Best 5 free web browsers for Mobile Phones or Smartphones

Here is a list of 5 best free web browsers for your mobile phone or smartphone. Each of these browsers have their own strengths and shortcomings. It depends on your requirements which mobile web browser will be suitable for you.Read on to find which one is best for you.

These are alternative mobile web browsers which you can download and install in addition to your smartphone’s native web browser.

 

Pros: Compressed downloads for fast browsing, Zoom-in,Runs on a wide range of mobile phone devices.

Cons: No Adobe Flash support, Full rendering of webpage depends on Opera server.

Operating System: Java phones, Windows Mobile, Android, S60, Blackberry, iPhone

Select Opera mini 5.1 and click view download link to see the actual file to be downloaded.It is available in both JAR and JAD formats.In most cases JAR is recommended. Otherwise just point your mobile native browser to http://m.opera.com to detect correct version for your Mobile phone and download it to your phone.

Editor’s Note: Good for all kind of general mobile web browsing needs.However it may be a memory hog for your phone especially if your mobile has low internal memory.

Pros: HTML5 support, Enhanced video rendering including flash, Renders complete web pages and not a page simplified for mobile device.A lighter version BoltLite is available for low memory phones.

Cons: No Adobe Flash support but streams videos in FLV format, Full rendering of webpage can be an issue for low end phones.Also THere may be some issues with touchphones as the browser is not fully optimized for a touchscreen phone.

Supported devices: All Java based Phones

Operating System: Java phones, Blackberry, Selected Windows Mobile 6 devices

http://boltbrowser.com/bolt.jad

Editor’s Note: It streams videos well and is a good alternative for your default mobile web browser.Page rendering is not as smooth as in Opera 5.1 but full page rendering helps in some cases like playing online games.

Pros:Ajax and HTML5 support, Enhanced video rendering including flash.Fast Surfing. Geared for Social Networking.Well optimized for touch phones.

Cons: Heavy on phone processor so not recommended for low memory phones, Latest version is Not free.

Supported devices: Windows Mobile, Symbian devices, Apple iPhone and Android phones

Operating System:Windows Mobile, Symbian, iOS or iPhone and Android

Editor’s Note: It is truly optimized for touchphones so works well on both android devices and iPhone.But limited device support is an issue.Skyfire 1.5 is still available for Windows and Symbian Phones for free but it will be phased out in favor of Skyfire 2.0 by the end of this year.Skyfire team is working to bring Skyfire to Windows and Symbian Phones but till then users of these devices will have to wait.

Pros:Clean and compact browser.Advanced compression technology with up to 80% data costs reduction meaning cheaper net surfing.Save and share web pages and images by Bluetooth or SMS.

Cons: No Flash Support and No streaming videos.Minimalist browser.Confusing Navigation.

Supported devices: Java phones, Windows mobile devices,Symbian and selected Android devices

Operating System: Symbian, Java, Windows Mobile, iPhone,Android

Editor’s Note: Alternative Mobile browser for Low end Java phones as it is light on CPU usage and consumes low bandwidth as well.Overall a good browser for basic surfing needs on basic smartphones.

Opera mobile is a Full Internet browser for high end phones as it requires strong hardware support to run.It is like Opera Browser for desktop To quote from Opera’s Website:

“Opera Mobile is a full Internet browser for mobile devices. The full web-rendering engine – Opera Presto – is run on the phone using the phones’ hardware to download and display webpages.”

Pros:Full featured fast browsing, Zoom-in,Adobe Flash support on Windows Mobiles.

Cons:None!! It is the best you can get so no complaints.

Supported devices: List of mobile phones supporting Opera mobile 10

Operating System: Java phones, S60, Windows Mobile, Android, Maemo

Select Opera Mobile version suitable for your device and click view download link to see the actual file to be downloaded.It is available in both JAR and JAD formats.In most cases JAR is recommended.Otherwise just point your mobile native browser to http://m.opera.com to detect correct version for your Mobile phone and download it to your phone.

Editor’s Note: Fast and feature rich Mobile web browsing with fully rendered web pages.The only downside is that it may choke low hardware phones. Especially it is great for touch phones.

Do you use any other free or commercial mobile web browser that you think should find a mention here? Please share it in comments.