As of late I’ve been using a Skype phone as my main mobile after my Sony Ericsson K800i decided to malt some keys, crash repetitively and not accept top-ups. This problem would have cost a vast amount of money to fix so I just bought the Skypephone S2 for £49.99 There’s nothing special about it in terms of hardware but the software is amazing, as is the contract. Thanks to a package with one heck of a lot of Internet data allowance I’ve been accessing the Internet through my phone a lot.
The built-in browser doesn’t have a great deal of special abilities. It’s more or less a bare essentials, basic access browser which was developed in just under a minute to provide easy, simple access to websites of your choice. I’ve now decided to give a third-party browser application a whirl.
And that third-party browser just happened to be Opera Mini 4.2…
Installation
Everyone knows that Internet Explorer is good for one thing, and that’s for download another browser. I would say the same for the S2’s bundled browser but there’s technically nothing I can complain about with it. Through it I reached Opera’s website and zealously downloaded the installation file.
That process took the best part of 10 seconds. Considering I’m only using a phone on a relatively poor 3G connection that’s not bad at all. Downloading a single music track from 3’s website takes thrice as long. I was equally stunned by the installation process which took about half a minute and provided minimal human intervention. Some would complain that this means it’s less personalized but there’s not a huge raft of features anyway. Don’t forget that we are talking about a simple Java browser after all.
Once I’d installed Opera Mini it was time to launch it. And it booted straight into the browser’s home screen with no fuss whatsoever. There’s a 3-second pause while the browser loads but then you’re in there and ready to go. That’s probably the fastest launch time for a Java browser ever.
Home Screen/Starting Page
The home screen, or starting page as some like to call it, has the following:
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An address bar. There’s a simple autocomplete feature which makes typing out long URLs quite a bit easier. Being a mobile browser that’s as advanced as it gets. Perhaps when Chrome goes mobile we’ll have all sorts stuffed in there. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
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A search bar. By default the search engine used is Google. When you take into consideration that the bundled browser foolishly adopts Yahoo as the default browser you’ll appreciate this. A simple luxury, yes. But not to be taken advantage of.
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An easy-to-access list of bookmarks. You can store nine bookmarks on the starting page which vaguely represents the Speed Dial feature of Opera Mini’s desktop counterpart. Of course, pressing numbers to immediately select bookmarks is possible. How original…
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A list of sites you’ve visited, aka, history. This is particularly useful if you accidentally close the browser by hitting the end application key and wish to get back to the website you were on as quickly as possible. Not as useful if you’re the kind of perverse teenager who watches those kinds of things. We know what sites you’ve visited *evil stare*
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A ‘Synchronize Opera’ button. As the name implies you’re able to synchronize Opera Mini with your desktop counterpart or other devices with Opera Mini/Mobile installed. So if you get a new phone and wish to quickly flick all your bookmarks across you’ll be able to with minimal fuss. I’d like to see Fennec do that.
Pros
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Opera Mini can be synchronized with Opera from your desktop and Opera Mini or Opera Mobile on your other devices.
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Visual effects are activated during page switches. A simple wipe transition is so much more appealing than the default browser’s boring switch.
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Unlike the default browser there’s a clock on the main toolbar of Opera Mini so you can keep an eye on the time even when in full-screen mode.
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The UI is a tad more attractive than that of the default browser. You can choose from a number of themes which are no more than various colours but which are still nice.
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Toolbars can be hidden if you want a true full-screen experience. Unfortunately this means the clock will be hidden as well.
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There’s a landscape view which can be useful under some circumstances. Bear in mind however that this will render typing an impossibility.
Cons
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The aforementioned clock is all well and good. But you can’t keep an eye on your battery level or signal strength, which is far worse than it sounds.
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The address bar may have an autocomplete feature but predictive text cannot be used to type out URLs.
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The browser doesn’t allow direct entry into text fields. You have to select the text field and type what you want to type in a separate composition window.
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Only Opera Mini can be running at any one time. Try launching Skype or Windows Live Messenger and you’ll find yourself stranded using a single application.
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Opera Mini takes up far more battery life than the default browser. And you won’t be able to see how much juice your phone has left because the power level isn’t visible from Opera.
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Text has a lot of white lines through it which makes things hard to read. The only way to get rid of this problem is to make fonts impossibly small.
Summary
Opera Minis is better for some reason but far worse for others. There’s no excusing some of the major flaws this tiny bit of software has. And when it comes to the crunch… is losing out on wipe transitions and coloured UIs all that bad? I’d rather have direct text input and legible, sensibly sized fonts, thanks.
So I’ve now uninstalled Opera Mini.
Once back on my phone’s default browser I felt so much more at home. I could chat on Skype and WLM while browsing the likes of Facebook and Twitter. I could keep an eye on my battery. I could use predictive text in the address bar and enter text directly into text fields. It’s simply better.
I’m gonna give Opera a pat on the back for trying but a kick up the arse for failing. 3/10.
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