If you’re like most smartphone users, then you probably spend a good majority of your time using a browser to surf the Internet. Unfortunately, this simple daily action can become a RAM and battery drain and if your phone isn’t super powerful, then this can drastically and negatively affect your user experience.
Fortunately, there are lightweight browsers for Android that take up less space than the classic Google Chrome or Firefox. With these types of tools, which don’t require a large number of resources, you can surf the Internet from your phone without having to pay the price in the form of reduced performance or decreased battery life.
To save you time from having to do your own research, we’ve selected the 5 best lightweight browsers that you can install on your Android smartphone:
UC Browser Mini
First up on the list, we have the lite version of one of the most interesting alternative browsers you can download. UC Browser Mini has a very clean and intuitive interface and an integrated adblocker that prevents pop-ups and banners.
Like its big brother, UC Browser Mini offers a gesture control system you can use to move around the screen and use the app’s different features. For example, it allows you to quickly switch from one tab to another, close tabs, or perform voice searches.
The browser also features an intelligent download manager that’s able to manage multiple downloads at once, as well as run them in the background and automatically reconnect in case of a failed download. [Download]
Opera Mini
Here’s another slimmed-down version of one of the best alternative lightweight browsers you can find. Opera Mini, with a size of 7.5 MB, offers a fast and smooth experience, especially for Android devices with limited RAM. It has features like “Smart Browsing” which lets you select the most suitable browsing mode to save data.
You can customize the browser interface by selecting the design, the theme, the news you want it to show you, and the browsing mode. It also has an integrated video player and an offline reading mode.
Opera Mini offers you the possibility of opening web pages in the background and has automatic support for social networks such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook; this way, it’s possible to share content directly on them, using fewer resources. You can also download any file and store it on the phone. [Download]
Firefox Lite
Firefox is one of the most popular names in the lightweight browser environment and this reduced version of the software offers many of its great features, but it is neatly packaged into only 7 MB.
One of the most interesting things about Firefox Lite (formerly called Firefox Rocket) is its ‘Turbo Mode’, which blocks all advertising on any website you visit so that you spend much less data loading pages. The default search engine is Google, although it can be changed to Yahoo or DuckDuckGo.
The browser allows you to customize its interface and add the websites you visit most to the favorites section, to access them faster. It will also offer suggestions based on the sites you visit without sharing data with third parties. And last but not least, it has a page grabber so you can view them offline whenever you want. [Download]
Aloha Browser Turbo
Its name may not be very well known, but among the lite browsers this one is not only complete but it also has one of the most carefully designed interfaces you can find. Plus, the interface is simple and allows you to lock tabs using your fingerprint.
It has an integrated VPN system that lets you not only bypass any content limitations that may exist in your country but also surf securely on public networks. It also offers control over cookies and how multiple windows are displayed.
It has its own integrated adblocker, which helps you save time and memory on your phone. And if all that’s not enough to convince you, it also has a file manager whose folders can also be locked with a numeric code or fingerprint. Lastly, it eliminates web page trackers so that they can’t collect your data. [Download]
Mint Browser
In last place among the lightweight browsers is Mint Browser, developed by Xiaomi. Its interface is very similar to that of the MIUI browser, the manufacturer’s customization layer, and comes in at 11 MB (slightly more than those we’ve seen, but, in comparison, Chrome weighs 44 MB). This program is perfect for less powerful phones (with 3 GB of RAM or less) as it doesn’t require too many resources.
Mint Browser allows voice search, tabbed browsing, incognito and anonymous mode, as well as night mode. When browsing without WiFi, you can take advantage of its data saving mode which won’t load images when loading web pages.
Like the other browsers on the list, it also offers a pop-up and ad blocker to save resources. [Download]
Translated by Sarah Odebralski
