File-syncing and storage services are game-changers for productivity. They make sure you're never without the files you need, no matter where you are or which device you have on hand. Choosing the right one, however, could depend on when, where, and how you'll use it most. If you're always on the go with an Android device and need to be able to comment on your files when a thought pops into your head, then Box (free) is your best bet. Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of excellent file-syncing storage services, but, on Android, the Box app takes the cake.

Box's Android app works with a whole ecosystem of supported apps, which allows you to create and edit new or existing files, save them to your Box account, and share them with others. The interface could use some design polish, but it's fully functional and simple to navigate. Box is a tried and true name in the file-syncing space, and the Android app lives up to that reputation.

The only missing piece is a native auto-upload option in the settings for saving photos and videos from your Android device to your Box account. The function is actually possible, but it takes a secondary app (called Photo Sync for Box, $1.99). The Dropbox Android app includes automatic photo-uploading inside the app itself, and it's a stellar function. But Box for Android comes with a few other collaboration perks that Dropbox lacks.

Features and Experience
I tested Box's Android app on a Galaxy Note 3, initially with no companion apps installed. The app shows you all the folders and files you have stored in your Box account. (If you don't have a Box account, you can create one upon installing the free app.)

I find the interface clean and fairly minimal, though the colors, icons, and typefaces look slightly dated. Once you see past the manila folder icons and heavy fonts, though, Box's utility really comes to light. The app gives you access to all the files and folders you've created on other devices where you have Box installed. You can protect your data by adding an optional passcode to the Box app (which is oddly sluggish at recognizing the digit-input, I might add), and you can invite collaborators to edit or view with files at any time. A permissions control setting appears when you tap to invite your colleagues. There's also an option to send a link to any folder, sub-folder, or file in your Box account, and here you'll find additional permission levels as well: public or collaborators only. A third option, "private," lets you disable a link if you've changed your mind.

Mobile apps for collaboration, and in particular office work, can be somewhat limited. Box gives you a few ways to collaborate easily despite being in a mobile environment. The first is perhaps my favorite feature in the Box Android app: the ability to add, view, and edit comments. If you have an important document that needs feedback from a colleague, you can share that file via Box, and your colleague can simply add a comment. On your Android device, you can see that a comment has been added—a chat bubble indicating the number of comments appears—and you can also reply by adding your own comment. When you reveal comments, they appear overlaid on the document at hand, right on the same page. For truly busy road-warriors, Box makes collaborating in this way quick, easy, and highly efficient.

Let's say you need more tools though than just comments while collaborating on a file. That's when you'll need something from OneCloud, Box's list of supported apps. You'll find a OneCloud entry in the Box Android app left menu that pulls up the apps and links to download them. Included are apps such as OfficeSuite Pro, which you can use to fully edit office documents, and the mind-mapping app Mindjet Maps. Dozens and dozens of apps comprise OneCloud, giving you the tools you need to manage notes, CSV files, signed documents, faxes, and pretty much any other business data you can imagine. Most if not all these apps can function independently of your Box account, too. Not all of them are free, however.

Box has all the other features you'd expect to find in any file-syncing mobile app, such as the ability to save documents offline, play music or videos, and upload new files, whether that's a photo, audio recording, video, or something else saved to your Android.

As mentioned, Box doesn't have an auto-upload function for photos, and that's really too bad. I use that feature of the Dropbox app pretty consistently for both my personal photos and screenshots I take of mobile apps for work. I'd love to see it added in the future.

One other minor feature that you'll find in the Dropbox app but not Box is the ability to create a new text file. Neither app has its own suite of document-creation tools, but with Dropbox, you can make a .txt note lickety-split if an idea strikes you, with no need to launch a companion office app first.

Price

Box is a freemium service, with paid plans for personal use, small businesses, and larger enterprises. You can read all the details about how they differ on Box's site, but I'll summarize them below. The app itself is free to download.

At the most basic level, a free personal Box account generously gives you 10GB of space, with a maximum upload file size of 250MB.

For $10 per month, you can increase that storage allotment to 100GB, and up your maximum file upload size to 5GB, while still staying within the other confines of the personal plan.

The next tier of service is called Starter, and it's for people who need more collaborative features to manage a team or project. Starter plans cost $5 per month per user and come with 100GB of space. Starter accounts and others for business include features such as file-locking ability and granular permission settings.

Small businesses pay $15 per user per month for 1,000GB of space, a max file upload size of 5GB, with several other perks. And the Enterprise plan runs $35 per user per month and come with unlimited storage.

Box: An Editors' Choice Android App

If you're making a decision about which file-syncing and storage service to use based on its Android app, Box is the way to go. It's PCMag's Editors' Choice in the category.

If other considerations are more important, see our overview of the best cloud storage solutions.

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