If you are like me then you'll be overwhelmed with the plethora of choices for a single email application on your iPhone. Microsoft Outlook, Unibox, Newton, Edison Mail, iOS Mail, Gmail and more! Where does it end? Today we trim these complexities down and find the end in which is the best fit for our needs. Let us begin our email journey.
Table of Contents
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft is a mainstay in the technology world and their email client, Outlook, is on the iPhone. One specific feature, syncing with an Office Outlook calendar, is superb. When I have an appointment, I simply put it in my calendar, and it appears on any phone, tablet, desktop, or laptop, that I own.
It is always pleasant to have my office calendar remind me of an appointment that I booked with my phone. Microsoft programmed its app well and it is fast. Actually, it does everything fast, outpacing the native iOS Mail by a noticeable margin.
Your eyes will be grateful, as Microsoft installed has lovely fonts and colors to create a beautiful app. Integration with a number of file services, such as Dropbox, work very well. Oh, and it is free.
There are a few drawbacks to this app though.
One critical drawback is that there is no POP support. Compared to other clients here, the lack of a sleep feature is annoying. Some clients are minimalistic; Microsoft is not. Duplicated information, unnecessary tabs, and other such interface tribulations create a hate-love relationship with this app.
Unibox
Unibox is a condenser. It lowered my crazy amount of emails by streamlining them into one link per person. At times, it reminds me of the iPhone texting app. They took the time to make an interface that is extremely customizable and easy to use. It is cost-effective, as the iPhone version is free.
As with most others, there is no POP support. If you want to sync between Unibox accounts, you need to purchase the Mac edition. A critical issue is that it will only update your emails if you have it open. If you close it, you will not see new emails and may miss important information.
Newton
Newton is simple. It optimizes the screen space while working speedily. I find the ability to undo a message that I just sent quite helpful. Newton also brings the ability to quiet emails, with a sleep setting. This is great, as I will not get a million beeps and bloops while I am busy.
The biggest drawback is that it not only costs a reasonable amount, but that you must pay yearly. In the age of free email services and non-fee inboxes, it does not make much since to have a, rather high, yearly fee. A smaller issue is that I may forget to turn the sleep off and continue to miss emails.
Edison Mail
I have never experience such speed as I have with Edison. The cliché, ‘blazing fast,’ takes on a new meaning. The email speeds are the best of the reviewed, you can undo an accidental send, and the security is fantastic. It integrates deep learning in creating intelligent tools. There are too many features to list.
I tested it, called it names, and attempted to dislike it; however, the app is quite wonderful. I know of only two major drawbacks of this app. It has no POP support and you may not like the integration with their assistant.
iOS Mail
There since the beginning, iOS Mail supports it all. Being that it is the native email client, it feels very natural to use. Well known for its customer service, Apple provides amazing support. It is supreme in one area, POP support. Of the apps reviewed, only this one has that.
Wow though, does it sure feel slow after using a few other clients. Due to the intertwining nature with iOS, problems with one may cause issues for the other. I think that the competition outpaced Apple in the email client race.
Conclusion: Thomas Edison Would Be Proud
The price for Newton scares me away and Unibox will not fetch emails. This battle needs a dualistic choice. Edison is the best and it has a 4.5-star rating from over 13,000 users for a reason. However, if my sole concern is business or I have a business phone, Outlook is the winner. Looking at my co-workers' calendars is key in a collaboration.
Otherwise, Edison outperforms all others. I love the integrated assistant and receive emails faster in it than on my desktop with Outlook, maybe it was a fluke. Upon completing the reviews, I moved to it and expect this to become one of the most, if not the most, popular mail client in the future.
Finding a good email app has been the most difficult task for me since switching to iOS from Android. Edison looks perfect but I really do question their privacy policy, I don’t want my emails being read! ProtonMail is thankfully in the app store but I still need another to connect my custom SMTP accounts with. I’ll have a look at Newton, paying isn’t a huge problem if the app is really good.
iOS Mail has served me well over the years. I do have a few gripes with it but I can work around them and use it just fine. Plus, it supports all of the email providers I use and that’s important to me. I don’t want to download several apps just for my email. A third-party app I would recommend is Spark, if I get used to it more it might just become my new go-to.
I love the look and feel of the Outlook app, I just don’t use their email service. If only I could use other email services with it. The next best thing is definitely Edison and I’ve really enjoyed using it these past few months. The integrated assistant you mention is quite good and I particularly like the customization available.