Five powerful email clients for Android (that aren’t Gmail) – Android Police

This story was originally published 2021/01/30 6:00am PSTon Jan 30, 2021 and last updated 2021/02/13 9:35am PSTon Feb 13, 2021.

Managing email can be a pretty personal thing whether you're an obsessive user of tags, the mark unread feature, snoozing, or filters, it can be hard to figure out just which email client makes the most sense for managing your messages. While many of us default straight to Gmail out of simple convenience, there are meaningfully good and powerful email clients available for Android not made by Google. Here are five that we think stand out for their features, unique capabilities, or appeal to the privacy-minded.

Spark is one of the most popular Mac clients, thanks to its ease of use and advanced features. It made its way to Android back in April 2019 and has received significant updates since then. The app works with any provider and supports several accounts. It can automatically categorize emails so you can focus on the ones that matter.

Unlike standard email services, it comes with the ability to snooze message or send them later. Since Spark is a cross-platform app, these are also synced to your other devices, making it easier to continue working on email from your computer. Its most relevant functionality is the ability to collaborate on messages with your co-workers, or discuss emails privately within your team, which is particularly useful if you're managing professional communications through Spark. For added privacy, you can even protect your messages with a passkey or your fingerprint, which can be helpful if you tend to receive confidential emails. Finally, as any modern app should, the client comes with a built-in dark mode to make reading emails easy on your eyes.

Whether you're looking at reading private emails or syncing your corporate account with your phone, Outlook is a great option. It offers a similar interface to the desktop client, and is well-integrated with other Office apps, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, making it easy to get work done on the go. Like most clients, it does offer a priority mailbox, called Focused, as well as a dark mode. Unlike most of its competitors, though, it comes with calendar integration, which is a great way to easily manage meeting RSVPs or send out new invitations.

The app is also optimized for productivity, thanks to an easy connection with Teams, Zoom and other video calling providers without hassle. It can also automatically suggest replies, helping you save time when responding to messages. Similarly, it can automatically identify itineraries from your emails and add them to your calendar so you don't have to worry about these during your next business trip. Lastly, if you're on the go, you can ask Outlook to play your emails or next appointments out loud, helping you be up to date with work while keeping your hands free.

Edison Mail aims at making email management simple and intuitive. The app comes with an Inbox-like assistant, lets you use templates, and comes with a dark mode. It's also very customizable and works with an unlimited number of accounts, allowing you to manage all your communications in a single app. A couple of neat features include Price Alerts in case the price of a product you bought drops, unsending messages, smart reply suggestions, and a built-in search engine.

Spike is built with an interface similar to instant messaging apps. The idea is not to switch from one app to the other, with everything combined into a single one, including to-do lists and notes. It also lets you collaborate on documents from within your inbox, with the ability to live chat with colleagues at the same time. Some other neat features include unsending messages, dark mode, and scheduled emails.

Spike might not be the perfect email client for everyone, but it's a great one to consider if you're part of a team that needs to work on the same projects and topics. However, it would mostly make sense to use it if you pair it up with the desktop app, which offers the same features and syncs up your conversations.

Boxer's main focus is to help you take actions on messages directly from your Inbox using swiping gestures, without having to open the message itself. For instance, you can quickly add an item to your to-do list, or mark a message as spam, without having to waste time performing too many clicks. Thanks to its calendar integration, it also easily lets you share your availability with others and join conference calls in a breeze. I would mostly advise using Boxer if you deal with a great amount of work email. For personal communications, I'd recommend you look at alternatives like Spark or Edison Mail.

Privacy is becoming a growing concern, which is why you might want to consider encrypting your email communications. ProtonMail aims at doing just that, making it virtually impossible for anyone to read messages, except for the sender and recipient. Depending on what you need, though, ProtonMail might be bothersome, as you'd need to change email providers, and have to restrict yourself to this particular app. I personally wouldn't want to go through that trouble, as I'm not exchanging nuclear codes by email, but that choice is for you to make based on the amount of encryption you need versus ease of use and versatility.

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Five powerful email clients for Android (that aren't Gmail) - Android Police