Pros
Free text, voice, and video over Wi-Fi or cellular data. Simple and clean interface. Is supported on Windows, Android devices, iOS devices, and Windows Phone.
Cons
Lag in voice calls, especially with low bandwidth. Gets worse when using both voice and video.No possibility to call non-Tango users, like landlines and other mobile phones.No integration with other platforms, like Skype.No text chat possible.
Review
Once you install the Tango app on your machine, you can start using it straight away as an account is easily created. You don’t need to create a username and password – Tango recognizes you through your mobile phone number. Once installed, the app searches your existing contact list for people who are already using Tango and marks them as the buddies you can communicate with using your new app. You can also invite other non-Tango people through text messages. What does it cost? At present, it costs nothing. All you do with Tango is free, but you need to be mindful of the data plan consumption if you are using a cellular connection to make your calls. As an estimate, you can make 450 minutes of video calls using 2GB of data. There is no possibility to call people outside the Tango network. You cannot call landline and mobile phones even against payment. Tango support says they are coming with a Premium service that will include additional paid capabilities. You also cannot communicate with people on other networks. There are so many apps and services out there like Tango and many of them do offer links to buddies of other networks like Skype and other IM apps, at least to Facebook. So Tango loses some credit here. Tango’s interface is very simple and intuitive. It is simple to make and receive calls, especially on the mobile platform. The voice quality, however, suffers some lag, especially with people having less than lower bandwidth. This gets worse with video. Maybe Tango should think about reviewing the codec they use for voice and video. What can you do with Tango? You can text messages, make and receive voice and video calls, record and send a video message to people who are not using Tango, and some other simple stuff. But you cannot have a chat conversation like in Whatsapp, Viber, and KakaoTalk. You also cannot have one other person in your video call. No three-way or conference call. Tango does something singular, which is trivial but that I found interesting. During a voice call, you can create certain animations that express many things. For example, you can send balloons or small hearts flying over the screen. These animations get updated regularly over the network. Which devices are supported by Tango? You can install and run the app on your Windows PC desktop or Laptop; on your Android device, running version 2.1 of the operating system; on iOS devices – iPhone, iPod touch 4th generation, and iPhone; and Windows Phone devices, which are few.
Conclusion
Tango is one more VoIP voice and video app on the market, one of many to choose. It is not very rich in features, but at least it is quite simple and straightforward. If you are into apps with many features, Tango isn’t for you.
