Chrome on Android can be a bit much. It's undeniably a heavy browser, with not that many features to boot. There's no built-in reading mode, no ad-blocker, no tab management, no VPN, nothing. Chrome isn't even that customizable.
If you want more from your Android browser, you're not wrong. If you're willing to switch to a third-party browser, you can get a browser that's faster than Chrome, uses less resources, provides all those features I just talked about, and more.
There are many options to choose from, but here are my top 5 picks for Chrome alternatives, depending on what kind of user you are.
Vivaldi: Best for large screen devices
Vivaldi is a fast and stable browser with desktop-style tabs that are perfect for those with large phones. With this app, you get a scrolling tab bar featuring full titles, right in the tab bar. No need to tap a button to switch to different tabs or manage them.
Instead, you'll find a horizontally scrolling list of tabs. Though, you can turn it off as well, if you wish. And like most Android browsers, you can choose to keep the tab bar at the top, or the bottom of the screen. Vivaldi also supports this tab layout on larger screens, so if you're using an Android tablet, or a foldable, this might be the right browser for you.
Vivaldi's Android browser syncs with the desktop counterpart, and like the desktop app, it offers ad-blocking and tracker-blocking options by default. You also get speed dial, search engine shortcuts, reading list and themes.
Other than that Vivaldi is quite light, and the interface is also easy to use. There is no AI agent here, no free VPN, no news feed that you need to disable.
Firefox: Best for adding functionality
Firefox is the only browser on this list that supports extensions. This instantly makes Firefox the best pick with it comes to customization.
The Firefox app for Android is quite capable by itself. It's fast, simple, and the easy to use. Using Firefox Sync you can access all your Firefox tabs (or any other Firefox-based browser) on your Android smartphone. The same goes for passwords too.
Firefox also features Collections, which is their own feature for manually grouping tabs in the tab switcher. The tab bar supports a nice gesture, where you can swipe left or right to switch between the recently used tabs (like how you swipe between apps using the Home bar).
But, as I mentioned, the main feature, are the Extensions. The Dark Reader extension will enable dark mode for any website, uBlock Origin will bring a fast and efficient ad blocker to Firefox, Bitwarden's extension brings in autofill passwords, and more. There are extensions for tracking prices online, downloading videos from YouTube, and more.
Though, you don't need to worry with most of them. Just adding a couple of extensions like uBlock Origin and Dark Reader will improve your browsing experience by a noticeable margin.
Brave: Best for privacy
Brave is known for its privacy and security, and the Android browser is no different. Brave is faster compared to Chrome, and blocks ads and trackers by default, there's no need to enable a setting for it, or to set things up. By default, Brave uses its own Brave search engine, which is also private by default, and uses its own custom search engine instead of using third-party data.
Brave offers a lot of extra features, but they are all disabled by default. You can enable a private news feed if you want. And while Brave as its own AI bot Leo and its own paid VPN, but are tucked away in the menu, easy to ignore.
There's an experimental Night mode that will automatically invert the colors on all website, giving them a dark background, and light text. Brave also features group tabs for easier tab management.
Via: Best for older devices
Via is a minimalist and light browser, designed to run well on any Android device. The browser weighs just 1.5 MB, making it idea of devices with limited storage. It also works well on devices with limited amount of RAM.
Via is a barebones browser. It opens to a minimal start page, and there are no news feeds or shortcuts. It does have a really simple tab management feature, and the tab bar can be found at the bottom of the screen.
The app has built-in ad blocking, and there's an option to edit and customize the ad blocking filters as well. There is a reader mode, and even a night mode that inverts the colors on all websites.
Overall, if you're tired of the bloatware from Chrome, or if you have an older device where Chrome just drags on way too much, Via is the browser you should be looking into.
Opera: Best for managing tab overload
Opera browser for Android is all about features. There's a built-in reader mode, an ad-blocker that's enabled by default, a free VPN service, a customizable address bar that you can dock to the bottom of the screen.
Opera puts its Arai AI front and center, reserving a slot in the toolbar. But you can edit it out easily.
Just like Vivaldi, there's an option to enable desktop style tabs, that you can swipe through. And tabs is what Opera really specializes in. There's support for tab islands, where Opera automatically groups and color codes multiple web pages from the same site. When you go into the tab switcher, you'll find three different layout options: Carousel, Grid, and List. The Carousel option lets you quickly scroll between open tab groups and tabs. You are free to drag and drop tabs between the groups to rearrange them.
If you use Opera on the desktop, the tabs from your computer can show up on Android, and you can use the Flow feature to share links, files and notes between all your devices.
