Opera Mini 5 Review
I wrote an article recently talking about how the new Motorola i1 was rumored to have Opera Mini as the default browser and that got me to thinking. If Opera is the biggest mobile browser, then surely I have used it. So why don’t I remember? I read quite a bit on how it is extremely lite, fast, good looking, and very functional. I have never been a big fan of the default Android browser and I don’t like Dolphin either. I was ready to give Opera Mini a go. Right when I heard about the Mini 5 Beta being released for Android, I did just that. Here’s what I found out…
Installation and loading
The first time you install Opera Mini 5 you will notice it takes a second to start. The browser has to install (again?) and then load. After your initial use, the install bar never shows again, but every time after that you will still see that loading bar. It slightly annoyed me at first until I used the default browser again. The default browser takes forever to load and when it finally does, it loads Google. When Opera loads, it goes to a start page that I find more useful than any search engine could ever dream to be.
![SGP Neo Hybrid for Galaxy Nexus [Video]](http://www.droiddog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/DD.png "SGP Neo Hybrid for Galaxy Nexus [Video]")
Ugh….couldn't clear icons for pages I didn't want. Not discernibly faster for me. Default browser will do for now.
Are you talking about the tiles on the start page? Did you try to long press and then clear?
is not beta anymore!!!!!!!!!
is not beta anymore!!!!!!!!!
I'd be interested in how well it handles complex Javascript and what it does with secure sites. The problem with Opera Mini is that it is a client for a custom server, not really a web browser. The server loads the HTML pages and then converts the resulting HTML & Javascript to a custom format that is then sent to your phone. This has a lot of drawbacks.
The worst one is that any secure site is going to be loaded by Opera's server and then retransmitted to you. If this was an attack it would be called a “man in the middle” attack. It isn't clear to me that Opera Mini is as secure as a real browser that supports SSL. I would hesitate to use Opera Mini for any secure sites like purchases or banking.
The other drawback is that Javascript is going to be very limited. With Ajax and other complex Javascript technologies taking over the web, having wonky Javascript might be pretty frustrating. I would love to know how well it works for sites like Netflix's queue which has extensive Javascript for drag and drop.
Opera Mini is about speed … speed and speed … super fast browsing.
It is very nice and the best if you just want to browse something on the web.
Once you get used to it, you will never consider any platform without it.
hey i have a nokia e63….i set opera as my default browser. love it it crisp fast i set to mobile so allmy pages email load great!! love it love the tiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey i have a nokia e63….i set opera as my default browser. love it it crisp fast i set to mobile so allmy pages email load great!! love it love the tiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey i have a nokia e63….i set opera as my default browser. love it it crisp fast i set to mobile so allmy pages email load great!! love it love the tiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you talking about the tiles on the start page? Did you try to long press and then clear?