Box cloud storage review - TechRadar

Box is one of the veterans of cloud storage – can it keep moving with ... An upgrade to the Personal Pro plan will cost $14 (£11) per month ... Skiptomaincontent TechRadar TechRadarITInsightsforBusiness Search Subscribe RSS (opensinnewtab) (opensinnewtab) (opensinnewtab) (opensinnewtab) AsiaIndiaSingaporeMiddleEastEuropeDanmarkSuomiNorgeSverigeUKItaliaNederlandBelgië(Nederlands)FranceDeutschlandEspañaNorthAmericaUS(English)CanadaUS(Español)AustralasiaAustraliaNewZealand TechnologyMagazines(opensinnewtab)(opensinnewtab)Whysubscribe?Thebesttechtutorialsandin-depthreviewsTryasingleissueorsaveonasubscriptionIssuesdeliveredstraighttoyourdoorordeviceFrom$12.99(opensinnewtab)View(opensinnewtab) News Reviews Websitebuilders Features Webhosting DellSB Perimeter81 TrendingWindows11forbusinessBesthybridworkingtechMicrosoftTeamsupdatesLatestMobilenewsOffice2021 TechRadarissupportedbyitsaudience.Whenyoupurchasethroughlinksonoursite,wemayearnanaffiliatecommission.Here’swhyyoucantrustus Home Reviews Computing (Image:©Box) TechRadarVerdict Boxbringstothetableahostoftoolsandoptionsforbusinesseslookingtoleveragetheirdatainthecloud.It'spackedwiththird-partyintegrationsandsecurityprotectionstoo,althoughit'slessappealingfornormalconsumers,thougheverythingisreliableandwelldesigned. Pros +DeepOSintegration+Topsecurityprotection+Superbadmintools Cons -Cangetpricey-Limitedconsumeroptions-Somefeatureoverlap Oneoftheoriginalsinthecloudstorage(opensinnewtab)space,Box(opensinnewtab)hasbeenbusydoingfilesyncing(opensinnewtab)andstoringwaybeforeitwascoolandthelikesofAppleandMicrosoftcaughton.Asaresult,it'spackedwithoodlesoffeaturesandoptions,andisavailablejustabouteverywhereyou'regoingtoneedit.YoucansignupforBoxhere(opensinnewtab)StandingoutfromthecrowdareBox’sbusinesspackagesthatmakeBox,butitdoescatertoconsumersalso.Withafocusonsyncingfilesinsideofadedicatedfolder,andnotbackingupentiresystemsandharddrives,andhere'sthelowdownonit.BoxfeaturesTakingtheDropbox(opensinnewtab) approachtocloudstorage,BoxsetsupaspecificfolderonyourWindowsormacOScomputer,andthenkeepsallofitscontentsinsyncwiththecloudalongwithanyotherdeviceswithBoxinstalled.ForasolutiontobackupabsolutelyeverythingonyourharddrivewithOS,settingsandall,thenlookelsewhereasBoxhasdifferentstrengths.Thisisacloudstorageplatform,notacloudbackupsolution.SimilartoDropbox,BoxneatlyintegratesitselfwithFileExploreronWindowsorFinderonmacOS.TheBoxfolderlivesalongsideotherkeyfoldersonyoursystem,withthechoicetohaveallofyourfilesdownloadedforofflineaccess,ortokeepthemonlineandtransferthemwhenneeded(ahandytricktomaximizethefreespaceofyourlocaldrive).Thesharingoffilesandfoldersisasimpleandstraightforwardtask,whetheryouneedtocollaboratewithotherpeopleonsomethingorjustforgeneratingalinktobedistributedtowhoeverneedsit.BusinessescanbenefitasBoxintegratessmoothlywithMicrosoft365(opensinnewtab), GoogleWorkspace(opensinnewtab), AdobeCreativeCloud(opensinnewtab)amongothersoftwarepackages,andit'sreallyatthebusinessendofthespectrumwhereBoxisthemostimpressive,withtensofotherintegrationsincludingSlack,Airtable,Tableauandsomanymore.Infact,forthemostwell-roundedcloudstoragethat’scapableofhandlingtheultimateworkflowandsharingneeds,it’seasytorecommendBox. Keepingthisinmind,theteammanagementfeaturesareparexcellence:controllingaccesstofilesandfolders,seeingwhoiscollaboratingonwhat,checkingtheuseoffilesanddataacrossanentirecountry,andsoon.Foralargecompanythathasaneedtomanagecloudstoragedataincomplexways,Boxiseasilyoneofthebestoptionsoutthere,whileremainingawarethatforeveryoneelse,it'snotquiteascompelling.It’sworthmentioningthatthefreeaccountisfairlylimitinginitsuses,butthe10GBofstorageisuptherewithsomeofthebest,withnoneedtoprovidepaymentdetails.Fileuploadinghereislimitedtoarathersmall250MB,unlikethe2GBor5GBlimitsimposedonpaid-forpersonalaccounts,andupto150GBforbusinessaccounts. Fileversioningisalsorestrictedtojusttheoneforfreeaccounts,comparedwith10or25forthepersonalaccounts.Atleastsecurityisguaranteedonallaccounts,withthelikesoffileencryptionandtwo-factorauthentication-moreonthatbelow.(Imagecredit:Box)Boxinterface TheBoxinterfacetendstostaybasicandminimalacrossitsmultipleapps,butthat'snotnecessarilyanegative,asitisdefinitelypolishedandstraightforwardtouse,althoughwewouldliketoseeafewmoreoptionsandfeaturesupfrontratherthanhiddenbehindmenus.ThesoftwareslicknesscarriesthroughtothemobileappsforAndroidandiOStoo,toeasilygetatyourfilesfromanywhere.BoxreallydoesfeelfullyintegratedintotheWindowsandmacOSoperatingsystems-wereallycan'tgiveitmuchhigherpraisethanthat.Adownsidetomentionisthatthere'snowayofthrottlingbandwidthusewhenyou'vegotapileoffilestotransfer.Wedidfindthesyncingprocessspeedyandresponsivethough,providingsomeofthebestuploadanddownloadspeedswe’vetestedamongothercompetitors.Thewebexperienceisslickandeasilynavigated.Pullingupthemostrecentchangestoyourfilescanbedonewithease,forexample,alongwithcreatingalistoffavoritelocationswithinyourBoxfoldersthatcangetdonewithaclick.It’sclearthatahugeportionofthecompany’sinvestmenthasbeenpouredintoitsuserexperience,whichgoesalongwaytowardsstreamliningtheprocessandmakingitaneasyservicetouse.Alsoappreciatedistheauto-deletefeaturetosetsomefilesandfolderstogoawayonaspecificdate(thoughyoucanonlyaccessthisifyou'reononeofthepaid-forpackages).Themobileapplooksgreat,andintegrateswellwithnativefilemanagement,howeverthebestfunctionalitycomesfromusingtheBoxappdirectly.Unlikethedesktopclient,thereissomedegreeofcontrolwhenitcomestonetworkusage,buteventhisisjustawarningforsmartphoneswhenuploadingordownloadingfilesover20MBinsize.Theautomaticcamerabackup-disabledbydefaultandburieddeepinthesettings-isagreatoptionforthoselookingtostoretheirphotosandvideossecurely,butrememberthatvideosmaynotuploadduetothe250MBlimitonfreeaccountsorupto5GBlimitforpersonalplans. Additionally,Boxinterfaceswellwiththird-partyappsandplug-ins,blendingintothebackgroundandfeelinglikeanativefeatureandnotanadd-on.Inplentyofsituations,thereisn'treallyaBoxinterfaceassuch,whichmightbeaplusoraminusagainsttheservice,dependingonyourperspective.Takenasawhole,theyearsthatBoxhashadtorefineitssoftwareofferingsdefinitelyisapparent.(Imagecredit:Box)BoxsecurityBoxtakessecurityveryseriouslyindeed–there'sAES256-bitencryptionasstandard,andifyouneedfullend-to-endencryption(sonotevenBoxcangetatyourfilesinanemergency),it'savailablewithanadd-on.Two-factorauthentication(2FA)isincludedhereaswell,whichaddsanotherlayerofsecuritytoyouraccount-evenifsomeonemanagestohaveyourusernameandpassword.Themobileappaddsanextralayerofsecuritywithapasscodeorbiometricbarrier-andthiscanbeadifferentpasscodetotheoneyouwouldusuallyusetologintoyourtabletorsmartphone.Handy.Eachandeveryfiletransfer,loginandevenaBoxapplicationinstallationistrackedandlogged,andbytheadditionofthefullAdminconsole,yougetevengreaterauditingandcontroloptions.Anytimeafileorfolderisaccessed,youcanbeinformedbyemail(soforexample,whensomeonesaystheyreadyourreport,you’llknowthatthey'rebeinglessthantruthful).Finally,afullrangeofcomplianceandregulatorytoolsareonofferaswell,anditalladdsuptoaverysecureandcomprehensiveserviceindeed.(Imagecredit:Box)BoxpricingTheoptionsareaplentyfromBoxofpaid-forplanstochoosefrom,andthatevenincludesafreetier–providedyoucangetbywith10GBofcloudstorageandafilesizelimitof250MB.AnupgradetothePersonalProplanwillcost$14(£11)permonthandoffers100GBofstoragewith5GBuploadlimits.ComparedwithitscompetitionfrommainstreamcompetitorslikeApple,Microsoft,GoogleandDropbox,thisdoesn’trepresentgreatvalue,with2TBgenerallybeingavailableforaround$10or£10permonth,orless. AcheaperoptionisavailableforteamsofthreeusersorlessintheformoftheStarterplan,whichcanbeusefulforfamilies.ItoffersasimilarprospecttothePersonalProaccount,with100GBofstorage,howeverthefilesizelimitisreducedto2GB.Thiscosts$7(£5.50)peruser,permonth. Businessplansofferunlimitedstorage,higherfilesizelimits,anddeeperintegrationwithproductivitytools,amongotherfeatures.Theyallrequireaminimumofthreeusers,startingwiththeBusinessplan($20or£16peruser,permonth),movinguptotheBusinessPlusplan($33or£26.50peruser,permonth)andtheEnterprisesubscription($47or£37.50peruser,permonth).Atop-specEnterprisePlusplanisavailable,thoughthisrequiresBoxgettingtoknowyourbusinessneedsinordertoprovideaquote. Regardlessofplantype,discountsaretobehadforannualplans,currentlywith24%to29%savings.Itgoeswithoutsayingthatoptingforoneofthesepresentsthebestvalue.Owingsimplytothe100GBmaximumstorageallowanceimposedonindividualusers,it’shardtorecommendBoxforpersonaluse.Businesseswillgetthemostoutofthisservice.(Imagecredit:Box)FinalverdictBoxcertainlytailorsitsofferingforthebusinessmarket,eventhoughitdoeshaveacoupleofplansforconsumerstoo.It'sstackedwithcollaboration,datacomplianceandautomations,andmakesplentyofAPIsavailableincaseyouneedsomethingbespoke.Certainlywithoneofthemoreexpensiveplans,withunlimitedstorageandusefultools,it'sanappealingoverallpackage.Alternately,forconsumersthatwanttostretcheverydollar,thatmoneyisarguablybetterspentelsewhere.Box'sappsaren'tquiteasuser-friendlyastheonesofferedbyitsrivals,anditgetsexpensivedependingonwhatyouneed.Whileit'sagreatoptionforcloudstorageandsyncing, it'snotagreatoptionforeveryone.Alsocheckoutourroundupofthebestcloudbackup(opensinnewtab)services MarkPickavance Markisanexpertondisplays,reviewingmonitorsandTVs.HealsocoversstorageincludingSSDs,NASdrivesandportableharddrives.Hestartedwritingin1986andhadcontributedtoMicroMart,PCFormat,3DWorldamongothers. 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