OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD) – Bureaucratic Acrobatics

Summary

In case you're the type of Android user who needs to (or hankers after, depending on what your politics are) work(ing) on or create(ing) Word, Excel or Powerpoint docs when you're on the go—check out OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD). This power house supports a plethora of document formats and allows users to create, edit and share documents.

If this sounds like something that might be right up your alley of productivity and efficiency, read on!

Oh, and just in case you're wondering why we're re-issuing this review: there have been a few new developments AND it's out app of the week and available for a special price for a limited amount of time only. Read on for all the details!
 

Test device: LG Optimus Black
Android version: 2.3.4
Root: No
Modifications: None

OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD) is a powerful, versatile tool that allows users to create and work on Word, Excel and Powerpoint docs as well as read PDF files.

The app is 11, 3 Mb and supports App2SD. It requires a number of permissions but these are all legitimate; we checked them out thoroughly for you all.

First off, you have the option of registering with the service. The advantage here is that you can access better support, more info and special deals. However, there's no obligation to sign up.

OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD) is set up in a similar way as most office applications. There's an area that's similar to the 'File' tab you might know form using Word, Excel and co. This area is part of the main screen and allows you to access recently used files as well as your documents and local files.
Set up a standard folder for your docs under 'My Documents'. 'Local Documents' lets you access the entire SDC. Both options harbour a number of useful functions such as creating folders and work directories into which you can organise your docs. Searching for and filtering documents (such as searching for text documents only) is also possible.

Accessing documents located on remote servers is another feature. This can be done by setting up a remote account. The service also supports Google Docs, Dropbox and box.

In order to create a new document, hit the 'New' button located at the bottom of the display. A list of available formats pops up and you need only choose the one you want.

Word documents:
OfficeSuite comes with all the standard features you might expect from a text editing programme such as changing fonts as well as bold, italic and underlined. The text body can be adapted (align left/right, justified or centered), numbering and bullets are available and foot and end notes can be inserted. You can also insert bookmarks, comments, images and tables.

Go to 'Format' for standard formatting options. You can get down to the nitty-gritty here: margins, sentence spacing, fonts (there are six to choose from), as well as font size, efects, colours—the essentials, in other words. Save documents as .docx, .doc, .rtf or .txt files.

Excel:
Again, you will find all of the most important features – such as fonts and formats – that you will be used to working with from the computer version. More importantly: tables can be formatted and diagrammes can be created. Any number of work sheets can be edited simultaneously, bearing in mind the somewhat limited nature of the smartphone/tablet screen. Excel docs can be saved as .xlsx, .xls and .csv files.

PowerPoint:
OfficeSuite comes with 10 ready-to-use slides into which you can insert your texts. These slides can only be edited and adapted to a certain degree, and the same goes for the font. Images can't be inserted. I created a PP presentation on my computer and transferred this to the test device and it was not displayed correctly. On the whole the PP feature is the app's weakest link, though I should mention that formats can be saved to four MS PP formats.

Bottom line:

OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD) is an awesome office app, especially for Word and Excel docs. Working on said formats from your smartphone/tablet has never been this easy or efficient. We also love that there is an option for accessing docs in Dropbox folders—super useful.

We are slightly disappointed with the PowerPoint feature. Not being able to include images or diagrams is a big drawback. Furthermore, the app did not display an existing PP presentation correctly.

On the whole, however, we are delighted with what this app can do, and were it not for the PP glitch we would be awarding a full five stars at this point.
 

Update:

We tested this app a few months ago, and of course quite a lot has happened since then.

Firstly, the service is now richer by two cloud services (SugarSync and Microsoft SkyDrive). Secondly, docs can now also be saved as PDFs. Thirdly, more formats are supported than before (including XLSM, PPTM, PPSM, DOCM) and it is now possible to insert tables directly into the Excel table.

Aside from this, the app also features a whole bunch of improvements and completely new functions, such as a spell check based on ICS, a slide show mode (even an animated one), a widget to access all recently opened files and direct WiFi support to transmit files.

Christopher wasn't so happy with the PowerPoint feature – I found it to work beautifully and have found it to be very useful, so I would presume that the developers have made updates here too.
 

OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD) proves to be very easy to use. The most important functions are all located at the bottom of the display, sparing you from having to comb through lists and menus. Go to the menu button for all the other features.

Creating documents that have a certain aesthetic quality isn't always easy when what you have to work with is a smartphone or even a small tablet. In order to make things easier, there are different views to choose from, such as full screen mode and zooming in/out options.

Overall we are very happy with the app's performance in this department, but it's not quite enough to warrant a five star rating.

OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD) runs like a charm. We didn't experience any difficulties with this app, not even when switching between different documents and formats—and bear in mind that we tested it on the Optimus Black which isn't a high end device by any means.

OfficeSuite Pro 6 + (PDF & HD) ordinarily costs EUR 11.52 when you download from the Market. This is steep, but you do get your money's worth.
Stop press: as our app of the week the OfficeSuite can be downloaded for only EUR 4.99.

Update: Office Suite is once again our app of the week and available for only €4.99 until February 3rd. A free seven day trial period version is also available.