Comments on: Speed Test: Opera Mini 5 vs. Stock Android Browser

By: The Wombat

The Wombat — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:40:03 +0000

Hey @gwlaw99 – where can one find an Android text browser? I have been looking for one for my little Tattoo for ages now and have come up with squat so far.
Re: Opera 5 – its good – and quick for many things. And once I found Opera Bridge which allows you to go to Opera from a link, its been pretty perfect for most things.

By: electromula

electromula — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:18:35 +0000

The main thig I DO NOT LIKE about it is that I am unable to download it at all into my Archos 5 IT. Whichever webside I use as a source for download, it leads me on link

market://search?q=pname:com.opera.mini.android

And this is always a blind path, same as for another apps links started with word “market”.

By: Francis

Francis — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:50:06 +0000

love it so far. it is fast… and I love the dailer homepage since I mainly hit the same few pages on a daily basis. can’t wait to be able to set it as default.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:22:54 +0000

I found that Opera Mini 5 beta murdered my battery life, so I uninstalled it. People having issues with picture rendering, just go into settings and set the picture quality to high.

By: barry99705

barry99705 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:06:05 +0000

@Jeffrey
That’s why I won’t use it.

By: asqwerth

asqwerth — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:02:36 +0000

Thanks for those who recommended xscope on Phandroid. I’d have never heard of it otherwise. And there’s just something about it that I like. I tried to like Dolphin, but I can’t. Opera Mini 5 beta, which I’d tried before previously on my Hero as a java version, has a great UI that I find unmatched by the other mobile browsers. It may not render certain pages that well, pics are not that high quality due to compression, but I find that it’s a pleasure to use and it’s FAST. Great for browsing purely text sites where you don’t care about pics. I’ll still use the stock browser for sites where I have to enter passwords in, like facebook. Not keen on letting 3rd party browsers know my passwords.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:11:35 +0000

Awesome speed! I have D0lph1n 8rowser and its quite a bit faster than that… Loving the tap to zoom feature. awesome job guys!

By: mark

mark — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:31:13 +0000

Downloaded Opera today, I will be removing the other browser tomorrow… I love the homepage, alphabetical order of favorites, and the load time is incredible.

By: Luke Beales Android App Reviews

Luke Beales Android App Reviews — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:43:03 +0000

I hope Google see this as an opportunity to improve its own browser on the phones.

By: Jouten

Jouten — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:00:58 +0000

I run this Opera and Xscope G on my HTC GSM Hero (w/chin). What a rockin’ combo! :)

By: Maurice

Maurice — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:57:58 +0000

I think the browser is much faster than the stock browser but my issue is i have downloaded it twice but no application shortcut appears in my app drawer. the only way i can use the app is if i go back to the market and open it or do a quick search on my phone and the app appears. Mytouch 3g 1.0 with tmobile, not rooted.

By: dima1109

dima1109 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:47:50 +0000

Yes, it’s “fast”, but once you get over the speed, the browser is crap. It has more rendering errors than IE4, it can’t do any meaningful Javascript to save its life, and it butchers the layout. Plus the images look like crap.

Still waiting for Fennec

By: mike

mike — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:08:45 +0000

I used Opera Mini when I used to have a BlackBerry. It served its purpose. The stock browser on the G1 is not that great, but I haven’t liked anything else. Opera Mini is very speedy but it compresses pics and renders poorly in some situations. I plan on using Opera for quick searching, and using the stock browser for any google sites. I am hoping that the Android Firefox is as good as the desktop version.

By: paul

paul — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:25:00 +0000

this is NOTICEABLY faster on a rooted droids stock brower but lack of pinch to zoom odd page renderings does hurt the browser experience. I’m sure with some updates I will be using this as my primary browser and my stock browser will go back on the app drawer..

By: pj3090

pj3090 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:33:21 +0000

Mini works well for non-interactive pages, but you will probably find many sites that perform poorly. Opera’s docs state “The majority of JavaScript functions are available, except those that require asynchronous operations or user interaction once the page has been loaded” (think Google Maps, for example). Good for reading, bad for modern web apps.