Video
chat on smartphones has come a long way in a relatively short amount of
time, and the tools available for Android have matured from gimmicky to
genuinely useful. You have a lot of great options, but we think that
Google Hangouts deserves the crown for the overall best and most
well-integrated method to see and talk with friends.
It's been a while since we updated this post, and in the time since we last selected Skype
as our favorite video chat application for Android, the arena has
shifted entirely. Lots of people went from not using their phones for
video chat or video calls at all to having a best-in-class tool built in
that they use on the reg. Here's our new favorite pick, along with
where the competition stands today.
Google Hangouts
Features
- Places video calls to desktop and other mobile devices over 3G/4G and Wi-Fi
- Supports group video calls with up to 10 other people
- Synchronizes your Hangouts and their history across devices so you can see what you talked about in the past, and review shared photos, links, or other media
- All video calls to other users are free (excluding data charges)
- Supports front and rear-facing cameras
- Supports calls to mobile and landline numbers via Google Voice (or right through Hangouts in iOS)
- Supports bluetooth and wired headsets for audio
- Supports chat, SMS, MMS, group SMS and MMS, video and picture sharing, animated GIFs, emoji, and more
- Supports location sharing
- Integrates with Google+
Where It Excels
Google
Hangouts (formerly Google Talk on mobile devices, and just a web-based
video chatting service inside of Google+) has exploded in the past few
years it's been around to take the lead among free, web-based and mobile
video chat services. It dominated our poll for best video chat service,
and the fact that it's essentially rolled in to Android and easily
available on iOS makes it easy to get, simple to set up (since all it
requires is a Google account), and easy to start using. In many ways, in
a few short years Google Hangouts has combined the best things about
Google Talk with some of the best things about Google Voice into one
application that—while it's not perfect—is hard not to love, or at least
use frequently.
It
also doesn't hurt that Google Hangouts is completely free. Video
hangouts, chats, picture and video sharing, all of it is completely free
from the desktop or from your mobile devices, so you don't need to
waste limited text or MMS messages from your carrier to communicate with
your friends. Just drop your images or your messages into Hangouts, and
your friends will get them instantly. They can even see when you're
reading their messages, and you can see when they're typing. Still, all
of that is great, but video chat is where Hangouts really takes the
cake. In iOS and Android, Hangouts supports virtually every device and
version, and you have the option of using your front or rear-facing
camera in your video chat at any time.
Since
video chats can be held with up to 10 people, you can communicate with
large groups and collaborate on files (although this is much better on
the desktop), or you can just turn an impromptu conversation into one
that's much more personal since you can see the other person's face.
Plus, it works like a charm on 3G/4G or Wi-Fi, regardless of the device
you're using.
Where It Falls Short
Hangouts
is great, but it's not perfect. It's often prone to glitches and
strange quirks that can make it work seamlessly one day and then just
fail to stay connected or work properly the next. I've seen mobile users
with gorgeous camera quality on week, then the next week their cameras
look like someone shattered the lens—but if they flip to the rear
camera, it looks fine. Plus, Hangouts is very much a work in progress
for Google, so if you're looking for an app that won't change a ton
between now and the next time you need to use it, Hangouts may not be
your best choice. It won't change so much as to be unrecognizable, but
Google's iteration process isn't exactly slow, and they've been updating
Hangouts regularly with new features, tweaks, and changes designed to
improve the product (but could also be a thorn in some users' sides).
Similarly,
if you're looking for a product with robust customer support and the
option to get fast and attentive help when you do have a problem,
Hangouts isn't that product. After all, most of Google's products are
free, and Google Groups does have a wealth of experts and enthusiasts
willing to help you out, but there's no one to call if you have an issue
or question you desperately need answered.
The Competition
Skype
(Free), our previous favorite, is still a more than strong contender.
Its user-base is still massive, it's cross-platform and cross-device,
and it offers a wealth of tools that let you talk to people face-to-face
or via IM, all on your Android phone. It's free to talk to other Skype
members, and to video chat with them, but once you start calling
landlines and talking to people's phones, you're looking at a few bucks,
although nothing serious. However, the days of Skype being
pre-installed on most people's Android phones as a video chat option are
over, as more people move to Hangouts instead. That doesn't mean Skype
isn't worth looking into—it just means it's another great option to have
around in case Hangouts doesn't work for you for some reason, or you're
talking to someone on the desktop who prefers to use it (or you're
calling a friend's TV or something).
Fring
(Free) is still a strong alternative to the big names. It supports
group video chat, it's cross-platform, it allows you to register with
your mobile phone number instead of forcing you into another account you
may or may not use, and it also supports free texting, picture and
video messaging, and cheap calls to landline phones. It's not quite as
feature-packed as the others, but it does focus on the core basics.
Tango
(Free) has grown exponentially since we last talked about it. It
supports video calls to other Tango users on Android, iOS, Windows
Phone, and Windows desktops. Tango lets you place regular voice calls
and switch to video calls when you want to share something, and supports
text, picture, and video sharing—not to mention audio sharing via
Spotify. Video call quality could be better and doesn't seem to have
improved terribly much as cameras have improved, but it's definitely
serviceable.
Oovoo
(Free) offered great video quality in our tests, but you do have to be
an Oovoo user to really make the most from the app. That could be a good
thing, since a lot of people prefer Oovoo on the desktop (or at least,
did a while ago), but the mobile experience is solid too, even with
group chat running and a bunch of people talking at once. It doesn't
hurt that their app is gorgeous too, with a beautiful design, a speed
dial for video chatting your best friends, status messages so you can
see if people are available before you ping them, support for picture
and video messaging, and the ability to pull in contacts from Gmail,
Facebook, and other services you probably already use.
Source: http://lifehacker.com/5849332/the-best-video-chat-application-for-android?utm_campaign=socialflow_lifehacker_twitter&utm_source=lifehacker_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow