In the movie ‘Back To The Future 2’ (1989), we saw the old version of our hero Monty getting yelled at by his boss in a video call. Though the event was set in 2015, according to the movie, it still amazed us. As shown in many sci-fi movies, we are nowadays making video calls. In today’s article will discuss some Best Video Calling Apps for Android.
Top Video Calling Apps for Android
1. Google Meet
Google Meet is the improved version of Google Duo. It is more than a video calling app & can be used for faultless video calling, meetings, & training sessions. It is considered to be one of the safest video calling apps, as all user data in the Google Meet app is end-to-end encrypted.
With the app, you can make group video calls with up to 32 participants from your contact list by phone. Meet allows simple collaboration & content-sharing experience during video calls.
It allows participants to share a screen during meetings for easy presentation of slides & documents throughout a meeting. The screen share feature also works great for personal use, as you can watch videos with friends & family. If you are talking with someone with a different accent, you can use Meet’s caption feature to get live transcription to understand them better.
Meet offers high-quality video & audio with better noise cancellation options & low-light visibility features. It lets you use fun video effects, filters, & AR masks for video calling. The app also helps you to make Google Meet links for hosting 720p video calls for up to 100 participants.
2. Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is an extensively trusted messaging & video-calling app that is relatively user-friendly. It is a free & one of the Best Video Calling Apps for Android texting & video calling that allows you to make one-on-one and group video calls. You can also use it to share GIFs, videos, & photos with stunning art effects.
Usually, Facebook Messenger lets you create a group with up to 250 people, & if you make a group video call within that group, you can add up to 8 participants. Facebook Messenger rooms let you create video call links & make group video calls with up to 50 participants. Facebook Messenger has appealing chat themes, virtual backgrounds, & AR filters to provide a fun experience.
Moreover, you can play games with your friends in Messenger rooms. Facebook Messenger allows you to make HD quality, 720p video calls without trouble. The share screen option on Messenger allows you to watch videos, movies, & TV shows with other participants on a video call.
Meta also offers a Messenger Lite app for those with old Android phones or phones with low resources. Dissimilar to Google Meet, Facebook Messenger does not allow automatic data encryption. You have to enable data encryption for the chat if you want.
3. WhatsApp
WhatsApp is one of the most popular & famous chatting & video calling apps worldwide, with around 2 Billion monthly active users. You can start a chat or make a video call through WhatsApp to any of your contacts registered on WhatsApp. Regarding privacy, WhatsApp is one of the most secure apps & offers end-to-end data encryption for all conversations.
This app allows you to easily send text messages, GIFs, stickers, documents & media files. A maximum of 32 participants can join a group video call on WhatsApp. As per updates, WhatsApp will introduce the call links feature to ease joining video calls. It doesn’t provide many video calling features but can be considered for its simplicity. It is a free, secure, & simple chatting and video calling app with no ads disturbing the user experience.
4. Viber
Viber is an all-rounder social app where you can text & make video calls with your contacts who have the Viber app, use end-to-end encryption for messages & video audio calls, and make calls to landline & mobile numbers for a low cost through their VoIP. You can choose any of your contacts for video calls or start a group video chat with 39 other participants. Viber is an excellent alternative to Telegram & WhatsApp, ensuring total accessibility & privacy for each call you make.
5. Zoom
Sometimes you need more time to organize & set up your meetings. This is where Zoom becomes useful. Zoom is like Google Meet, except anyone can access the Zoom meeting if they have the invitation link. No account is needed to participate when someone joins through the web version. You can set your video conferencing calls to HD, up to 720p, or 1080p in premium accounts.
Another excellent feature is the capability to record meetings through the app & store them in the Zoom cloud. That way, you can view, share & download the recording whenever needed. Be reassured about missing a work meeting or some interview ever again.
6. Skype
Skype is a Microsoft product that lets you make free HD video & voice calls. It provides one of the best video-calling experiences on Android devices. You can use it free to chat with your friends, make calls, and share stickers, GIFs, & media files. You can also use it to make phone calls by paying the pertinent charges.
It allows you to make HD video calls depending on your internet bandwidth & speed. With a good internet speed, you can make 1080p resolution video calls without searching for options to enable it in settings. It is a safe platform that enables end-to-end data encryption for all chats &video calls.
7. Telegram
If you want privacy & speed for all your activities, like file sharing &social messaging, Telegram is one of the best options you can get. Telegram syncs across all devices, so you can easily carry your social activity from one device to another. You don’t have to bear with file limits, & you can store your entire chat history without blocking space on your device. It all goes to Telegram’s cloud storage.
But the prominent feature of Telegram is everything is encrypted, including video calls. For video chatting, you can set portrait and landscape modes, start group calls, & set an overlay while using other apps on your device. Telegram is entirely free & open source; other developers can use the API (Application Program Interface) to implement it on other apps. There is also a desktop app, which is not much in use nowadays.
8. Microsoft Teams
If you are looking for an app that is professional enough for team meetings and group chats with some options to add private groups for family and friends, Microsoft Teams offers you all the options to keep collaborations strong. Whether for meetings, projects with your colleagues, or organizing a get-together with your family & friends, you can do all.
You can change any of your group chats to video calls, & while you are not on a call, you can see all shared content through the dashboard feature. It can carry out secure conference calls without worrying about your data & privacy with any external partner, making Microsoft Teams the top choice for large corporations. You must buy the Microsoft 365 commercial subscription to access various commercial features on this app.
Conclusion
There are many choices for your Best Video Calling Apps for Android but figuring out what you need in an app is how you will know which one suits your requirements. One thing to note is that all the top social messaging apps use end-to-end encryption to protect your conversations, which means no one can spy on your conversations, & your privacy matters just as much online as offline.
If you are still trying to decide which app to choose & are on a budget, you can go with the best free video calling apps on Android before going for a premium.