15 best Android browsers for surfing whatever website you want

In an age where our lives are increasingly intertwined with the digital realm, browser apps have emerged as important tools for productivity, entertainment, and connectivity. These web-based applications offer a gateway to a world of possibilities, simplifying tasks, streamlining workflows, and enhancing our online experiences. Join us on a journey through the landscape of Android browsers as we explore their functions.

The best Android browsers for surfing the web

Brave Browser

Price: Free /In-app purchases ($9.99 – $149.99 per item)

Brave Browser is one of the newer Android browsers. It came out in 2016 and has a variety of features. There is an ad blocker built-in. Additionally, it can block third-party cookies and block scripts, and it even has HTTPS everywhere. It also boasts optimizations for speed and battery life improvements.

You can even keep track of all the stuff that it blocks. In real-world use, it is highly functional and even occasionally fun to use. It also has most of the basic features, like bookmarks, history, extensions, and a privacy (incognito) mode. The app is entirely free, with no in-app purchases or ads.

Dolphin Browser

Price: Free

Dolphin Browser has seen a lot of success in the world of Android browsers. It has a decent set of features as well. That includes theming, flash support, ad-block, incognito mode, and some tertiary features like gesture controls. There is also add-on and extension support if you need that, along with a native adblocker.

While it may not hold the same level of engagement as it did in the past when locating a quality browser was a challenge, it remains on this list because it still exceeds the criteria necessary for inclusion.

DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser

Price: Free /In-app purchases ($9.99 – $99.99 per item)

DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser is a reasonably good alternative for folks who value privacy, as it’s its main focus. It has a lot of the basic stuff, like forced HTTPS, a private search, and a close button that deletes your browsing data and closes all of your tabs.

Additionally, the app gives each website a privacy grade (on an A-F scale), so you can see exactly how bad any given site is. Of course, it blocks trackers and stuff like that as well. It doesn’t have some super helpful features like password syncing (like Firefox and Chrome), but it’s otherwise a great mobile browser.

Ecosia Browser

Price: Free

Ecosia is an environmentally friendly mobile web browser. It features all of the usual stuff like bookmarks, multiple tabs, a private browsing mode, and downloads. It pulls from Chromium’s open-source project. Thus, it looks and feels a bit like Chrome as well.

The big draw with this browser is the cause. The browser donates up to 80% of its profits to plant trees. That isn’t a browser feature, but it’s definitely worth it. This one is good for those who don’t need to browse the web often but still want something that works well. The tree thing is a bonus. It’s also free.

Firefox Browsers

Price: Free

There are two really good Firefox browsers. The first is the standard Firefox browser, which has been widely respected for many years. It features cross-platform syncing, a rock-solid browsing experience, tracking protection, a built-in password manager, and more. It is Google Chrome’s primary rival, and there’s little difference between the two in terms of features and capabilities.

The second good Firefox option is Firefox Focus, a privacy browser with many security and privacy features. You can find the standard Firefox browser at the button below, or check out Firefox Focus here. They are both excellent Android browsers, and they are also both completely free.

Google Chrome

Price: Free

Of course, we give the obligatory nod to the most popular Android browser. Most Android users will actually have Chrome pre-installed on their Android devices, and it makes sense to opt to just keep using it. It is obviously one of the best browsers around, featuring syncing across devices, along with a simple design, unlimited browsing tabs, deeper integration with Android, and plenty of other features for both basic browsing and power users. Google Chrome almost always has the latest Android features before other browsers as well.

There are four total Chrome browsers. In descending order of stability, you have the regular Google Chrome, Chrome Beta, Chrome Dev, and Chrome Canary. Choose at your own risk, but we’ll obviously recommend that you stick with the stable version.

Kiwi: VPN & Browser

Price: Free / In-app purchases ($0.99-$19.99 per item)

Kiwi’sa standalone browser is no longer around, but it was replaced with something that this a bit different and many of you will love. Kiwi: VPN & Browser does exactly what its name entails. It is a VPN feature that can make your browsing more private. Additionally, it features a light, clean, and simple browser right in the app.

This private browser also comes with integrated ad-blocking functionality, and you get access to a wide variety of VPN servers worldwide. This makes it a good, simple browser for those who value privacy.

Waterfox

Price: Free

Waterfox is a pretty good browser based on the Gecko engine. The user interface of this browser will remind you of the early days of Firefox. The design is minimalistic, which gives the browser a good vibe overall. It also comes with stuff like anti-tracking; by using Oblivious DNS, the browser will ensure that you’re not being spied on. You can launch private tabs. There’s also a container tabs feature that lets you categorize your tabs according to your preferences and even color-code them, which is pretty neat.

This browser also claims to collect minimal data to ensure a rigid policy of no telemetry collection. There’s also stuff like add-ons, customizable settings for history, cookie deletion, and much more.

Microsoft Edge

Price: Free /In-app purchases ($20.00 per item)

Microsoft Edge is a surprisingly decent mobile web browser. It competes favorably with Chrome and Firefox in terms of functionality. You can sync passwords, bookmarks, and history if you want to. Plus, you can continue browsing on the desktop version from the mobile version, and vice versa.

This browser is actually Microsoft’s evolution of Internet Explorer. However, the company switched to a Chromium base, so it works a lot like Chrome with some light user interface changes. In this browser, you use a Microsoft account to sync instead of a Google account.

Opera’s browsers

Price: Free / In-app purchases ($8 – $48 per item)

Opera has a few different Android browsers. The first is their flagship browser, Opera Browser (Google Play). It features cross-device syncing with the desktop version, support for multiple platforms, autofill, and a native adblocker.

Next is Opera Mini (Google Play), a lighter browser with the ability to save up to 90% of your data while using it. It also has an ad blocker, an offline reading mode, and more.

Finally, we have Opera GX (Google Play), a gaming browser that includes a lot of the same features as the others but also includes a gaming news feed and theming, syncing between the desktop and mobile versions, and more. You can go with any of the four browsers, depending on your tastes.

Samsung Internet Browser

Price: Free

Samsung Internet Browser is surprisingly good. It features swipe gestures, plug-ins, a quick menu, and some Material Design elements. Some of the plug-ins even allow for ad-blocking. There are also features for things like Amazon shopping, online shopping in general, and support for 360-degree video.

This is likely the browser many Samsung phone owners see before they make Chrome their default. It works very well, and is optimized tightly with Samsung devices.

Stargon Browser

Price: Free

Stargon Browser is a bit of a wildcard on this list. It has a bunch of features, and it seems to work pretty well in our testing. The features include a gesture control system, custom fonts, a DNS VPN for International folks, a built-in translation service powered by Google Translate, and a video downloader function. There is even a dark mode.

Stargon lacks a lot of the big browser features like bookmark syncing, but it does everything else quite well. Even its secret incognito mode is pretty good. The app is entirely free without ads.

Surfy Browser

Price: Free /In-app purchases ($0.99 per item)

Surfy Browser has a hipster name and not the biggest following. However, it’s a surprisingly decent browser. It features the usual niceties like bookmarks, history, multiple search providers, and more. You also get another layer of power-user features like an ad block, theming, and surprisingly fun toolbar customizations.

The app’s claim to fame is the text-to-speech feature, which reads website pages to you if you want it to. It’s not a bad option if you need something like this.

Tor Browser for Android

Price: Free

While it has a negative reputation, due to deep web stuff, there is a reason why it has been the go-to browser for those purposes. Tor Browser for Android is probably the best browser for privacy. It connects to Tor’s proxy network and hides what you’re doing from your ISP and, basically, everybody else.

It surfs the web fairly well, and it also blocks trackers, defends against surveillance, and includes multi-layer encryption. We do only recommend this for people who are serious about their privacy and power users who understand how this works. It is completely free if you want to use it, but the team accepts donations.

Vivaldi Browser

Price: Free

Vivaldi is a reasonably decent browser with a surprisingly decent number of features. They include cross-platform syncing with the desktop version, a built-in note function, full-length website screenshots, a privacy browser mode, and the ability to change search engines quickly.

The app’s developers are former employees of Opera, so they know a thing or two about browsers. The app is in open beta at the time of this writing, but it should be stable enough for most people. And it even has a built-in arcade feature, so it might be a great option if you like games!

FAQs