Absolute Best Free Android Browsers: Opera 5 Mini Beta, Dolphin and xScope

With the launch of Opera 5 Mini Beta, I wanted to highlight a few other outstanding alternatives to the Android Web Browser. From my experience, the stock browser is decent, but lacks a few features. The most notable feature lacking from the standard browser is the multi-touch pinch zooming. The alternatives below are all free and add a few features that are lacking.

Dolphin Browser 2.0 – 4.5 Stars, 19k ratings, >250 downloads

Dolphin Browser supports tabs, provides options to share a webpage (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, SMS, Twitter, etc),  gives you a “Find on page” search option, read later, Subscribe to RSS, compact page and more. Dolphin Browser is the closest to a mobile Firefox you can get. The browser utilizes gestures, syncs with G Bookmarks, downloads YouTube Videos and has the multi-touch pinch zooming. If you don’t like the theme, you can grab some great theme packs (Red Candy, Heat, etc). Note: Dolphin Browser Plus (removes ads and more features to be added in the near future) for $4.99.

Photo via hirdyman.co.uk

xScope Browser Lite 4.60 - 4.5 Stars, 500 ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

xScope Browser is a bit different from the rest. The  top of the browser features options you can scroll through such as refresh, home, history, favorites, search and copy. By clicking the menu button, you get access to downloads, files, tasks, favorites, windowed, clear and settings. A simple click of the “clear” button lets you erase your cache, history, cookies, etc. By clicking “Tasks” you’ll get the list of running apps with the ability to kill any.  You can also download Vimeo or embedded YouTube Videos. The multi-touch pinch zoom option is also built-in to this device. Note:  With the paid version, you get more favorites and  the ability to open files. Grab the full xScope Browser for $2.99.

Opera Mini 5 Beta – 4 Stars, 1k ratings, 10k to 50k downloads

Opera Mini 5 Beta supports tabs, gives you the ability to quickly view bookmarks, history, saved pages, downloads, etc. It’s quick and compresses  up to 90% of data prior to sending it to your phone. You can synchronize data between your phone and computer and one of the nicest features is the window button which provides quick access to all your open pages along with the ability to close a window, open a new window.

What’s your favorite Android Browser? Each of the options above are pretty loaded with features, but definitely vary in appearance, functionality and overall feel. Let me know what you think and be sure to vote below.