Opera Mini 5 solves some of Android's native browser problems

RSS News User · 12th March 2010, 05:13 AM

By <a href="http://www.betanews.com/author/tim">Tim Conneally</a>, <a href="http://www.betanews.com">Betanews</a>
Following up on last week's beta release of <a href="http://www.betanews.com/article/Windows-Mobile-5-and-6-get-the-latest-Opera-Mini-5-beta/1267735384" title="Windows Mobile 5 and 6 get the latest Opera Mini 5 beta">Opera Mini 5 for Windows Mobile 5 and 6</a>, Opera software today launched Opera Mini 5 for the Android platform.<img align="right" class="img_right" title="Opera Mini 5 on Android" alt="Opera Mini 5 on Android" height="300" width="160" src="http://images.betanews.com/media/4651.jpg" />With Mini 5, Opera Software has managed to make a cross-platform browser that provides an almost uniform experience across all the operating systems it runs on. Today's release on Android feels almost identical to the version I tested last week.However, with Android, we're taking a different look at Opera and its comparisons to other browsers. It's easy to say, "Oh, Opera is faster than IE Mobile, but not as comprehensive as Skyfire," when comparing browsers on Windows Phones. Everybody does that.Because there are four different versions of Google's mobile operating system in circulation right now, there are at least three different native Android browsers to compare Opera Mini 5 to. Android versions 1.5 and 1.6 have an older version (v. 4.0) of the Android browser, while Android 2.0 and up have a browser with a new UI and new features. Android 2.1 has the same browser as 2.0, but it is endowed with multitouch gestures. We tested Opera Mini 5 against the two main Android browsers.Opera Mini 5 on Android 1.5 & 1.6For devices that run upon the "<a href="http://www.betanews.com/article/iPhone-30-meet-Android-15/1239721744" title="iPhone 3.0, meet Android 1.5">Cupcake</a>" and "<a href="http://www.betanews.com/article/Android-Donut-SDK-released-Whats-new-inside/1253057624" title="Android 'Donut' SDK released: What's new inside">Donut</a>" builds of Android, Opera Mini 5 provides a number of different experiences from the stock browser. First, Opera provides an actionable address bar which can just be clicked upon to enter URLs. In Android Browser 4, the user has to tap Menu > Go to bring up the address bar. Secondly, Zooming in and out with the Android browser is done with the preview tool and magnifying glass buttons, but Mini 5's is mostly pre-ordained. If you set it to "mobile view," pages are formatted to fit your screen so you don't have to do too much resizing. However, Mini 5 defaults with mobile view off and full screen mode off, so your pages are first going to load very quickly, but will require zooming (done by double-tapping the screen, a gesture that Android Browser version 4 actually lacks).When considering Mini 5's interface alone, it's not a significant improvement over the stock browser. However there's much more to love about Opera than its UI, so we'll talk more about that later.Next: Opera Mini 5 on Android 2.0+...Opera Mini 5 on Android 2.0+Devices running Android 2.0 and beyond are generally equipped with stronger processors, so browsing with the stock Android browser is a tough experience to compete with. Fortunately for Opera Mini 5, the experience it provides on these devices actually holds up quite well thanks to some of the features it adds that Android lacks across the board. Principal among these is tabbed browsing. In all Android browsers, your browser tabs are a whole sub-screen which pulls you out of your current window and into a new one. In Opera Mini, browser tabs appear as an overlay in your main window with a rack of thumbnails that can be chosen from. This adds a lot to the feeling of continuity within Opera, and is an area where the Android browser suffers.Another major complaint about the Android browser is that it does not sync your mobile bookmarks with anything. They're currently something of a dead end. This has been a big argument in favor of the Dolphin browser, which offers that feature. Even better, however, is Opera Mini 5, which actually can sync to your desktop version of Opera with Opera Link. So if you're a desktop Opera user, not only will your Speed Dial screen be automatically populated, but it also gives you instant access to your bookmark folders and RSS feeds.The final issue to mention when talking about any of Opera's products is the addition of server-side rendering. Pages in Opera Mini 5 are digested on an Opera server before they hit your device's screen, so browsing is sped up considerably. Though browsing on a 3G connection is enjoyable on all Android devices, Opera Mini 5 can knock out pages appreciably faster. So what's the bottom line on this beta?It's a "Must Have" if:You're a desktop Opera user using Android 1.5 or 1.6.It's a "Must Try" if:You're in an area with poor 3G coverage using Android 1.5 or 1.6.For everyone else, it will be worthwhile to play around with it and see if you like what Opera does. After all, it is the most popular mobile browser in the world. Opera Mini 5 beta can be downloaded today in the Android Market.
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