I stuck with Google’s Gmail, Drive, Keep, Photos, Calendar, and the rest because they felt like the natural choice on Android.
Then I spent an entire month replacing them with Microsoft’s Android apps, including Outlook, OneDrive, OneNote, Microsoft 365, Copilot, and To Do.
By the end of the month, some of Google’s apps didn’t just feel simpler; they started to feel a little outdated.
Related
6 reasons why I’m not renewing my Google One subscription
Paying into it is no longer worth it
Microsoft’s Android apps feel more complete and feature-rich
Just look at OneNote vs. Keep or OneDrive vs. Google Drive
The biggest thing that stood out during my month with Microsoft’s ecosystem was how feature-rich its Android apps feel.
Whether I was using OneNote, To Do, OneDrive, Outlook, or the Office apps, I rarely felt like I was using a watered-down mobile version of the experience.
OneNote gave me proper notebooks, sections, formatting tools, attachments, handwriting support, and more room to organize serious projects than Google Keep.
To Do is simple on the surface, but features like My Day, themed backgrounds, and Outlook integration make it more capable than Google Tasks.
OneDrive impressed me for similar reasons. It now offers a Google Photos-like experience with a dedicated Photos tab, albums, favorites, and several editing tools.
Personal Vault gives me a dedicated protected space for important documents, while offline access, scanning, sharing controls, and its deep Windows integration make it feel like more than another cloud storage app.
Outlook also packs email, calendar, contacts, and file access into one polished interface, while Word, Excel, and PowerPoint remain more powerful on Android than I expected.
Google’s alternatives are often cleaner and easier to use, and that simplicity still has value.
But after using Microsoft’s apps every day, I kept getting the same impression: Google often gives me the essentials, while Microsoft gives me the essentials plus the tools I need later.
Microsoft’s ecosystem offers better value for money
Compared to Google’s paid plans
Microsoft 365 Personal costs me $9.99 per month, and that subscription covers more than cloud storage.
I get 1TB of OneDrive storage, the full desktop versions of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, plus Copilot features built into several of those apps.
For someone like me who works across Android and Windows every day, that is a complete productivity package for 10 bucks.
The Family plan takes the value proposition even higher. At $12.99 per month, I can share the subscription with up to five other people, with each person getting their own 1TB of storage and Office apps.
Google’s pricing looks different. A $10 monthly plan gets you 2TB of Google Drive storage.
However, if you want to use Gemini across Google Workspace apps, be prepared to shell out $20 a month.
Google’s apps are better designed for Android
An obvious advantage
As much as I liked Microsoft’s ecosystem, the design is one area where Google clearly has the upper hand.
Microsoft’s Android apps still do not feel like they belong on a modern Android phone because they ignore Google’s Material You design language.
Outlook and OneDrive are neatly designed, but the rest of the apps feel dated.
The layouts feel denser, some menus look like they were carried over from an older generation of Android, and the overall experience lacks the visual consistency I get from Google’s apps.
In comparison, Gmail, Drive, Keep, Calendar, and Tasks feel more at home on Android.
Material You gives them consistent spacing, rounded elements, cleaner navigation, dynamic theming, and a UI that matches the rest of the system.
Related
Google AI Pro is a mobile deal I think is hard to beat — here’s why
Google AI Pro is the deal you can’t afford to miss
Copilot has a long way to go against Gemini
Microsoft needs to learn a trick or two
Copilot is easily the biggest weakness I found after switching to Microsoft’s ecosystem.
I set Copilot as my default assistant to give it every possible chance, but it still doesn’t come close to the way Gemini works with Google’s apps.
From the main Copilot experience, I can work with Outlook and OneDrive, find emails, check calendar information, and locate files.
I can’t ask it to pull information from a OneNote note, create a new note, enter tasks to my To Do lists, or create a new document based on the answer.
That difference became impossible to ignore after a month. Microsoft may give me powerful individual productivity apps, but Google gives me a better AI layer on top of them.
Besides, these Gemini goodies work in Android Auto too.
One month inside Microsoft’s Android world
I still prefer Google’s cleaner design and Gemini’s much deeper integration, but Microsoft surprised me with how capable its individual apps have become.
I am going to keep using Microsoft’s apps for a while.
What I really want to see next is better Copilot integration across the entire Microsoft ecosystem and a much-needed visual refresh for apps like OneNote and Microsoft 365.
The foundation is already strong. Microsoft just needs to make the whole experience feel as connected and modern.