Hangouts

Hangouts is the messenger by Google that provides you unlimited texting and calling within Hangouts and cheaper external calls. You can download Hangouts for iOS or Android, or use it via your browser on desktops, free to use it anywhere.

Functionality — 5/5

With Google Hangouts you can send and receive text messages, start and accept voice and video calls, both private and group. The group can contain up to 150 people for texting and up to 10 users when you communicate on video. It has lots of stickers and emoji to color up your communication.

Design — 5/5

The interface of Google Hangouts looks like that of any decent messenger today. It has dedicated tabs for all contacts, for favorites, for your chats and your call history. This tabbed view is the most comfortable on mobiles and tablets, due to the adjusted interface. It’s common for mobile apps, browser extensions, and web view, thus easy to figure out.

Usability — 5/5

The app behaves like any decent messenger that was made after WhatsApp. It scans your contacts to detect which of them are Hangouts users too. Then it sorts your list, showing those with Hangouts first. If you want to invite someone else to use it, you can send an invitation right from the app.

If you have any other Google app on your phone, it will authorize you automatically. Then the app will run in the background, and you’ll be notified of any incoming messages or calls. Notifications can be disabled in Settings.
All your texting and calls logs are stored on Google’s clouds, so they are available from any device you are using Gmail or Hangouts on. That’s both a pro and a con, so you decide how to see it.

The quality of voice and video is very decent, and the service is quite capable to handle even low-speed connection to provide the best, though it doesn’t work magic out of the blue.

Cross-Platform Use — 5/5

There is an app both for iOS and Android, compatible with tablets and phones equally well. Hangouts can be used as a browser extension on desktop platforms, or as a module of Gmail’s web interface. Like most Google products, it’s made as versatile as can be. It even doesn’t require the freshest versions of the OS to function.

In-App Purchases

Like most Google consumer products and services, Hangouts is free to use within its network. But in Calls sections, the app shows you the balance of your Google Voice service. With it, you can call external phone numbers, both landline, and cellular. The rates can change, so rather than copy them to this Hangouts review we suggest you check the source.

The Bottom Line

Installing Hangouts is the greatest option if you use your Google account as a primary one for all sorts of communication, including instant messaging and voice calls. It also lets you make cheaper external calls. Though other services offer about the same features, Hangouts is Google-integrated, and that’s the pro. But it’s less popular than other messengers, and that’s the con.

• Graphics 5
• Gameplay 5
• Controls 5
• Replay Value 5

Pros

Uses your Google account;
Supported on all platforms;
Easy interface and authorization.

Cons

Less popular than, say, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger;
Lacks some features of Google Duo.