Mailbird 3.0.25.0

★ Winner of Best Email Client in 2017 and 2014.

Overview

Mailbird is a desktop email client for Windows that is designed to boost your inbox productivity and streamline the email reading and composition process. With a robust set of features, shortcuts, and preferences, this app is a compact yet productive replacement for Outlook, Thunderbird, or Sparrow.

Installation

The first phase of installation will test to see if Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 is installed on your computer – if not, Mailbird Installer will upgrade it before proceeding. Although this is not an issue for most people with newer versions of Windows, it can increase the length of the installation drastically if you have not yet upgraded to NET 4.0. Other than that, the installation is straightforward and there are no slick attempts to bundle ad-ware or third-party software.

Interface

The interface can be customized to be as complex or as sleek as you want it. You can use Mailbird to completely simplify your interaction with emails, or you can use it to enhance your productivity and increase the volume and quality of your emails and email organization efforts. What we liked most about the interface was that it can be very similar to a mobile app, with a convenient icon bar that provides access to all the main modules. The functionality is very sleek and modern.

Pros

• IMAP and POP3 support

• Multi-account support (finally added in version 1.5, November 2013)

• Quick compose and quick reply save you time in your inbox

• The user interface is stylish, self-explanatory, and can keep even the busiest inboxes looking clutter-free

• Drastically improves email management and makes being productive easier and much more fun

• Leaves out all of the unnecessary power features found in Outlook and Thunderbird

• Fully optimized to be the fastest email client available. Greatly reduces the delays seen in more resource intense applications. This is certainly one of the fastest email clients for Windows.

• Strict encryption and other privacy features keep your data safe within the application at all times.

• Has Speed Reader. If you're not familiar with the term, check out our article Speed-Reading Add-Ons For Chrome And Firefox

• Can connect with your Facebook account to sync profile picture and contact information of known friends

• Uses the Gmail keyboard shortcuts

Cons

• The speed reader function is not always working as it should and lacks configuration options

Alternatives

Mailbird is certainly not alone in the desktop email client market. Some of the many notable alternatives include Thunderbird, Sparrow, Microsoft Outlook, Evolution, Postbox, Apple Mail, Windows Live Mail, and eM client. Although all of these alternatives offer similar features, none of them are like Mailbird aesthetically and none of them are as fast or easy to use.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a simple yet productive email client for the Windows desktop and you're turned off by the complexities of the more advanced programs like Outlook and Thunderbird, then this compact yet well-designed app may be the straightforward solution you've been looking for. Mailbird can be trained to perform professionally or provide a personalized and simplified inbox experience, all depending on how the user wants to customize its versatile interface.