Modern advancements in the form of apps on our smartphones have left little reason for us to use outdated and less responsive web apps inside a browser. However, for anything that doesn’t come packaged as a dedicated app on the Play Store, the default web browser is our best friend—or is it?
It turns out there are better alternatives to Chrome or Samsung Internet for those who value speed and general snappiness over everything else while browsing the web. In this article, we have seven of the fastest web browsers for Android that will allow you to perform searches noticeably quicker.
1. Google Go
Google Go is perhaps the cleanest, most fluid mini browser out there. Not only does it have the prominent perk of being up-to-date with Google’s latest design guidelines, but it actually has a few tricks up the sleeve that make it a viable option over, say, Google Chrome.
The quick launch options allow you to effortlessly make a search via voice, use your phone’s camera for live translation, or simply discover what’s happening using your Google Feed. The browser also has shortcuts to search for images and GIFs that you can then share with your friends.
Apart from the snappy animations, you get to pick a wallpaper of your choice, select a second language to switch between search results quickly, and even enable a lite mode to save additional data.
Download: Google Go (Free)
2. Carbon: Super Fast Browser
Aside from its incredibly to-the-point name, this browser checks all the right boxes that make a browser fast. It has a simple interface, an ad-blocker, a data-saver, and even a built-in VPN. The combination of all these features does provide a noticeably quicker browsing experience.
Despite being a speed-oriented browser, Carbon has quite the list of options to fine-tweak your search experience. In fact, the entire hamburger menu and its options are a “carbon” copy of those from Google Chrome. Lastly, the browser also has Carbon stats which display the number of trackers and ads you’ve successfully dodged while using this web browser.
Download: Carbon: Super Fast Browser (Free)
3. Opera Mini
Opera is a name that has become synonymous with speed over the years, and the mini version of the web browser just takes things even closer to light speed. By getting rid of most of the features found in the traditional Opera browser, what’s left of Mini is a bare-bones search tool with a couple of handy features.
Aside from the usual data-saving and ad-blocking tools found in other browsers, Opera Mini allows you to share files with your friends offline. It has a dedicated section for personalized news that adapts to your browsing habits to display relevant stories. You can even hop into the customization settings to tweak how the web browser looks.
Download: Opera Mini (Free)
4. Brave
Lots of users have been ditching Google Chrome for Brave in the recent past thanks to the uprising in the need for privacy-oriented features. With a completely in-house search engine and promised speeds up to three times those of Google Chrome, Brave has amassed a decent number of loyal users around the globe.
Being a privacy-first browser, you can expect the usual set of features such as an ad-blocker, tracker protection, a third-party cookie blocker, and more. Brave also forces every web instance to load with an automatic HTTPS protocol and will warn you before accessing sites that aren’t secure.
The browser also has a built-in VPN that you can use to access geo-blocked content, although you have to pay for it.
Download: Brave (Free, in-app purchases available)
5. Hermit Lite Apps Browser
Hermit takes the entire notion of fast web browsing up a notch by letting you turn any website into an app within seconds, so you don’t have to shell out precious storage on your phone to have several social media apps installed separately.
The app also obviously works as a regular browser and pulls up search results rather quickly. Using Hermit is a great way to break your social media addiction without having to completely go MIA to your online pals. Other advantages of using lite apps inside Hermit include little to no background battery drain, quick switching between profiles, and avoiding fishy trackers.
Hermit Browser also has a one-time premium purchase that unlocks even greater customization when it comes to using the lite apps. All in all, if you’re looking for a modern, simple, and fast way to use your favorite social media apps without the usual downsides, give Hermit a try.
Download: Hermit (Free, in-app purchases available)
6. Firefox Focus
Even though the regular Firefox browser has been deemed as one of the fastest web browsers for Android, Firefox Focus is an even better fit for those looking for a streamlined browsing experience. Firefox Focus does this by blocking most trackers, cookies, and ads, and by treating every browsing session as a private one.
This means there are barely any resources like your browsing history or saved passwords to hog up your browsing experience. It also achieves this by having an incredibly simple user interface with nothing but a search box and a couple of customizable shortcuts waiting for you whenever you open the app. The few cookies and history that it does track can be easily erased with a single tap.
Download: Firefox Focus (Free)
7. Neeva Browser
Neeva is another good pick for those looking for a fast web browser on Android. It surprisingly has a clean user interface without any annoying prompts for in-app purchases whatsoever.
It has your usual ad and tracker-blocking functionality baked right in for an even faster browsing experience. With a single tap, you can view just how many trackers are spooking around a webpage.
Download: Neeva Browser (Free)
Browse Faster and More Efficiently on Android
With web browsing constituting a large part of our online lives, selecting a client that’s fast and reliable is quite crucial. While there are browsers out there that offer dense feature sets like there’s no tomorrow, sometimes all we’re looking for is a fast and simple searching tool.
Since most of the browsers on this list prioritize speed, they actually come built-in with useful tools such as VPNs and tracker-blockers that are generally nice-to-have features anyway. Albeit if it is just bare-bones functionality that you’re looking for, the Play Store, fortunately, has a good chunk of options to choose from.