Officesuite Pro Kindle
Among Surface Mini’s competitors will be the Apple iPad Mini, the Google Nexus 7, and the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX. The free bundled OfficeSuite Pro app will be all that’s necessary.
- Pros
Beautiful design. Supports most cloud services. Smart user interface. Numerous editing tools.
- Cons
No version tracking. No track-changes feature.
- Bottom Line
The latest version of OfficeSuite Pro brings a completely refreshed interface to an already capable mobile office suite which is well worth the price.
When I reviewed version 6.5 of OfficeSuite Pro earlier this year, I was dismayed that such a capable app could be held back by an outdated interface. OfficeSuite Pro 7 for Android ($9.99) brings a whole new look that makes the app easier to use. This UI improvement, in addition to an already powerful document creation and management app makes OfficeSuite Pro 7 our Editors' Choice for Android mobile office suites.
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Polaris Office 4 put up a good fight at an unbeatable price, and Documents To Go 3 had tools that no other suite provided. But, in the end, OfficeSuite Pro 7 had the looks, the support, and the tools to take the top spot. However, I have to point out that Google Drive offers many of the functions of all these suites for free and with file locker to boot. That said, I did not include Google Drive in my consideration for Editors' Choice because it's an online service, and not a standalone app like the others.
Using OfficeSuite Pro 7
The new OfficeSuite Pro greets users with large buttons for the four categories of documents it handles: text documents, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations. Don't be fooled by that seemingly short list. The app supports DOC, DOCX, DOCM, RTF, TXT, LOG, XLS, XLSX, XLSM, CSV, PPT, PPTX, PPS, PPSX, PPTM, PPSM, PDF, EML, and ZIP formats.
OfficeSuite Pro also plays nice with all the major cloud services, allowing you to easily sync with Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, SugarSync, or SkyDrive to the app. Documents you open through these services also appear in the Recent Documents section, but unfortunately the app does not clearly indicate which recent documents are stored locally.
The app also packs a well-designed file browser which prompts you to select or create a default location for your documents the first time the app starts up. This is a welcome change from many other apps, which provide little to no assistance in navigating the maze of folders inside your Android device. It also supports voice search.
Assistance is another service well supported by OfficeSuite Pro7, which includes not only a general user's guide on the homepage, but also separate guides for text documents, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations. There's also a link to customer support in the app. It's rare for an app to offer such complete documentation, and at least this reviewer appreciates the effort.
Many of these features are accessible through the app's hidden left tray, which is well utilized in OfficeSuite Pro. The app also includes links to download dictionaries for spellcheck and an improved font pack ($4.99), neither of which is covered in this review.
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Working in OfficeSuite
Creating and editing documents in OfficeSuite Pro 7 is extremely straightforward, though I did run into a few problems. For some reason, I was unable to italicize any text in the document editor. Beyond that, the app brings strong formatting and editing support on par with other mobile office suites for Android.
While other office suites support comments, OfficeSuite Pro highlights them by default. Comments can also be added to text easily, making document collaboration a breeze. Unfortunately, the app currently does not support version tracking, like Microsoft Office's Track Changes feature, but the developers assure me it will be supported in a later version.
I was particularly pleased with the complete features in spreadsheet mode, where OfficeSuite made editing equations far easier by including a handy on-screen editor for functions. As in PolarisOffice, you tap and drag cells to add them to a function, though I noticed it was sometimes difficult to get the app to acknowledge my selections. I was also pleased to see that the app included short descriptions of what each function does, which is enormously helpful. You can also easily mark cells, rows, and columns as a particular text type—like currency, or numbers—unlike DocumentsToGo 3.
The previous version of OfficeSuite Pro struggled a bit with PowerPoint documents, but the new version's greatly improved interface resolves many of these issues. The app comes preloaded with several templates, and you can edit text by tapping the text boxes or editing straight from overview mode. Slide notes are added from pop-up tray at the bottom of the screen.
Adding a picture to the presentation was a bit problematic, as most of mine were so large they filled the entire slide. Selecting them was difficult, since text box elements are 'above' any images you add (see the slideshow). However, once I managed to select it, a bounding box appeared that I could shrink or zoom to my heart's content. The app also has slide transitions and a presentation mode where you can write on the screen—similar to Polaris Office. However, the OfficeSuite seemed to have trouble tracking my finger when I moved quickly, creating jagged lines instead of smooth curves.
Polaris Office handles images, and PowerPoint generally, better than OfficeSuite Pro—but only by a little bit.
Looks Matter
OfficeSuite Pro 7 doesn't just look better—the improved UI makes the app far more user friendly. The developers have gone with a clean interface that puts bright buttons against a muted background. Large icons and clear descriptions make it obvious how to navigate the app, and the fresh interface makes the current version worthy of your money. Ten bucks is a fair price for an office suite that's highly capable and simple to use.
OfficeSuite has a consistent look and feel throughout the app. Icons and text on the homescreen look the same in the document viewer, in the menus, and so on. This keeps the navigation clear and is also a mark of a quality product that takes itself seriously.
Polaris Office 4 wowed me with its interface, and it still has a small edge on OfficeSuite Pro 7. Polaris Office has all but done away with tedious nested menus and relies now on large, bold panels that are consistent throughout the app. OfficeSuite's ribbon of options puts the most important tools right above the keyboard, though many more are accessible by pressing the menu button. I was particularly impressed with Styles Bar, which lets you preview each font.
One Issue
In my testing, I noticed that OfficeSuite Pro 7 could not display italicized text on Samsung devices. I've confirmed that this issue with the developer, who assures me that a fix will be released within a month.
This is a fairly major concern, especially because even though the app will not display the italicized text, it will appear if you open the document on another device. However, this is clearly a bug as I did not notice the issue in older versions of the software. Once the developers rectify the problem, I'll likely revisit the app's score.
Which is the Best?
I've looked at many major contenders in the Android mobile office suite space. I had hoped to find one that did everything, and did it all while looking fabulous. Polaris Office 4 looks great and provides a complete office suite for free. However, it has far too few cloud storage options, and only installed on one of my devices. OfficeSuite Pro 7 has better cloud support, and also a slick UI that rivals that of Polaris Office's. DocumentsToGo 3 is the only app I reviewed that makes tracked changes from Microsoft Word visible, though it cannot record further changes.
Google Drive deserves mention here as well, since it not only has strong office support, but also sports a file locker service and is closely tied to Android. However, it does not support creating PowerPoint presentations from the app and cannot connect to other cloud services. Also, I felt it was unfair to compare Google Drive, which is a service, to stand-alone office apps.
In the end, OfficeSuite Pro 7 is PCMag's Editors' Choice for mobile office suites for Android, based on its interface, cloud support, supported devices, and strong editing tools. It doesn't have everything, but it has the most options and is easy to use. It's an enormous leap forward for the app, and probably for mobile office apps as a whole. The bar has now been set.
OfficeSuite Pro 7 (for Android)
Bottom Line: The latest version of OfficeSuite Pro brings a completely refreshed interface to an already capable mobile office suite which is well worth the price.