Adobe’s PDF is the acknowledged king of doc codecs, and is a good way to share something from easy textual content notes to multi-page reviews or a professionally laid-out ebook, full with embedded audio and video.

Google’s personal PDF Viewer provides a easy and customary option to open PDFs on an Android gadget, however prolonged load occasions and a close to complete lack of options might go away you searching for an alternate.  

Luckily, there is not any scarcity of choices. Adobe, Foxit, Gaaiho and different specialist PDF builders now provide very succesful viewer apps, generally with the identical form of annotation and sharing choices that you’re going to see on the desktop, and in lots of circumstances they’re solely free. Preserve studying for our choose of the 5 greatest Android PDF readers round.

1. Xodo PDF Reader

Versatile PDF reader 

Edit and annotate paperwork

Sync edits with cloud providers

Browse the Google Retailer for PDF readers and you will find what seems to be an enormous selection of apps, however all is not fairly because it appears. Many are very restricted, with solely probably the most fundamental performance.  

Xodo PDF Reader stands out from the underpowered lots for the vary and depth of its function set. Regardless of its title, the app is not nearly PDF studying: you may also create new PDFs by way of your digital camera, from photos or Workplace paperwork. You possibly can fill in, save and ship PDF types, or spotlight textual content and add annotations of your individual. It is even potential to collaborate in your doc with others by way of Xodo’s join service (no registration required).  

Supporting options embrace good integration with Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive. That is not nearly offering a straightforward option to import paperwork from the cloud: Xodo may mechanically sync your edits with the supply file, making certain it at all times has the very newest model.  

There’s one other neat additional in Xodo’s File Supervisor. Thumbnail previews and a Latest Information listing provide you with speedy entry to the paperwork you want, and also you’re in a position to freely rename, copy, transfer or delete any paperwork.  

The core PDF viewing engine is what actually issues, although, and Xodo’s creation works very properly. Excessive zoom elements, web page cropping and a full-screen mode make it easier to concentrate on the content material, Evening Mode makes for comfy studying in darker environments and versatile search instruments and desk of contents help permits drilling all the way down to key areas of the file. 

2. Foxit PDF Reader & Converter

Speedy and easy viewer 

Fill out PDF types and import/export knowledge 

Simple doc sharing 

Foxit PDF Reader & Converter is a well-liked PDF app with greater than 1,000,000 installs recorded on Google Play, and a stellar ranking of four.5.  

It would not take lengthy to know Foxit’s success. PDFs open rapidly, you’ll be able to management orientation with ease, textual content reflows to suit and also you’re in a position to tweak brightness and alter the background to make for comfy studying in all conditions.  

Easy annotation instruments are available to help in highlighting textual content, including notes or drawing on the web page, and Foxit’s Linked know-how permits sharing feedback and adjustments with others in actual time.  

Kind dealing with is a serious plus, with choices to fill out and save types, import and export their knowledge and submit types by way of HTTP, FTP and e-mail.  

Whereas Foxit’s core performance is free, various extra superior options are solely accessible in the event you subscribe (changing PDFs, combining information, password safety, digital certificates, OneDrive Enterprise help). That is no shock, however in the event you’re on a finances, remember the fact that some PC-based PDF editors can perform many of those duties without spending a dime. 

3. Adobe Acrobat Reader

Glorious doc compatibility 

Dependable type filling 

Entry scanned paperwork by way of free app 

Adobe’s Acrobat Reader is not probably the most highly effective of PDF viewing apps, however there’s greater than sufficient performance for many conditions, and glorious doc compatibility means you need to be capable to view even probably the most advanced of PDFs because it was meant to be seen.  

Open a PDF from the net or share a doc from one other app and Acrobat Reader rapidly shows it in a easy viewer. You are in a position to scroll across the doc, zoom out and in or use easy searches, and the whole lot works roughly precisely as you’ll anticipate.  

Superior options embrace type filling and signing, and also you’re in a position to annotate information, spotlight textual content, plus you’ll be able to add and handle PDF feedback.  

The app is designed to work with many different Adobe providers and merchandise. A few of these are free, together with 2GB of cloud storage if you join an Adobe account, and the OCR-powered Adobe Scan app which permits utilizing your gadget as a PDF scanner, turning receipts, enterprise playing cards, whiteboards and anything into searchable, editable PDFs.  

The industrial extensions aren’t at all times such good worth. Changing information to and from PDF, reordering and rotating pages, are features that different instruments usually do without spending a dime. Nonetheless, you do not have to enroll, and the free app delivers all of the viewing performance that many customers will want. 

4. Gaaiho PDF Reader

Comfy studying setting 

Share information with any WebDAV servers 

Not up to date fairly often 

Gaaiho PDF Reader would not get practically as a lot consideration as Adobe, Foxit and the opposite big-name competitors, however with Gaaiho’s 20+ years’ expertise in growing PDF software program, it is actually price a more in-depth look.  

The principle viewing engine opens paperwork at pace and supplies a snug and versatile setting for studying, including and managing feedback, or trying out any attachments.  

Speedy choices so as to add and edit bookmarks guarantee that you could mark necessary areas of any doc and speedily return to them later.  

Primary annotation instruments embrace the power to spotlight textual content or draw traces, arrows and diverse easy shapes.  

Gaaiho PDF Reader ‘solely’ provides direct help for accessing cloud information by way of Dropbox, however the potential so as to add different WebDAV servers provides it a degree of flexibility that you simply will not usually discover elsewhere.  

If there’s an issue right here it is that Gaaiho would not appear practically as keen on growing its Android app as its different software program. As we write, for example, the reader hasn’t been up to date for greater than 10 months, and even that was solely a minor bugfix launch. It is nonetheless an excellent app, however we would wish to see a busier launch schedule to present us extra confidence for the longer term.  

5. ezPDF Reader

Multimedia help 

Can open ePubs 

Kind calculations supported 

EzPDF Reader is a well-liked industrial PDF reader (£three.49 or $four.89) from Korean developer Unidocs.  

The corporate sells ezPDF partly on being a ‘multimedia PDF viewer’, in a position to play audio, animated GIFs, zipped PNGs and video information embedded within the doc (assuming they’re suitable along with your gadget.) A well-designed interface makes this a really pure course of, particularly on tablets, and a demo video on the corporate web site exhibits you the way it works.  

The viewer has some uncommon touches, beginning with a double-page view and an animated web page flipping impact. That is not going to win over many enterprise customers, nevertheless it might be a pleasant contact for teenagers studying tales on their pill.  

A powerful set of extra grown-up extras begins with help for opening ePub paperwork. EzPDF’s type dealing with options embrace help for managing type calculations, in addition to filling out the shape, signing and submitting it by way of e-mail.  

There are an unlimited variety of textual content choice options. Select a phrase, phrase or paragraph and you’ll copy it to the clipboard, seek for it inside the PDF, or run a basic net search by way of Google, ship the textual content to different apps, learn it aloud, spotlight the textual content, underline it, even examine its spelling by way of integration with the free ColorDict app.  

In fact there are all the usual PDF studying options, together with thumbnail navigation, bookmark help, a number of zoom choices, cropping, rotation and extra.

What you will not get right here is far in the way in which of fixes or new options – ezPDF Reader hasn’t been up to date in 15 months – nevertheless it’s nonetheless a likeable app with some uncommon and attention-grabbing touches.