Opera Mini review for Windows Phone

Opera is i of the virtually popular browsers on the market, peculiarly in mobile where it adopts the 'Mini' moniker. The reason for its popularity, peculiarly in emerging markets is due to its ability to compress upwards of ninety% of the data between external servers and your telephone. Having a information plan with multiple gigabytes is common in the U.S. as well every bit arable free Wi-fi networks. However, for many markets or people traveling, things are more reserved making every byte really count.

Windows Phone users have express options when information technology comes to browsing due to Microsft'southward constraints. Opera Mini is ane of the few well-known browsers to make it to the Store. Today, it received a overnice update to version 8.1.0.118 and here is our review.

Interface

The interface of Opera Mini is certainly i of the browser's highlights. The first page you see is the and then-called 'Speed Dial' section that displays websites that are frequently frequented. The format should exist very familiar to Windows Phone users with its square Tile pattern. Indeed, users can drag and drib Tiles onto to each other to create folders to group similar sites together. Users can add together or delete whatever sites on the page at any time, making it feel very customized.

Looking at the lower toolbar you can see the Browser Tabs selector and a giant 'O' where users can bring upwardly numerous options. These settings include Bookmarks, Downloads, Share feature, Find on Page and General browser options. Users too get a nifty 'data savings' graph that displays how much data was saved in a graph class every bit well as actual numbers. For case, I only used nine.2 MB from an bodily 70.8 MB resulting in an astounding 87% savings.

Browsing history can be cleared individually or all at one time giving users fine-grained control. There is also individual browsing for when you practise not want to leave any tracks.

Opera browser can open up Zip files directly, and users can download and save images. Subsequently, downloads tin can be revisited using the download managing director. Files are saved to the default areas of the phone, which you can configure in the OS settings.

Another data-savings characteristic is the ability to salve articles and spider web pages for offline viewing. If you lot find a webpage, y'all would similar to read later but tap the 'plus' button most the address bar. This file is and so saved to the Speed Punch page under 'Saved Pages'.

On the Speed Punch page, there is a universal web address and search bar present. Past default, the search engine is Google and unfortunately it cannot be changed to Bing, which is something I would prefer. All the same, you lot tin set the search engine to Amazon, eBay or Wikipedia past tapping the icon in the bar. This alter lets you lot direct search within those sites and is very convenient if you use that function often.

Today'southward update

Version viii.ane.0.118 came today and with it a few performance improvements and bug fixes. Additionally, users besides become:

Wide Tile that is also Alive, flipping to reveal your data savings
Change Background, under Settings
Whorl to top/bottom buttons, which appear whenever you scroll down/up

These are certainly welcomed additions, and the browser does feel and work meliorate than the previous release from June.

Performance

Overall, Opera Mini does what it is supposed to do: relieve massive amounts of data. In terms of raw performance, there is a bit of a lag due to the compression needed from Opera's servers. At that place are likewise occasional visual glitches and empty boxes as a effect of the compressions. Information technology is not a bargain breaker, just obviously you are not getting the prettiest version of that web page due to the data savings.

Another issue is the browser cannot be set as default. So every time y'all click a hyperlink in an e-mail or WhatsApp message, Cyberspace Explorer opens instead. This limitation is no mistake of Opera's as Microsoft simply does not allow other default browsers on Windows Phone.

Users have also left some negative reviews in the Store, more often than not pointing to stability issues. We accept not experienced those, just it is clear others are then your mileage may vary. Today's update is certainly worth checking out to see if things have improved.

Opera Mini is a good choice if you are traveling, data roaming or have a limited data programme. It is not exactly ideal for those with unlimited LTE connections every bit those users should be okay with Net Explorer.

Opera Mini Live Tile

Although functioning in the browser is slower than what I would like, it is not articulate if this is completely Opera's fault. Microsoft's developer tools for Windows Phone 8.i are quite limited in creating quality 3rd-party web browsers tying the easily of Opera'south developers. Will this be better in Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile? Likely but Opera has not withal committed to Windows ten and a universal app, so information technology remains to be seen if they volition attempt a new version. (Currently, Opera Mini is unable to exist found in the Windows 10 Shop, but this appears to be a temporary glitch with Microsoft'due south new format).

For now, those who like Opera'south design and need to save data volition benefit profoundly from Opera Mini, even information technology can be frustrating at times. Options are ever wise, and I'll likely use this browser when I am data roaming when traveling abroad.

Practise yous utilize Opera Mini? What are your favorite features? What would you similar to see Opera do with Window and Windows Phone? Permit us know in comments!

Download Opera Mini for Windows Phone 8.i (Complimentary)