5 browsers you should use instead of Chrome
Google Chrome dominates the browser market, holding an almost 70% market share globally, according to StatCounter. This widespread adoption is often attributed to its pre-installation on nearly every Android phone, leading to an effortless default for many users. Being a Google product also lends it a certain level of perceived trust – for better or worse.
However, Chrome isn't without its critics or its flaws. I'm not the biggest fan of the browser, as I think it lacks a lot of great features offered by its rival.
For users seeking enhanced privacy, greater personalization, or cutting-edge AI integration, several alternatives offer a compelling departure from the Google default. If you're ready to explore what else is out there, this list of Google Chrome alternatives has you covered.
Which of the following is the best Chrome alternative in your opinion?
0 votes
Samsung Internet
NaN %
Brave
NaN %
Firefox
NaN %
Vivaldi
NaN %
Opera
NaN %
Other (let me know in the comments)
NaN %
1. Samsung Internet: Not just for Samsung phones
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
Despite popular belief, Samsung Internet isn't exclusive to Samsung devices. This robust browser is readily available on the Google Play Store and can be downloaded onto virtually any Android smartphone. I personally used it for years and became quite fond of it for several reasons.
One of its standout features is the bottom-positioned toolbar, a user-friendly design choice that contrasts with Chrome's traditional top placement. However, it's worth noting that Chrome has recently begun to implement a similar bottom toolbar feature, which you can learn more about here.
Samsung Internet's toolbar is also far more customizable. Users can select from approximately 25 different buttons to add, including quick access to Downloads, History, Bookmarks, and many other useful functions. The ability to open Incognito mode with a single tap further streamlines the browsing experience. Samsung's browser truly boasts a thoughtful and well-designed interface, making it one of the top Chrome alternatives available.
2. Brave: Privacy by default
Megan Ellis / Android Authority
What sets Brave apart is its unwavering commitment to privacy and security. The browser proactively blocks intrusive elements like advertising networks and trackers that commonly monitor and identify users on most other browsers. Crucially, this enhanced privacy isn't something you need to configure; it's activated by default, out of the box.
The company claims Brave is faster than Chrome.
Beyond its privacy advantages, Brave also claims significant speed improvements over its competition. According to the company's internal testing, Brave can load specific websites up to six times faster than Chrome, Safari, and other mainstream browsers, providing a noticeably snappier experience.
Like its rivals, Brave offers an incognito mode for an even more private browsing session. However, Brave elevates this by integrating Tor connectivity. This provides several additional benefits, most notably masking your IP address from the websites you visit, adding an extra layer of anonymity.
3. Mozilla Firefox: Open source and independent
Andy Walker / Android Authority
Firefox is a fantastic browser that I've used extensively, and it continues to be a favorite among many. A significant draw for users is the fact that the company behind it is a non-profit organization, proudly stating it's 'still not owned by any billionaires.' Its core philosophy centers on speed, extensive customizability, and user privacy.
Similar to Brave, Firefox features built-in ad-tracking protection by default, eliminating the need to delve into settings to enhance your privacy. The browser offers a vast array of customization options, allowing you to tailor its appearance and functionality to your exact preferences. It also includes a convenient built-in Reading Mode, perfect for decluttering web pages when you're focusing on news articles or lengthy reads.
A key differentiator for Firefox is its rendering engine. Unlike Chrome and the majority of other browsers that rely on the Chromium open-source project, Firefox is built on its own rendering engine, Gecko. This is a crucial distinction as it promotes web diversity, preventing a single company (Google, in this case) from holding too much control over web standards and how content is displayed.
4. Vivaldi: Customization for power users
Mitja Rutnik / Android Authority
Vivaldi stands out as another privacy-focused browser that grants users an exceptional degree of control. During the initial setup process, you can precisely customize what you allow and disallow from being tracked. Its home page features a highly customizable speed dial, providing quick access to your favorite websites, and you can even change the background to personalize your overall experience.
Vivaldi incorporates desktop-style tabs at the top of the interface.
Based on Chromium, Vivaldi offers a fast browsing experience and uniquely incorporates desktop-style tabs at the top of the interface. While this might create a slightly more cluttered appearance compared to some minimalist rivals, it makes switching between tabs far more intuitive and efficient for many users.
Beyond tab management, Vivaldi offers numerous other customization options that I particularly appreciate, including the ability to add a variety of shortcuts for easy access. For instance, I find the translation shortcut in the toolbar incredibly useful, allowing me to translate an entire page to my native language with just a single tap.
5. Opera: AI integration, VPN, and more
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
I used Opera for a considerable period before eventually exploring other options on this list. There's genuinely a lot to love about it: it's fast, highly customizable, and now even features an integrated AI chatbot named Aria, powered by ChatGPT. This is a fantastic addition for quickly conducting basic research or asking specific questions directly within the browser, eliminating the need to open a separate AI chatbot.
Opera also comes equipped with a built-in VPN and an integrated ad blocker, offering enhanced privacy and a cleaner browsing experience right out of the box. Additional features like 'Data Saver' (great for those on limited data plans) and 'Night Mode' (for improved reading in low light) further enhance its utility.
Being based on Chromium, Opera benefits from compatibility with all Chrome extensions, making the transition from Chrome remarkably seamless for users accustomed to a wide array of browser add-ons. However, it's important to note that Opera was acquired by a Chinese consortium in 2016. This ownership may be a point of consideration for some users due to general privacy concerns sometimes associated with products and services tied to Chinese companies.
These five browsers represent excellent starting points if you're looking to move away from Google Chrome, but the browser ecosystem is rich with other compelling options worth exploring. Among these are emerging AI-powered browsers like Dia and Comet, though neither is currently widely available on Android.
Did I miss any major alternatives that you swear by? Let me know in the comments below.
Follow
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
29 minutes ago
- New York Post
Meta's $250M whiz kid's last AI product ‘sucks at Google Chrome, flopped with Numbers': users
Meta's newest whiz kid has bagged himself a mighty $250 million pay packet, but users of the 24-year-old researcher's last AI offering have labelled it 'clunky' and complained it 'sucks at Google Chrome.' Matt Deitke's last tech tool, Vy is said to handle repetitive tasks 'with high accuracy' and without interrupting users while they browse. The product learns by observing user behavior and executes commands directly on the user's computer. 3 Meta's newest whiz kid, Matt Deitke, bagged himself a mighty $250 million pay packet, but some users of the 24-year-old researcher's last tech product called Vy have complained about its functionality. X / @Scobleizer But some Vy users like Julian Goldie, a search engine optimization expert, said its performance varies depending on the application and others claim the agent's performance hasn't lived up to the buzz 'It sucks at Google Chrome, flopped with Numbers, but it's magic with ChatGPT, Pages and Descript,' Goldie posted on X. Goldie likened Vy to Apple's iPhone during its early development. 'It's like the early iPhone moment for AI agents,' he wrote. He also acknowledged Vy's potential for managing workflow. 'It's like having an intern — except it doesn't ghost you, doesn't get tired and knows how to use your apps better than you do.' Deitke, who ditched his computer science doctoral program at the University of Washington to join Meta, recently turned his nose up at CEO Zuckerberg's 'low-ball' offer of around $125 million over four years, according to the New York Times. 3 Vy is able to observe the user's behavior and repeat commands on one's computer, with great accuracy. But when the Facebook founder had a meeting with him and doubled the offer, he accepted what could be one of the largest pay packets in corporate history, the Times said. Zuckerberg's protegee appears to have jumped ship from his startup, Vercept, which he founded with friends in November. Vercept raised $16 million in funding from venture capital and tech investors to push out Vy, but some users say they're struggling to find practical uses for the tool. One Reddit user, @u/fontainegal66 complained it was clunky. 'Been using it this past week, I've tried a bunch of stuff, some tasks it handles well, others still feel a bit clunky.' 3 One Vy user, Julian Goldie, took to X and said, 'It sucks at Google Chrome, flopped with Numbers, but it's magic with ChatGPT, Pages and Descript.' X / @mattdeitke 'I tried organizing a folder. It takes a lot of time. Takes screenshots, understands and then slowly does it. Maybe jobs like manual scraping it might do. I need to try,' user Glittering-AD-8200 wrote on Reddit. 'I'm really struggling to find a way to make it useful. It's technically impressive, but I … don't know how to get it doing useful things,' user @TonyTrewinnard also posted on X. Some users also noted technical glitches on Vercept's website, including issues signing up for the Vy waitlist. 'Your site won't let us join the waitlist. It keeps saying Mac only. Why does it think I don't have a Mac? You shouldn't make it so hard to follow you,' the @TechGuys account replied to an X video introducing Vy in May. Deitke, who until recently was offering Vy for free, acknowledged before now that the company was still in its early stages. 'We're still very new and very young,' Deitke said in a recent interview with tech blogger Robert Scoble. 'Making it an amazing experience is our number one priority right now.' Deitke did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Zuckerberg told investors on the company's Wednesday earnings call Meta is 'building an elite, talent-dense team. 'If you're going to be spending hundreds of billions of dollars on compute and building out multiple gigawatt of clusters, then it really does make sense to compete super hard and do whatever it takes to get that, you know, 50 or 70 or whatever it is, top researchers to build your team,' he said. 'There's just an absolute premium for the best and most talented people.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
If You'd Invested $1,000 in Solana 5 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today
Key Points Solana runs on a proof-of-stake network that is one of the fastest in the crypto world. The network is already processing thousands of transactions per second. The technical strength of the network has made it a home run for investors. 10 stocks we like better than Solana › Only launched about 5.5 years ago, Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) is now the sixth-largest cryptocurrency in the world with a market cap of over $96 billion as of July 30. Many investors see immense potential in Solana's network. It's one of the few cryptocurrencies to operate on a proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism to govern the network. After realizing how energy-intensive the traditional crypto-mining, proof-of-work (PoW) system had become on Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, several crypto networks transitioned to PoS. Instead of using high computing power to solve a puzzle like with PoW, PoS has investors stake their tokens to the network, and then assigns them at random to validate transactions and mint new tokens. The more tokens one stakes, the higher the chance they have of being selected and also earning rewards. Even more unique, Solana's network also has a proof-of-history mechanism that essentially creates a sequential record of transactions, enabling even faster transactions on the network. As a result, Solana's network can process thousands of transactions per second (TPS), but it has the theoretical potential to process up to 65,000 TPS, if not more. This gives Solana and its network immense potential to disrupt the global payments system. Investors have done well While volatile like most cryptocurrencies, Solana has been a huge winner for investors that bought the token five years ago. The technical strength of its network has made Solana one of the few altcoins that investors see a strong use case for. Roughly five years ago, Solana traded for just $1.73. Today, it trades for over $179. That's a gain of roughly 10,264%. So, if you invested $1,000 in Solana five years ago, you now have $103,636! That's simply incredible. Investors aren't likely to find too many investments like that in their lifetime. Should you invest $1,000 in Solana right now? Before you buy stock in Solana, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Solana wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025 Bram Berkowitz has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. If You'd Invested $1,000 in Solana 5 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
Digital Trends
2 hours ago
- Digital Trends
The TCL D2 Pro lets you open your doors like Tony Starks Iron Man
The TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock is a new smart home lock that allows you to unlock your door simply by holding your hand up, drawing comparisons to Marvels Iron Man's iconic repulsor blast pose. It uses AI-driven palm vein recognition technology, with TCL boasting 99.9999% accuracy and a 0.3-second unlock time, making it fast, reliable, and unaffected by moisture, dirt, or simply forgetting your door code. Unlike fingerprint or facial recognition, this biometric system scans the unique vein patterns in your palm, offering a hygienic, touchless entry method. Key features include: Multiple Unlocking Methods : Besides palm vein recognition, you can unlock the door using a keypad, key fob, physical key, the TCL Home Security App, or voice commands via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. : Besides palm vein recognition, you can unlock the door using a keypad, key fob, physical key, the TCL Home Security App, or voice commands via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Local Data Storage : All biometric data and access logs are stored on the device, enhancing privacy by avoiding cloud-based risks. : All biometric data and access logs are stored on the device, enhancing privacy by avoiding cloud-based risks. Long Battery Life : Powered by a 10,000mAh rechargeable battery, it lasts up to 10 months (or 240 days in some reports) and includes a USB-C port for emergency charging. : Powered by a 10,000mAh rechargeable battery, it lasts up to 10 months (or 240 days in some reports) and includes a USB-C port for emergency charging. Smart Home Integration : Supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi for remote access, real-time notifications, and user management through the app, with features like temporary access codes and activity logs. : Supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi for remote access, real-time notifications, and user management through the app, with features like temporary access codes and activity logs. Durability : IP55 waterproof and dustproof, it operates in extreme temperatures (-25°C to 70°C), ensuring reliability in harsh weather. : IP55 waterproof and dustproof, it operates in extreme temperatures (-25°C to 70°C), ensuring reliability in harsh weather. Built-in Doorbell: Adds convenience for visitors. The D2 Pro is part of TCL's D2 Series, which also includes the D2 Plus (fingerprint-based, $119.99, powered by AA batteries for up to 8 months) and the base D2 model (keypad-only, $79.99). The D2 Pro retails for $169.99 but has been discounted to $135.99 during promotions like Amazon Prime Day with additional codes. It builds on the success of the D1 Pro, which earned Best of CES honors and topped Amazon's smart lock sales for models over $150. Digital Trends has not reviewed the TCL D2 Pro yet but make sure to check out our Best Smart Locks of 2025.
