Basically, entry-levels have low performing hardware under the hood. Mid-range and high-end, on the other hand, can do more and are slight to more drastically expensive.
7 Best Lightweight Browser Apps for Android
As a quick list, the 7 best lightweight browser apps for Android are:
Entry-Level Devices and Lightweight Apps
Some of the most common issues that consumers suffer when having an entry-level smartphone or tablet as their daily driver are either low memory (RAM) or low storage space and sometimes both. Affected individuals tend to do either of the following to give their phone some space to breathe on, stop it from lagging, and from becoming frustratingly slow:
Transfer files to a computerDelete files and appsFactory resetInstall an External Storage (MicroSD Card)and when all things fail, Root their Android phone to delete bloatware.
Developers and manufacturers are aware of this issue over the years and are strongly finding ways to address this without compromising the cost. Google even rolled out a LITE version of Android that’s specifically developed and designed for entry-level smartphone and it’s called “Android GO” as their way to provide better Android experience for entry-level phones. 3rd party developers have also offered lightweight or lite version of their apps to enhance the Android experience for entry-level phones. Apps like “Firefox Lite“ or “Mint Browser Lite” are some examples of lightweight apps available. So, if you’re suffering from any of the issues that we mentioned above and don’t want to delete some apps that you use, how about looking for a lighter version of those apps? That’s usually the most common way to fix those issues without losing any data or apps. For lightweight browser apps, we listed down 7 of the best lightweight browser apps for Android that you can download from the Google Play store.
1. Via Browser
With more than 1 million downloads, the “Via Browser” is the simplest, lightest, and the most basic browser in this list. On our phone, it only has a 509KB download size on the Google Play store which is by far the smallest browser app. The Via Browser app is a quiet browser that won’t push any notification on your phone. Its simple yet effective design is one of its key features. It also has a built-in ad blocker, customizable gestures, QR code scanner add-on, night mode, incognito, and various useful tools such as translator, find in page, and more! It is also customizable and it lets you design your own homepage.
Via Browser App Size
And of course, the “Via Browser” has less than 1MB download size and upon installation, it only consumes less than 2MB of space.
2. XBrowser
The next browser app on our list is the “XBrowser” app. With over 1 million downloads, the “XBrowser” app is probably the second most lightweight browser app for Android. The key feature of the “XBrowser” app is its simplistic design and responsiveness. It also features a built-in ad blocker, a customizable quick website navigation button on the homepage, night mode, incognito, GoodForEve, enables or disable JavaScript, translation, gestures, and many more! The “XBrowser” app also lets you change the directory of download if that’s what you want and it also lets you access the files inside your SD Card. Another great feature of this app is the ability to change its UA to either iPhone, iPad, Desktop, and Android Phone.
XBrowser App Size
On our phone, it only has a download size of 809KB and consumes about 2.9MB of space after installation.
3. Monument Browser
Last but not least in our best lightweight browser app for Android is the “Monument Browser.” This app is not as popular as the first 2 apps but it gave us a smooth experience that’s worth recommending. The “Monument Browser” app surprisingly comes with a ton of features despite having a small file size. This app specializes in blocking ads, privacy browsing, and it comes with a unique feature called “Floating Window.” This allows you to open multiple windows within the browser as a popup to perform various tasks simultaneously. In terms of feature, this app offers night mode, read mode, flyout clear, gesture, changeable theme, block trace feature, private mode, and many more! The “Monument Browser” app is also available in the Premium version that comes with more features available for USD$3.
Monument Browser App Size
The “Monument Browser” has a download size of 1.1MB on our phone and consumes 3MB of space after installation. Most, if not all, Android phones and tablet already has a built-in internet browser app. However, it is not the same for all. So, we picked 4 of the most popular browsing app for Android with available LITE versions and listed them here. Without further ado…
1. Firefox LITE (Formerly Known as Firefox Rocket)
One of the most popular browsing app in PC and Android platform is Firefox. Firefox is well known for its “Quantum” technology that incorporates parallelism to the browser and a more intuitive user interface. Fortunately, Firefox is also available for Android and if you want the LITE version, you can download it on the Google Play store. As its name suggests, Firefox Lite is designed with data-saving features. The browser lets you block images from the websites, use “Turbo mode” to block ads, screenshot to read offline, and private mode to instantly delete data once you exited.
Firefox LITE App Size
On our phone, the download size of this app is around 3.2MB and consumes 10.22MB after installation.
2. UC Browser Mini
Next in our list is the Alibaba backed browser app, the “UC Browser Mini” app.
With over a 100 million download, the “UC Browser Mini” app is probably the most popular and the most downloaded LITE version browser app for Android on the Google Play store.
The “UC Browser Mini” is a small size, fast, and simple browser with functionalities such as Data Saving, Ad-Block, and more!
In terms of functionality, this app basically has all the features of the that you can find on the main “UC Browser” app. The only difference is that this app has a smaller download size and it is designed to compresses data, speeds up navigation and save cellular data traffic.
UC Browser Mini App Size
On our phone, the “UC Browser Mini” has a download size of 8MB and consumes about 30MB of space after installation.
3. Opera Mini
Another LITE version of a popular Android browsing app is the “Opera Mini.” With over 100 million downloads, the “Opera Mini” app sets itself on par with the “UC Browser Mini” app. The “Opera Mini” was primarily designed for the Java ME platform as a low-end version of Opera Browser. The key feature of the “Opera Mini” is that it requests web pages through Opera Software’s compression proxy server. Because of this, the transfer speed is increased by 2 to 3 times as a result. “Opera Mini,” basically, works like Opera Browser. The only difference is that the mini version is more designed to save data through proxy server compression and work smoothly on low-end devices.
Opera Mini App Size
The “Opera Mini” has a download size of 8.8MB on the Google Play store and consumes about 27MB of space after installation.
4. Google GO
Last but not least in our LITE version list of popular Android browser apps is the “Google GO” app. The “Google GO” browser app is the lightest browser of Google. However, it is no near or not in any form resembles Google Chrome. Basically, the “Google GO” app is a smaller and data saving version app of the “Google” app. It currently has over 50 million downloads as of this writing. The “Google GO” app is basically a lighter and faster way to search Google with search results optimized to save up to 40% data. Furthermore, the experience is similar when using the original Google app. The only difference is that the “GO” version is more minimal and doesn’t feature any card.
Google GO App Size
The download size of the “Google GO” app is about 5MB and it consumes about 17MB after installation. Are you by chance looking for a smartphone that runs smoothly on Android GO? Then check out Alcatel 1X Android GO Edition.
Alcatel 1x Android GO – $90
The Alcatel 1X features a pure Android OREO GO Edition. It also comes with a built-in fingerprint sensor, 2460 mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 5.3″ display and an 8MP/5MP back/front camera. It also supports 4G LTE connection for faster seamless data transmission.
Final Thoughts…
Ultimately, if you have an Android phone that’s low in RAM and internal storage, any of these apps would definitely be beneficial to your daily browsing needs. If you want the one that saves data the most then we highly recommend “Via Browser.” Otherwise, for the best experience without compromising data savings, we highly recommend “Google GO.” If you’re someone who just happens to stumble upon this article, feel free to let us know what you have in mind. Do you have comments, suggestions, reactions? Have you tried some of these apps? Should we add more? Let us know what you think in the comment section below! Featured Image
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