In 2021 work and life have become indivisible. Wherever you are, in theory, you can be working. This might be out of choice or because of the trials and travails of the occupation you find yourself in.
You’re on your way home from work, you find that something urgent has cropped up, you’ll now have to access your work Outlook via your mobile device, and while doing so you realise that key information is in your gmail, then at that moment you receive a call from a client on Slack. Life can be a real test sometimes.
Why You Need One
Having a specific email client, or email app, on your devices (mobile or desktop) where you can centralize all your different communications can be a life saver and having the right one can be doubly so.
Many people stick to the email they’ve been using for decades and others elect to go with what happens to accompany the device you are using. Why settle for something when you haven’t tried out the alternatives?
There are many essential questions to consider before you select an email app that works for you. Compatibility with third-party applications can be key, as this would help align all the different aspects key to your organization, such as a calendar, notes and to-do lists.
Some feel that security is key and will look for an email client app that offers the best end-to-end encryption. Others look for a service that is speedy and then there is the small matter of how well the interface performs and just how intuitive the service is as a whole.
With so many email client apps around, and there are literally hundreds to select from, we’ve compiled a few that really caught our eye.
These Are Some of the Best
Dispatch
When it comes to an email client app that is best for high-volume levels then Dispatch is hard to beat. Organizationally it works well and supports most email services and it’s easy to sort between important emails and the masses of less crucial stuff. It’s a clean set-up and after testing it out we didn’t find any flaws of note.
Spike
If you are looking for an email app that is a little more forward thinking then these guys might be the choice for you. Their approach to mail is different to most and is geared around blurring the lines between emails and chat messages and the result is surprisingly innovative and effective. Essentially Spike can work as an all-in-one workplace service, which essentially boils down your work activity into a feed of sorts. Well worth giving this service a try.
ProtonMail
Now perhaps your work includes a great deal of privileged information or calls for additional levels of security, in which case ProtonMail is a good option. Their main claim, and seemingly an accurate one, is that their email service includes the guarantee that none of your encrypted emails can be read by a third-party. Their service is ad-free and doesn’t require personal information in order to set-up, albeit their premium service does cost.
Thunderbird
This free open-source email client app is also focused on security and privacy and is also a hugely useful option if you are moving very heavy files within your email communications and offers additional protection against phishing scams. As it’s open-source it’s always evolving and as such could be an exciting option to consider.
Outlook vs Gmail
Finally, you might want to consider between the two behemoths of the market, Gmail and Outlook, and here are thoughts on the two, who currently hold the lion’s share of the email client app market.
Outlook has a bit of a reputation for being staid and out of date, and while that may be true in terms of the way it looks, and let’s face it the design of the interface is positively prehistoric, the Microsoft client app does have a number of benefits.
One major benefit, of sorts, is that you may already have Outlook without even knowing it, i.e. by having access to the Microsoft 365 suite, you already have it at your fingertips.
Additionally Outlook’s supporting tools work well and you have a large level of storage, even when in the free version.
Gmail, which is at least more pleasing on the eye, also offers a strong service that has retained the loyalty of hundreds of millions of users for years. The sorting of emails via tags works well and you can manage multiple emails from one point very easily and of course the accompanying Google Docs suite means you can do all you need to do from one location.
Do Your Own Research
Now you know what’s available, get out there and find the email client that works best for you as there’s no need to settle for what you currently have without having done the appropriate research.