Opera Mini browser updated with improved data compression

Opera Mini offers some major data savings with its browser compression techniques, but it has often been criticized for going too far and sometimes completely destroying website layouts in the name of saving seemingly small amounts of data. The latest update for Opera Mini aims to address this problem with a new “high” compression setting.

While that might still sound strong, the old compression option has been bumped up to the title of “Extreme”, so the new setting is toned down quite a bit. Importantly, images sizes and layouts are more regularly maintained under this new option and you will even find that video playback is enabled. Opera says that the setting offers a “full web experience”, and the only customization option is an image quality setting.

As a result, the data savings are smaller, although the tweaks should still be enough to see you through a poor connection or help to stretch those last megabytes when your data plans begins to run dry at the end of the month. The Extreme mode is still there if you really want to cut down on data usage.

The latest Opera Mini update also includes a new full screen tab gallery, the fixing of bookmarks and saved page entries above the speed dial, and changes that now list saves pages in a full screen list with both the title and URL. There are also improvements to the download system, as well as various stability and usability improvements.

If you want to try out the improved compression feature, you can grab Opera Mini from the Google Play Store for free.