5 great browsers to replace your phone’s stock browser

When it comes to smartphones, many people have their preferred selection of apps that they download when first setting up a new phone. But one thing that people tend to ignore is their browser.

To most consumers, a web browser is just a utility that you need only on certain occasions, and there isn’t much use in taking up storage space with an additional browser. To some users however, a browser is their gateway to the internet, and the stock browser that comes preinstalled just doesn’t cut it. Below we’ve listed some snazzy alternatives to stock browsers, all of which were born and raised in Asia.

1. Dolphin Browser

Dolphin browser is one of the most known browsers to come out of Asia. It prides itself on the extra features it adds to the browsing experience such as gesture control, which basically lets you draw on the screen to go to a website (for example, draw a “G” to go to google.com). Other features include an array of browser add-ons; and “Sonar,” which allows you to search the internet with just your voice, not unlike Google’s voice search.

Dolphin was also one of the first browsers to introduce tabbed browsing. In my hours of testing Dolphin, it performs on par with mainstream browsers like Firefox and Opera and even outperforms Chrome in some ways. If watching web video is a huge part of your day, Dolphin is most certainly the best option for you as its rendering engine is miles ahead of the competition. It manages to playback HD video quicker and at a higher bitrate than any other browser.

Dolphin has over 50 million users in 208 different countries.

Dolphin is available on Android and iOS.

2. UC Browser

Sometimes, a simple browser is not enough for some users. That’s where UC comes in. At first glance UC seems like just any other browser, but take a deeper look and it starts to feel like an operating system of its own.

With its own library of apps, widgets and even tiled homescreens for your apps and widgets, UC is for those who want their browser to be the central hub for all their mobile activities. Performance on UC is decent but rendering images and large websites does cause it to stutter and choke, and if you use it regularly you’ll get accustomed to the occasional force quit.

UC Browser has over 400 million users worldwide.

3. One Browser

4. Baidu Browser

5. Next Browser