10 Best Web Browsers for Android – 2018

Accessing the web is a lot easier and faster than it was a couple years back. Old fashioned desktops are replaced by the sleek Android smartphones. And thank god for the user-friendly and intuitive web browsers that spare us the horrors of the obsolete Internet Explorer! Now, a standard web browser is usually pre-installed on your phone. However, it may or may not provide a robust and reliable experience. There are a lot of third-party web browsers available on Play Store offering lightning fast browsing without consuming a lot of data. Here’s a list of the top 10 web browsers for Android that you cannot afford to miss out on in 2018:

Everyone has heard of Google Chrome! With over 1 million downloads, Chrome is a favourite and often comes pre-installed on many devises. Being a product of a tech-giant Google, and developed by Chromium, we can expect nothing but the best from this browser. It comes with a built-in flash player, HTML 5, incognito window, data saver, auto-sync, password manager, in-built Google Translate, voice search, and unlimited tabs. Chrome runs smoothly across both desktop PCs and tabs, great for users who love multitasking or switching between platforms frequently. Google Chrome is available for free on the Play Store and has two beta versions, Google beta and Google dev.

Pros:

• Better, faster, tabbed browsing
• Can sync history and bookmarks to various devices
• Built-in data saver for better optimisation

Cons:

• Takes up a lot of phone memory

Firefox is an old-school browser that dominated the market long before Chrome made an appearance. A free and open-source platform with loads of add-ons, it attracts a lot of tech-savvy users and geeks. The Android version of Firefox is pretty similar to its desktop interface and it provides the same fast and responsive browsing to users irrespective of the device they’re accessing it from. Mozilla Firefox even comes with HTML 5 support, auto-sync, some extensions, multi-tabbed browsing, password manager, flash support, and an incognito window.

Pros:

• Well organised and extremely user-friendly
• Sync the histories and bookmarks across devices
• Can encrypt passwords
• Ad-blocker and protection against hackers and malicious websites

Cons:

• The page takes time to load especially in content heavy websites

Developed by MoboTap, this free browser has received many awards and accolades since its release. Simple, lightweight and powerful, the app is one of the most polished browsers of the lot. Dolphin is a great alternative to stock Android browsers and is armed with several features such as built-in flash player, pop-up blocker, auto-sync, gesture support, voice recognition, tabbed browsing, one-tap sharing, and add-ons. It allows users to customise the UI, tweak the HTML 5 coding, search, share and navigate through links at amazing speed and efficiency.

Pros:

• Intuitive, user-friendly, fast and organised
• One-tap sharing
• Voice search option is available

Cons:

• Doesn’t have a desktop version

Opera Mini is a well-known browser in fact; it is among the top three browsing platforms for PC and Mac devices. It is developed on the open-source Chromium platform that powers Chrome. Opera has some signature features that make it stand apart from the crowd. It supports flash content, comes with cloud support, has an internal download manager, and ad-blocking function for uninterrupted browsing. Other than that you even get the option of tabbed browsing, incognito browsing, and customising the UI as per your liking. The built-in newsfeed and data saver is a boon for cellular data users.

Pros:

• Comes with integrated protection
• Fast, responsive and lightweight
• Can handle lots of tabs at once and not crash

Cons:

• Lacks the popular add-ons

Brave, formerly known as the link bubble browser, is another application that is concerned about protecting the privacy of the users. It is a free, lightweight and open-source platform launched in 2016 that accommodates a lot of standard and advanced features. The Android browser is known for its ad-blocker, website tracker and detecting suspicious and unsafe links. Other than that the app also provides fast private browsing, reduces battery drain, saves on your internet data, blocks third-party cookies and offers real-time access to web content even though the page has not loaded.

Pros:

• Blocks ads by default
• Integrates several privacy plugins
• Includes a password manager

Cons:

• Doesn’t have a Google cast integration feature

UC Browser is a feature rich and robust application especially developed for Android devices on our list. Ever since its launch, the web browser has created quite a stir in the market and overtook almost every other rival browsing app baring a few. The sleek, intuitive interface is regularly updated introducing new and better functionalities. Also, you get the latest promotional offers from third-party websites on your newsfeed. UC is great for lighting fast downloads, you don’t need any extension or a download manager to get the work done. You can even customise the browser theme, switch it to night mode, add turbo boost for better browsing performance, and play flash content on your phone using UC.

Pros:

• Fast downloads and page loading
• Pages are displayed in text-only mode that saves on data
• Loads of add-ons are available

Cons:

• The promotional offers often cramp the interface
• Not very safe

Maxthon is known for its user-friendliness, versatility and cross platform compatibility and is worth a try. The web browser works smoothly across all Android, Mac, IOS, Linux, and Windows devices. The super advanced application offers more than just the basic functions expected out of a browser. It supports all the basic features like incognito mode, flash, ad-blocking and other preliminary features required for a hassle-free browsing experience. Other than that the apps has a Magic Fill option that remembers and automatically the form details, a user agent switch feature for shifting between mobiles, desktop and tabs, Ad-block plus, auto-sync, and NewsBite. The browsing speed is optimum and the interface is pretty smooth running parallel to the other apps on your phone.

Pros:

• Faster than most browsers
• One click user switch, sync, ad-block, magic fill and other unique options
• Very secure and user-friendly

Cons:

• The web browser doesn’t come with a lot of extensions

Puffin is what we call the “wicked fast browser”, especially if you want to view websites in the desktop mode. Designed and developed by CloudMosa, the application works wonderfully across all Android, IOS and Windows operating systems. It is a free, fast and robust browsing option with fantastic support to play flash content online. Puffin also comes with a virtual keypad and gamepad for extra security against hacking and other online threats. The virtual mouse, pointer and joystick is great for gamers. The interface is pretty interactive and comes with in-built colour themes, sidebars and newsfeed. Other than that there’s an on-screen keyboard, an ad-blocker, incognito tab and cloud support. There’s also a pro Puffin version available that has a lot more features and perks than the standard version.

Pros:

• Excellent Flash support
• Cloud support and protection against malware and hacking
• Virtual joystick, keypad and pointer for playing online games

Cons:

• It is blocked/banned in some countries like China and Saudi Arabia.

Most people know CM or Clean Master as an anti-virus application that also cleans the storage space of your phone boosting its performance. The developers of Clean Master have also introduced a web browser called CM Browser that deserves a place in our list. The simple and lightweight browser is among the safest options out there for first-time users. It comes with an in-built anti-virus engine that scans everything you are browsing and weeds out the suspicious pages and links. CM has a newsfeed feature like UC that displays all the trending topics of the day at one place. The app includes an ad-blocker, speed dial option, incognito mode, gesture control, page translation, and bookmarking option.

Pros:

• Safe, secure, fast and pretty intuitive
• Lightweight design
• Includes an anti-virus scanning feature

Cons:

• There aren’t any add-ons available

Flynx is definitely the web browsing option for people who love multitasking and often have multiple apps and web pages open all at once. It is one of the most competent bubble browsers on Play Store for Android users. For those who don’t know, bubble browsers are supporting browsers which you can use to open quick links. The bubble of Flynx looks pretty much like the Facebook Messenger chat bubble that floats about in the background. All pages load in the text only mode that’s a lot faster and readable than most other browsers you’ll use. With Flynx you can easily switch back and forth between several links, websites and articles. It even allows you to share links to other networking platforms like Facebook and save articles offline.

Pros:

• Flynx is available for free and doesn’t take up much space
• It comes with 15 different languages
• The browser is great for multitasking

Cons:

• Doesn’t come with a lot of features otherwise present in any standard Android browser like Chrome.