Internet, Networking, & Security > Browsers 120 120 people found this article helpful What's the Best Mobile Web Browser? Mobile web browsers prioritize speed and privacy By Daniel Nations Daniel Nations Twitter Writer University of Texas at Arlington Daniel Nations has been a tech journalist since 1994. His work has appeared in Computer Currents, The Examiner, and other publications. He is a developer who has published apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play marketplace and Amazon Appstore; he also has worked as a data analyst and DB administrator. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on January 14, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Browsers Chrome Safari Firefox Microsoft Today, there are almost as many web browsers for mobile devices as there are for computers. We've tested them all to help you determine which is the best mobile web browser for you. Most of these web browsers are available for both Android and iOS. Check the app requirements to make sure they are compatible with your device. OlgaLebedeva / Getty Images Google Chrome: Google's Official Browser What We Like Well-known browser with large market share. Many desktop features migrate to the mobile version. Data Saver tool makes browsing faster and more bandwidth-efficient. What We Don't Like Google collects your personal data. Relatively high memory usage. The Chrome app for mobile devices automatically syncs everything from your desktop version of Chrome including your browsing history, login information, and bookmarks. This full-featured app offers: Safe browsing that warns you when you attempt to visit dangerous sites or download dangerous files Incognito mode to browse the internet without saving your history Voice search for when you don't feel like typing in a URL Built-in Google Translate to translate entire web pages Data Saver feature that uses up to 60 percent less data as Chrome compresses images, videos, and websites Download For: Android iOS Safari: Apple's Answer to Chrome What We Like Optimized for iOS. Sync browser data through iCloud. Interface options designed to harmonize with the logic of iOS. What We Don't Like The Android version isn't as user-friendly as the iOS version. No meaningful ties to products and services outside the Apple ecosystem. Safari is the browser of choice on Apple mobile devices because it is part of the operating system. It's been around since the first iPhone, but Safari's features are updated with each iOS release. Among its newer features are: A setting to prevent cross-site tracking by advertisersLong-press options for the Back and Forward buttons, bookmarks, URLs, images on web pages, and lots of other places that expand the possibilities of working in the browserAn option to save web pages for offline viewing in the Safari Reading ListAuto Reader View that removes formatting and stylings to present a clean presentation of text and imagesA Block All Cookies option Safari syncs passwords, bookmarks, history, tabs, and reading lists on all your Apple devices. Download For: iOS Samsung Internet: Not Just For Samsung Phones and Tablets What We Like Works well with Samsung devices, although it's available for all Android devices regardless of manufacturer. A handful of bells and whistles to improve the mobile browsing experience. What We Don't Like Can't turn off the news on browser startup. Not optimized for non-Samsung devices. Initially available only for Samsung phones, this browser is now available for all devices running Android 5.0 or higher. Samsung Internet includes the following features: Protected browsing to prevent you from viewing known malicious websitesWeb payment capabilityAmazon shopping assistant you can turn on to get the best shopping deals360-video capabilitiesSupport for content blockersHigh contrast viewing mode for users with impaired vision Download For: Android Opera: A Stand-Alone Alternative What We Like A stand-alone alternative to built-in mobile browsers. Lots of options to optimize the mobile browsing experience. What We Don't Like Doesn't integrate naturally into any mobile OS. The Opera app does more than display web pages. It blocks ads and compresses images for faster page loading. Opera also offers: A built-in news feed to find content that you'll enjoyA Save Data mode to load pages quickly on slow networksPrivate browsing tabsForce zoom on any web page for comfortable readingAdd-to-home screen feature Download For: Android Firefox Mobile: Sync With Firefox for Desktops What We Like Sync with your desktop version of Firefox using Mozilla's sync capability. Plenty of extensions on Android to fine-tune browsing experiences. What We Don't Like No extensions on iOS. No natural integration with iOS or Android. Mozilla's Firefox browser for mobile devices is full-featured, fast, and highly customizable. If you use Firefox on your computer, you'll appreciate the access you have to your saved passwords, browsing history, and your bookmarks. With the Firebox mobile app, you can: Send tabs between mobile and desktop devices Enter Private Browsing mode to prevent Firefox from saving cookies or browsing history Add tons of extensions (Android only) to customize the appearance and capabilities of your mobile device including ad blockers, password managers, and themes. Download For: Android iOS Firefox Focus: Faster, More Secure Browsing What We Like Super fast browsing. Focused on privacy. What We Don't Like Not as many features as regular Firefox. Privacy features should be incorporated into regular Firefox. Firefox Focus is a stripped-down version of Firefox that prioritizes privacy. At less than 5 MB, this lightweight mobile browser comes with the following benefits: Pages load faster thanks to the built-in ad blocker.No passwords, cookies, or trackers are ever stored.Enhanced privacy features are always turned on. Download For: Android iOS Microsoft Edge: The Successor to IE Mobile What We Like Syncs with Edge for Windows. Transfer a browsing session to a computer. Fast browser with flawless background syncing. What We Don't Like No deep integration with iOS or Android. Limited extensions. If you use a Windows 10 computer, you need the Edge app. The "Continue on PC" feature allows you to move seamlessly between your mobile and desktop Edge browsers, even if you have an Apple iOS device. The Microsoft Edge app has features you are familiar with such as: A Reading View that reorganizes content on a web page to make it easier to read InPrivate mode for private browsing A built-in QR Code reader Voice search via Cortana Download For: Android iOS Dolphin Browser: Sync With Other Browsers What We Like Fast and secure browsing. Free and multi-platform. Interesting side-bar design to highlight extra features. What We Don't Like Low market share. Dolphin plugin for desktop computers required to take full advantage of syncing capability. Dolphin is a fast personal web browser. It simplifies mobile browsing and offers plenty of features to tempt users away from the better-known browser apps. These features include: Built-in ad blockerHTML5 video playerVoice searchCustomize with gestures for specific websitesSync bookmarks, history, and passwords across platforms and other browsers Download For: Android iOS Puffin: The Fastest of the Fast What We Like Flash is enabled by default. Data-saving compression algorithm. Elegant design. What We Don't Like Low market share. Must pay for the pro version to access extra features. The Puffin web browser app shifts part of the browsing workload to cloud servers so that demanding web pages can run super-fast on mobile devices. As a result, Puffin loads web pages twice as fast as the other popular mobile web browsers. To use the app on iOS, you have to pay for Puffin Pro, but the free Android version offers the following features: Encryption from the Puffin app to the Puffin server, so even using public nonsecure Wi-Fi connections is safeComplete immunity to virusesA 90 percent bandwidth savings on regular web browsingMultiple color themesIncognito modeVisual gamepad Download For: Android iOS Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit