The telecommunications industry has come a long way since “Ma Bell” opened the first telephone exchange in the late 1800s. With the advent of fiber optics and wireless broadband technology, we no longer have the need for a dedicated telephone connection, as today’s data networks can carry much more than a simple voice conversation. In the modern era, VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) is the current and future standard in making phone calls. By using your broadband data or wireless internet connection, call quality has the potential to be much higher with VoIP. As this is a growing industry, there is still a bit of competition going on, so we have the benefit of different options. To help you sort all this out, we offer an overview of best calling apps for android that work on VoIP.
Vonage
As one of the pioneers of fixed-line VoIP call in the 2000s, Vonage is unconditionally the best in this market today. They have kept themselves at the top of the stack with a calling app for android that offers free calls as well as some other interesting features. If both parties have the Vonage application installed, you will be able to make free calls to any part of the world. The app also works across the other operating systems like iOS.
Skype
Thanks to the popularity of its video call function, Skype has one of the largest user bases in this list. This helps mitigate the biggest drawback of the application i.e. free calls can only be made to other Skype users only. On the plus side, Skype to Skype voice calls can be made around the world, without incurring any charges. Video chat is certainly the bread and butter of Skype, but text messaging based on IP is another great feature. Combine that with low call rates for landlines and cell phones around the world, Skype is arguably one of the best calling apps for Android. This app also has cross-platform compatibility: Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Android, and iOS.
Hangouts
Google has had different communication platforms over the years, and they have recently combined several of them into an all-encompassing service called Hangouts. In essence, Hangouts is a hybrid of the old Google chat and the soon-to-be removed Google Voice. This means the basic Hangouts app (which comes preinstalled on most Android phones), you can send messages and call with anyone who has Hangouts installed on one of their devices. To use Hangouts as a VoIP service, however, you have to install an additional app called Hangouts Bookmark. If you’ve set up a Google Voice account in the past, you’ll get the added benefits of free SMS messaging as well as a dedicated phone number that can be sent to other lines and devices. Its various features make it the preferred calling app for android users along with the people having iOS, Linux etc.
MagicApp
If you are an avid smartphone user and always in search of best calling app for android, you’re definitely aware of MagicApp. While the additional features may not be as extensive as other applications, you can make international calls to any phone for free, and the configuration is very simple.
Viber
Last but no less important comes Viber, which is one of the most used calling app for android in the market. New video call and chat have been added along the way, but the core experience still revolves around voice calls. Viber requires that both parties have the application installed on their devices, in which case calls are free anywhere in the world. If you want to call a real phone number, however, you have to buy “Viber Out” credits, which offer competitive long distance rates.
And the winner is … After a bit of testing, it became apparent that the call quality was more or less the same in all five of the aforementioned services. The most important differentiating factor among these applications was the ability to call any number for free, and this is where Skype and Viber lose out. Of the remaining three, we would have to crown King Hangouts.
However, one more calling for android is making its wave in the market and that is JustYap. The app is quite easy to install and offer cheap international calling rates in few clicks. Apart from cheap rates, the app also offers various other features, but you need to download the app to check them out.
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