Best Android file managers: the top 7 for exploring your phone

ANDROID file managers tend to be quite similar, but it's the subtle extra features that make the difference between a good file explorer and a great one. Make sure you're using one of the best Android file managers around by picking one of our top seven listed. 1. Solid Explorer: best for dragging and dropping ping and and cloud cloud storage storage

The double-panel display on offer in Solid Explorer allows you to navigate to two separate folders and drag and drop a file from one panel to the other. It's surprisingly simple and works so well: a standout feature in a very crisp and intuitive UI.

Other features of note are integration with cloud storage solutions such as Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive, and support for Chromecast.

Currently, the app is offering a 14-day free trial. After that, it's US$2 to unlock the full version, which is a bargain price for an app this good. 2. MiXplorer: best for a free blend of explorers

Although unavailable through the Play Store, MiXplorer is a superb app that, as its name suggests, tries to blend the best features of other file managers into an explorer sundae. It does it with aplomb. Bearing a sensible Material Design, the looks are up there with the best, and it's completely free.

You can reskin it to your liking, there's built in support for 19 file storage services, and you can cut and copy multiple items.

Overall, a fantastic package. 3. File Commander: best for ease-of-use

File Commander is a fairly common Android file manager but it's also one of the best. The basic interface includes the basic folders for videos, pictures, documents, music and downloads. Click one of these, videos for example, and you will see the locations of all of the videos on your device. It's clean, clear and simple.

4. File Manager HD: best for finding recent

files File Manager HD was developed by Cheetah Mobile, the folks responsible for the popular 'optimizer' app CleanMaster. One of the great things about File Manager HD is that it shows your recent files on the home page of the file browser by default.

If you’re searching for a file you recently accessed, you just need to go back through the timeline to find it. This is a conveniently placed and well-designed feature. 5. AntTek Explorer: best for the "desktop"

experience

AntTek Explorer is a little less user-friendly than the others apps here, because the interface isn’t as intuitive. Some of its icons aren’t immediately recognizable, and it throws you straight into the deep end when you launch it. The 'drag and drop' format of the interface is very convenient though, and for that reason, we think AntTek Explorer is an excellent interface. 6. Root Browser: best for rooted phones Root Browser is our pick for best file manager for rooted devices. As well as being a fully functional file explorer in its own right, Root Browser lets you change file permissions and ownership, and edit all kinds of files. Your phone doesn't need to be rooted phone in order to find, move or delete files with Root Browser, but if it is rooted, Root Browser gives you a great opportunity to do far more interesting things. 7. ES File Explorer: our current favorite ES file explorer is one of the favorite file managers among the Android community. It’s a familiar file explorer with the normal images, videos, music categories. It also has a nice search feature. We recently crowned this one our favorite Android file manager app in our Best Android apps list.