Product Tiers
- Free Microsoft Office Mobile:
- 1 TB of OneDrive storage
- Limited Word
- Limited Excel
- Limited PowerPoint
- Limited Outlook
- Limited OneNote
- Limited PDF Features
- Skype and Several Other Microsoft Applications
- Microsoft Office 365 Home
- 1 TB OneDrive
- 6 users
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Save to PDF
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Skype and several other Microsoft applications
- Microsoft Office 365 Personal
- 1 TB OneDrive
- 6 users
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Save to PDF
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Skype and several other Microsoft applications
- Microsoft Office 365 Busin ess
- Unlimited OneDrive
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Save to PDF
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Skype and several other Microsoft applications.
- Many other company-oriented features depending on the business plan
Pricing
- Microsoft Office Mobile = Free
- 365 Home = $ 9.99 / month or $ 99.99 / year
- 365 Personal = $ 6.99 / month or $ 69.99 / year
- 365 Home & Business = $ 249.99 Lifetime
- 365 Business = 8, $ 25 / month / user with 12 month commitment
- 365 Business Premium = $ 12.50 / month / user with 12 month commitment
Pros:
- Numerous applications, features, and extras.
- 1GB cloud storage for non-commercial products.
- Mobile applications and online services are accessed through a browser.
- Free version includes Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps for Android with all the key Office features, seamless OneDrive cloud storage, and a familiar design.
- Cross-platform compatibility and performance
- Real-time collaboration in Word and PowerPoint
Cons:
- Advanced features require an upgrade to an Office 365 subscription.
- Some layouts are overflowing on smartphone screens.
- Expensive compared to Google Office Suite and other Android solutions
Bottom line:
It took a while and a few slow launches, but the Microsoft Office Suite for Android (and Microsoft Office 365 in general) has become the powerful, feature-rich solution we’ve come to expect from the world’s largest software publisher, though like everything otherwise Microsoft , an elegant full-featured solution, is not cheap compared to its competitors.
There is so much to say about Microsoft Office Mobile and Office 365 that, well, wait Office Mobile is a free version that has everything you need for basic editing and cloud-based solutions. If you need collaboration, cross-platform compatibility, and more to make this gigantic solution high performing, you need to upgrade to Office 365. This opens up the entire suite of applications and all of the advanced layout, formatting, and advanced features.
In Office 365, you get it all: downloadable (and browser-based) applications for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Skype (and well, I’m sure I’m missing something). (If, by the way, you were puzzled by the bulleted lists of product features at the beginning of this review, I confess that after several hours of researching this question, I still don’t get it.)
Since from the very beginning of IT development, the company has done almost everything, that is, overdone and folded everything, Office 365 is a monster and there are more ways to buy it with so many options that I say, pick the one that is closest to yours. needs and set your money aside. Even at $ 100 a year, which covers licenses for almost every productivity app the company makes on six devices, office suites (even Office 365) are among the best deals compared to what they were a few years ago.
Only the Google Drive Office Suite offers about the same list of products and features, and the Google solution costs significantly less, but I use Microsoft Office Suite programs long before the Internet, Android devices or even Google, it makes a difference. Of course, I don’t even use half of the capabilities of Office 365, and I doubt I’m alone in that.
When you think about it
When you think about it
You and I could probably get by with the least expensive and less reliable solution discussed here, while saving a few dollars. Now that I think about it, neither Microsoft nor Google needs my money any more than I do. Studying and writing this review made me rethink and redefine my office suite requirements and ask myself why am I not taking advantage of the free ? What about you?
On the other hand, for those of us who make our living with productivity software for our office suite, none of these products are too expensive. Also, depending on the publications I work for, I often find myself using products from one or more of these solutions. For example, at one of my writing concerts, product testing results are stored in Google Sheets, which means I must have at least a Google Drive subscription. Another publication requires me to submit manuscripts in the latest Microsoft Word format, and the easiest way for me to provide the “latest” format is by using and updating MS Word 365.
However, most users do not have such strict production requirements, and I suspect that any of these Android solutions will work for most of you.
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