Currently, many browsers are available that can be launched on our desktops and phones. But, a few got the recognition of being a quality browser with improved performance and better security. Opera and its smaller version opera mini are two such browsers on which we can comfortably depend. But, both of them are a bit different in terms of advantages offered to the users.
Opera vs Opera Mini
The main difference between Opera and Opera Mini is that Opera is a web browser, which we can use on desktops (Windows, Linux, Mac) and mobile phones. On the other hand, opera mini is designed to be used on mobile phones (android, windows, iOS) only.
Opera browser comes with all the advanced features and better security to offer better search results to the users. Opera is a widely used browser in some countries with good network availability. Moreover, Opera offers quick search results to the user while consuming minimum data.
Opera mini is a web browser designed for better compatibility with mobile phones. The opera mini allows users in countries with weaker network connectivity to browse the internet smoothly. Moreover, the application consumes less space on mobile phones; hence, a convenient app to install for browsing.
Comparison Table Between Opera and Opera mini
| Parameters of Comparison | Opera | Opera mini |
| Compatibility | Opera is compatible with both desktop and mobile phones. | Users can install Opera Mini on mobile phones only. |
| Compression for performance | Opera browser compresses web pages depending on network connectivity. | Opera Mini compresses web pages by default for enhanced performance. |
| Network Requirements | Opera requires better network connectivity to browse smoothly. | Opera mini works fine in lower network areas. |
| App Menu Pop Up | Opera browser’s app menu opens horizontally. | Opera mini browser’s app menu pops up vertically and covers most of the mobile screen. |
| Security | Opera offers better security and privacy while browsing. | Opera mini is safe but with lesser security features. |
What is Opera?
Opera is one of the most reliable web browsers, actively offering its services since 1995. Within 26 years, Opera has improved a lot to offer the best browsing facilities to their users. The application has added additional features and enrolled some advanced technology to make the browsing experience faster and safer.
Opera browser is popular with over 350+ million active users. The high preference for the application is because of the better performance it offers to the users. Moreover, some built-in features like free VPN make Opera an automatic choice over the system browsers.
The inclusion of an in-built ad blocker in the application has enhanced the browsing speed. With ad-blocking enabled, the opera browser opens a web page 90% faster than any other browser. Moreover, users can save data and browse privately without interruption with the ad-block feature.
The integration of messengers like Facebook, WhatsApp, etc., on the homepage of opera allows users to chat while browsing. Users can use the social media messengers from the opera sidebar for easy chatting. Moreover, the browser will enable you to pin important chats to make things easier. Hence, the Opera browser is a one-stop solution to several online activities.
What is Opera Mini?
Opera mini browser is a great browsing application for mobile phones. The application was initially developed and launched by Opera as a mobile web browser in 2005. The application has helped mobile users stay at low connectivity areas to browse fast and smoothly.
To date, the Opera Mini browser has over 500 million downloads, making the application a highly preferred mobile web browser. It was initially developed for iOS, Blackberry, Windows 10 mobile, Symbian, Android, and Bada. But, later on, after 2018, only the Android version of Opera mini was continued to develop.
The Opera Mini browser offers the fastest web page loading under low network connectivity. The browser requests web pages from Opera’s compression proxy server, where the original page is compressed up to 90%. The compression makes the web pages deliver faster to mobile phones.
The Opera Mini browser comes with two default search engines in its address bar, i.e. Google and Wikipedia. In contrast, the users can add a few more for their convenient web browsing. The in-built ad-blocker feature is also enabled to avoid unnecessary advertisement flashes and speed up the browsing experience.
Hence, the overall features and performance of the Opera Mini browser help the application to be among the top mobile phone browsers.
Main Differences Between Opera and Opera Mini
- Users can install Opera on both computers and mobile phones. While the Opera Mini was designed as a mobile phone browser; hence, it can be installed on mobiles only.
- Opera rarely compresses the web pages before delivering; it requires a solid network to load pages. In contrast, the Opera Mini browser can efficiently perform in low network areas.
- Opera does not compress web pages, but the application compresses depending on the network in a few cases. In contrast, the Opera Mini compresses all web pages up to 90% by default.
- Opera has a well-designed and less clustered menu bar. Moreover, the menu bar pops up horizontally for the better convenience of users. While the Opera Mini menu bar opens vertically, covering a majority of the screen.
- Opera is a step ahead of Opera Mini regarding security and privacy. The Opera browser has replaced the Opera engine with Chromium to enhance security. While Opera Mini’s compression technology lacks strict end-to-end encryption, raising security concerns.
Conclusion
For every search on the internet, we rely on a good network and a great browser. Opera and Opera Mini are two great browsers offering excellent performance to their users. The two browsers might have originated from the same developer but benefit different users.
Opera is great for uncompressed pages and ad-free web browsing but requires a strong network for fast performance. Opera Mini offers an excellent browsing experience on mobile phones and low network connectivity areas. As both offer the best to their users, they are the highly preferred web browsers for desktops and mobile phones.
References
- https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/10027
- https://oda.oslomet.no/oda-xmlui/bitstream/handle/10642/478/Cheremetiev_Valeri.pdf?sequence=2