TechRadar Verdict
A great alternative to Microsoft Office, with a particularly impressive free version if you can look past the occasional ad. If you need to work with Office documents on the move, it's one of the best options around.
Pros
- +
Includes free cloud storage
- +
Cross-platform
- +
Compatible with Microsoft document formats
Cons
- -
Includes ads and bundled software
- -
Mobile apps can be fiddly to use
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If you have a Samsung smartphone, the name Polaris Office might be familiar; many of the Korean brand's handsets come with the Android app pre-installed.
Polaris Office is a cross-platform office suite available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. It includes the usual tools for creating and editing text documents, spreadsheets and presentations, and the free version (ad-supported) lets you share and sync your work across three devices (one desktop and two mobile).
Download here: Polaris Office
Developer: Infraware
Operating system: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Version: 2017
Unlike most free office software suites, Polaris Office includes cloud storage for your documents (1GB as standard), but you can also connect your preferred cloud storage service for more space. Polaris Office is compatible with Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and many others. If you'd rather keep your documents locally, you can always save them to your device instead.
All the apps are compatible with Microsoft file formats, and do a good job of keeping the formatting intact.
User experience
Unlike LibreOffice and OpenOffice, which are open source projects developed by volunteers, Polaris Office is a commercial product. It's therefore reasonable that the free version is supported by advertising.
In the mobile apps this means ads on the menu screens (though not on the document editing screens) and in the desktop software you'll see extra bundled software like browser extensions in the installer.
The two premium subscription options remove these limitations, and add extra features including the ability to edit PDFs and annotate shared documents as you can in Google Docs.
The selection of pre-installed templates is quite small and there are none available to download separately, which is a shame, but Polaris Office does allow you to create your own reusable templates - a feature you won't find in many similar suites.
Each app's interface will be immediately familiar if you've used a modern version of Microsoft Office, with a ribbon layout that allows for a little customization to suit the way you prefer to work.
The mobile versions can be a little fiddly - especially compared to online-only tools like Google Docs, but that's easy to forgive as a result of cramming all the desktop edition's tools into such a small space. It's a matter of personal preference - Google Docs is easier to use for simple tasks, but if you're working with Microsoft documents then Polaris Office is a much better, more flexible option.
If you often need to work while travelling, or have access to documents when you're away from your desk, Polaris Office is a great choice. If you're already using it on your phone then it's well worth looking into the desktop version for easier syncing of documents.
The competition
