eM Client: a prettier Gmail

When Firefox 29 was released a month or so ago, it convinced me to abandon my browser of choice for a few years – Google Chrome. The latest version of Firefox looked modern and slick and it performed very fast, enough reasons for me to switch.

Google needn’t worry, however, because browsers aside, it is still running my life. I use Gmail for email, Google Calendar to organise my appointments, and Google Contacts to maintain my, well, contacts. All three Google applications perform flawlessly. The email is fast with plenty of storage, the calendar has all the features I need, and my contacts are always backed up. I particularly love not having to re-enter my contacts when I buy a new mobile phone – all I have to do is synchronise my Google account with my mobile phone and all my contacts magically appear.

“Pimmed”

Now, call me old fashioned but I still prefer to use a desktop email client or a Personal Information Manager (PIM) when I’m using my computers at home. It makes working with email, calendar and contacts a lot easier – and prettier, too. If there’s something negative I can say about the Google apps, it’s the fact that they look quite plain in the browser. A PIM adds a prettier shell which gives a little bit of life to what can be monotonous and mundane tasks.

The most well known PIM is perhaps MS Outlook. This is a great application but it is not free and it is not fully compatible with Gmail. The last time I tried it, I had problems synchronising it with my Google Calendar, and I could not synchronise my contacts at all.

Enter eM Client.

Now in version 6, eM Client is described on its website as the “best email client for Windows” and I tend to agree. The free version is fully functional (without adverts) although if you want to use it with more than two email accounts, you will have to pay $50 for the “pro” version. I must admit that this is a rather a large amount to pay for an email software but most people will not need the pro version.

eM Client is compatible with Exchange and most email providers. It is particularly suited to Gmail which is the reason why I like it so much. eM Client fully synchronises my Google email, calendar and contacts – it even imports the photos on your contacts if you have them. It really is Gmail on a desktop: all three apps work smoothly, almost as though eM Client was made specially for Gmail.

Setting up accounts is as easy as entering your username and password and navigation is simple. If you’ve used Outlook, Thunderbird, or other email clients, you should have no problems getting to work straight away.

It is a shame that the free version allows you to set up only two accounts but if you love Gmail, you’ll love eM Client. There is no better email client available.

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