Opera Mini

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CNET Editors' review

Opera Mini is a Web browser designed for the mobile device, which means it's intended to be small and fast. Opera Mini installs quickly, and anyone who's ever used a Web browser will have zero trouble using it. The Opera Mini interface is simple, with search and URL fields, and drop-down menus for things like bookmarking and history.

Opera Mini works by redirecting through an Opera server, which compresses content before it is sent. Due to this compression, Opera Mini works fast. We compared it with a couple of other more popular Web browsers on both iPhone and iPad and found Opera Mini faster for browsing, especially on congested connections (and it seems to get by some site blocks applications, too). There are some nice features available with Opera Mini. The ones we liked best are the speed dial, which is like an even faster favorite list (one click and you're there) and the capability to sync bookmarks with our desktop computer.

You might think bouncing through the Opera server would delay operations, but in practical use there's no noticeable effect. When your Internet connection is slow, though, or there's a lot of traffic on the server, Opera Mini compression actually makes the transfers faster. Since mobile devices also tend to be bandwidth limited with capacities in place, Opera Mini could be of benefit to those with lower limits. We had no problems at all using Opera Mini.

Opera Mini 5 for iPhone:

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All User Reviews

Results 1-10 of 25

  • 3.0 stars

    "Par for the course"

    June 13, 2011  |   By macadanut

    Version: Opera Mini 6.0

    Pros

    It's like all the other mobile browsers

    Cons

    Nothing to do hand stands for

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  • 3.0 stars

    "it is a great product saves cost is user friendly."

    September 2, 2010  |   By egbon

    Version: Opera Mini 6.0

    Pros

    it is a great product it is a great product it saves cost and is user friendly.the product rank among the best

    Cons

    cost reduction software.it is a great product it is a great product it saves cost and is user friendly.the product rank among the best

    Summary

    cost reduction software.it is a great product it is a great product it saves cost and is user it saves cost and is user friendly.i will always recommend it to all friendly.the product rank among the best

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  • 3.0 stars

    "It's a speed burner but..."

    April 17, 2010  |   By Floyd369

    Version: Opera Mini 5.0

    Pros

    fast, very fast

    Cons

    buggy, some web pages don't show. You get a blank screen. doesn't take full advantage of the touch feature

    Summary

    A very fast browser and nice change of pace from Safari. Needs some work though

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  • 4.0 stars

    "Extremely Innovative"

    April 17, 2010  |   By bfaceholet

    Version: Opera Mini 5.0

    Pros

    - Nice look
    - Web sites aren't blocked by school blockers
    - Speedier than safari

    Cons

    - Doesn't play videos
    - No multi-touch
    - No tilt lock

    Summary

    Opera for the iPhone delivers speed. It gives a few pros over the defualt Safari browser but is lacking video support and multi-touch, which other browsers on the iPhone most have. Can't wait to see whats on the next update of Opera Mini.

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  • 1.0 stars

    "Worthless piece of code"

    April 17, 2010  |   By lalalanding

    Version: Opera Mini 5.0

    Pros

    If you compare this to Safari, none

    Cons

    No real world speed advantage, problems viewing Web sites, finicky to operate

    Summary

    I can see there is an emerging consensus here, that this browser is a worthless piece of software. Please let me add my signature!

    First, this Opera Mini does not feel any faster than Safari (3G or WiFi). Second, it (almost) never displays Web pages correctly; most are rendered as a mess. Third, I just can't figure out how to operate the darn thing. I want to scroll - it zooms in, I want to hit a link - it zooms out, and so on and so forth...

    Opera Mini is said to come preloaded on many cell phones. Poor fellas (ones using those phones to browse the Web)!

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  • 2.0 stars

    "Cool looking but bad functionality"

    April 17, 2010  |   By soxfan1901

    Version: Opera Mini 5.0

    Pros

    Looks good

    Cons

    doesn't play videos, doesn't go horizontil

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  • 3.0 stars

    "Close, but no cigar."

    April 17, 2010  |   By tahja215

    Version: Opera Mini 5.0

    Pros

    Speed Dial style bookmarks, fast loading pages; noticeably faster than Safari on 3G, Edge, and WIFI.

    Cons

    The zoom functionality isn't nearly as intuitive as Safari so it feels like a step back. Viewing web pages in Opera Mini isn't very fluid. Browser feels very clunky.

    Summary

    If you're anti-Safari and want a good browser, this may be your best choice; but if you're used to the way Safari works and are excited about a faster browser, actually using the browser itself may slow you down. I kept it as a backup browser, but I'm not sure when I would use it.. oh and I should also note, I'm running 4.0 beta, so that could possibly have an effect on Opera's performance.

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  • 2.0 stars

    "Not stable as Safari, poor Readability"

    April 17, 2010  |   By mlq81

    Version: Opera Mini 5.0

    Pros

    Tab interface is cool

    Cons

    cant read other languages which safari already can !
    the poor readability
    not faster than safari in any sites i commonly use !

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  • 3.0 stars

    "Fast but there's no support"

    April 17, 2010  |   By booch221

    Version: Opera Mini 5.0

    Pros

    I like the touch to zoom feature, but I can't figure out how to go back to the original view.

    Cons

    There is very little HELP on the phone. I can't figure out how to sync my Opera bookmarks.

    Summary

    Many neat functions as seen on the CNET video, but the lack on support is frustrating.

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  • 2.0 stars

    "Pros don't outweigh the cons"

    April 17, 2010  |   By lostatredrock

    Version: Opera Mini 5.0

    Pros

    The tab interface is nice as is the bookmark dialer, competition is a good thing, theoretically faster in EDGE

    Cons

    Rendering is inconsistent, no full javascript support, poor quality text, no multitouch

    Summary

    I live and work in the city and we have good 3G coverage pretty much every where I go with 3G I just do not notice any speed improvement using Opera vs Safari so that plus is really a non-factor for me. So, Opera would need to win out over Safari in terms of pure features to become my browser of choice and it simply doesn't foot the bill. There are some nice things I would love to see get pulled into Safari, the tab interface is much nicer than what is used by Safari and comes much closer to replicating the tab experience on a full blown browser. The dialer is also a nice feature the only real comparison in Safari would be bookmarks sent to the home screen. That being said Opera trips up when it comes to the job of actually rendering pages which is after all what the thing is for. It handles mobile formatted pages fine, but any page designed for a full browser looses some functionality. The loss of pinch and zoom especially is huge as you loose the fine grain control over zoom you get in Safari. Once you add in the poor text rendering I guess the pinch and zoom exclusion doesn't matter so much since the rendering of text is so poor you can only really read it on pretty high zoom levels anyway so the tap and zoom close ends up being the "best" option. The lack of javascript also hurts though I guess Apple and their licensing share some of the blame for this one (do other versions of mobile opera support javascript?).

    So final thoughts not a horrible first try, but too many areas were Safari comes out on top, if I lived in an area with poor 3G coverage the scales might tip in a different direction, but for me it is just not good enough.

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Results 1-10 of 25

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