Buzz
It can be affirmed that both Zalo and Facebook Messenger are currently favored by many Vietnamese users. While Zalo serves as an independent chat and social networking application, Facebook Messenger, which was once a feature of the Facebook social network, has now evolved into a separate chat application.
Recent research by DI Marketing Research in June 2016 revealed that Zalo accounts for 80% of users, while Messenger accounts for 73%. Other applications such as Viber, Skype, Line, Yahoo, etc., make up the remaining percentage. With these results, it can be asserted that downloading Zalo and Messenger constitutes a fierce rivalry in the OTT arena in Vietnam.
So, between these two rivals, who emerges stronger and in which aspect? Mytour will provide comparisons for you to identify the ultimate champion of chat applications in the Vietnamese market.
Comparing Zalo and Facebook Messenger: An Unequal Battle
1. Support Platform
It can be affirmed that the support platform of an application is the primary factor determining the popularity and success of an OTT application, especially with Zalo and Facebook.
Moreover, during usage, there will be a continuous influx of new data, and the actual storage capacity of both can vary, increasing by an additional 20-40MB depending on real-world usage scenarios.
3. User Interface
Fundamentally, the user interfaces of both software applications have embraced the Material design trend, with flatter, clearer, and more modern-looking icons. The distinctive color scheme of both applications remains blue and white. For newcomers to either app, distinguishing between them might pose a slight challenge. However, overall, the interfaces of Messenger and Zalo exude a much more youthful vibe compared to Viber or Skype.
4. Processing Speed
Both OTT applications integrate various chat tools, among which the video call feature on Zalo is not yet available. However, the processing speed of Messenger and Zalo differs slightly depending on the type of connection.
With a Wi-Fi connection, both demonstrate good message processing capabilities and low latency. However, Zalo has an advantage in using 3G as this software has been optimized by VNG developers for network connections in Vietnam. Using Messenger with 3G may experience lagging due to servers located abroad, especially RAM consumption on Messenger, which has been identified as one of the leading causes of lagging.
5. Unique Characteristics
If Zalo is an all-in-one platform, Messenger is striving to separate itself from Facebook as a standalone messaging application. Evidence of this is Facebook's recent addition of SMS reading, group calls, and direct video calls on Messenger. One of the most recognizable features of Messenger is its modern and professional chat head icon.
With chat heads, users can easily chat while performing other tasks. Currently, Messenger also integrates a section displaying SMS content over the telecommunications network, quite useful for users to use this application as a common tool to control all messages on the device.
Meanwhile, Zalo continues to focus on enhancing the social networking experience for users. Additionally, the usage of Zalo is quite flexible. VNG demonstrates good support for chatting and messaging for users. Moreover, you can easily find friends nearby thanks to the impressive feature of searching for users around you.
Conclusion
Whether it's Zalo or Messenger, it's difficult to judge any application. Especially based on personal needs, users will know which application is most suitable for their needs. If you want to chat with friends while browsing through their statuses, reading news, you should turn to Zalo.
On the other hand, if you want to have the best experience in messaging, casual chatting with friends and family, Messenger will be a perfect choice with many special features. There are still many features of Facebook Messenger that you may not know, such as using multiple different OTT accounts on one interface. That's how you can chat, Messenger Skype messaging at the same time on Franz as shared by Mytour before. You can try it out to enhance your software experience.
