These 5 apps make better phone calls than your phone app - and you probably already have them

The phone app that comes with your smartphone is fine, but it uses your carriers' decades-old technology.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of apps out there that use newer technology for better-sounding phone calls.

Carriers have been improving the audio quality of phone calls with HD voice, but it's still hit or miss whether or not your call will actually use HD voice.

If you use these apps to make phone calls, though, you'll end up using up a bit of your data, but you'd need to log some serious minutes when you're off WiFi to make any significant impact on your data usage. They're also perfect for international voice calls, too, as they're essentially free.

These apps aren't perfect, mind you, as whoever you're calling needs the same app. That's why I've chosen popular apps that you and your circle are more likely to have.

Check them out: