Zoom was the app the world learned in 2020, whether we wanted to or not. Six years later it is a normal video-conferencing tool competing with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and about a dozen more. On Android, it holds up better than its reputation suggests — but the reasons to use it have narrowed.
What Zoom does well
Call quality is still very good. On a decent 4G connection, video is smooth up to 720p with reliable audio. On weak connections Zoom degrades gracefully — video drops before audio, and the app rarely disconnects entirely. This has been Zoom’s differentiator for years, and it still is.
Meeting features that other apps handle worse:
- Breakout rooms. The host can split participants into smaller groups. Works reliably even on mobile — participants get moved cleanly, timers show when they will be brought back.
- Waiting rooms. Simple and effective — participants queue until the host lets them in. Standard on paid tiers, protects meetings from unwanted joiners.
- Whiteboard. A shared drawing surface everyone can edit. Basic but usable on a phone.
- Live transcription. Included on paid plans; English quality is high, other languages vary. Useful for accessibility and later reference.
The free tier reality
Free Zoom accounts are limited to 40 minutes per meeting with more than two people, and no cloud recording. For casual family calls the 40-minute cap is annoying but survivable — you just start a new meeting. For any regular team use, a paid tier is required.
The paid tiers are competitive but not cheap. Pro is priced per host per month; Business scales for organisations. If your use case is a weekly team meeting and nothing else, the free tier plus a fresh join every 40 minutes may be enough.
What it does less well
The Android app is less refined than Zoom’s desktop client. Some settings — recording options, advanced audio processing, meeting templates — are missing or buried. Practical for joining meetings, less practical for hosting complex ones.
Chat, when Zoom made a serious push into being a general messenger, has not caught on. Zoom Team Chat inside the app is fine, but nobody outside your organisation is going to install Zoom just to message you. Use it for meeting chat only.
The join-a-meeting friction has slowly grown. First-time joiners see a series of prompts (audio, video, camera permissions, meeting agreement) that can trip people up. Once you have joined a Zoom meeting once, subsequent joins are one tap. First-time users still sometimes miss the meeting entirely.
Privacy trajectory
Zoom has been through several privacy stories over the years. In 2026 the app supports end-to-end encryption for meetings (opt-in per meeting, disables some features like cloud recording and phone dial-in). Default meetings still use TLS to Zoom’s servers, not E2E. For most business meetings that is acceptable; for sensitive conversations, enable E2E and understand the trade-offs.
Data sharing with third parties has tightened significantly since the 2020 controversies. The company’s public documentation is now specific about what it collects and shares.
Who should install it
Install Zoom if a specific group you meet with regularly uses it — clients, teachers, a support group, an event you have signed up for. The install cost is small and joining meetings you are invited to is more reliable than trying to use the browser version.
Skip it if all your video calls are already happening in Google Meet or Microsoft Teams. Those two together cover most workplace scenarios now.
Verdict
4 / 5. Still one of the best pure video-conferencing tools. Not as universal as it once was, but the quality is real, and the breakout-room / waiting-room features remain best-in-class for large or moderated meetings.