5 Best Free Android Smartphone Launchers

Custom launchers change the behavior and looks of an Android smartphone (and even tablets). Some custom launchers even affect the app drawer, the lock screen, and the multi-tasking interface. That's why launchers are the easiest way to give an Android device a totally different look and feel. The good news is that there are thousands of custom launchers available on the Google Play Store and elsewhere. Some are free while others are for a fee. A few others also offer a free trial. You can download as many launchers as you want and change the look of your Android phone every so often.

Here are the 5 best FREE Android smartphone launchers available on the Google Play Store, in my opinion of course.

1. Go Launcher EX - It is voted as the best Android launcher by voters with more than 90,000,000 people downloading the said launcher from the Play Store. It was developed by the highly acclaimed Go Launcher EX team, which has a team of developers that has done a lot of custom widgets to go with the launcher (they are downloaded separately though). There's also a very solid community behind the project as well. You can download 10,000+ themes and icon sets from around the web to make your smartphone look exactly the way you want it and experience super speedy and smooth operation provided by a powerful 3D core.

DOWNLOAD HERE

2. Nova Launcher - The Nova Launcher is another favorite homescreen replacement for many Android users out there. The only downside is that the Nova Launcher only supports Android 4.0 and up. However, that also means that it's built with one thing in mind - speed. Everything from the homescreen scrolling, to the app drawer opening and the overall feel of the app is blazing fast. That's not to say, however, that it is not feature-rich. It knows most of the tricks of the other launchers, but puts its own spin on them. It's highly customizable, performance driven, and a perfect home screen replacement for Android 4.0 and above.

DOWNLOAD HERE

3. ADW Launcher - This launcher is one of the most popular custom launchers out there. So popular in fact, that it was the default launcher in the popular Cyanogen ROM prior to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It has since received plenty of improvements and new features. Not to mention that it's probably the most compatible of all available launchers, featuring support for Android 1.6 through 4.1. It is available in both free and paid versions as well. The ADW Launcher is the go-to place for tweaking every little aspect of your Android desktop. The settings for the homescreen animations alone are enough to make your head spin. The launcher offers you to set up different themes, which are also available in the Google Play Store.

DOWNLOAD HERE

4. Smart Launcher - The Smart Launcher is one of the highest-rated homescreen stand-ins to have come out for Android. The Smart Launcher is an innovative launcher, which has a minimalist design, low resource and user-friendly interface that allows you to launch any application in a few keys. It's currently the only launcher of Play Store, which has a function of automatic sorting and cataloging of installed applications. Overall, Smart Launcher transforms the seemingly complex Android UI into a more mature - and user-friendly experience. It is also available in both paid (provides a secondary screen where you can place widgets and get more transitions and colors for more customization) and free versions in the Google Play Store.

DOWNLOAD HERE

5. Launcher 7/Launcher 8 - Android is so customizable that you could easily transform it into something completely different - like a Windows Phone 7/8 device in a heartbeat. The Launcher 7/8 is lightweight and performs reasonably well considering the massive task of completely transforming the Android desktop experience. In true Windows Phone 7/8 fashion, you can set up the tiles the way you want them; they are live, too, to perfectly mimic the Windows Phone experience. On top of that, the launcher also reworks the app drawer so if you like the minimalist look and feel of Microsoft's mobile OS, the Launcher 7/8 app is the way to go.

DOWNLOAD LAUNCHER 7 HERE

DOWNLOAD LAUNCHER 8 HERE

So there you have it! These are my 5 best FREE Android launchers that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. Which among them do you like best?

Til then...

xoxo Nash