Opera Mini for Android launched

Posted on 15 Jul 2010 at 17:11

Opera has launched the full version of its Opera Mini browser for Android smartphones after a lengthy public beta-test period.

The popular browser manufacturer started offering a replacement browser for Apple's iPhone-based devices - including the iPod Touch and the iPad - back in April, and we were suitably impressed with its performance, but had only offered a test version for rival Android smartphones - until now.

The full release - Opera Mini 5.1 for Android, which brings its version number in line with other platform versions - brings several improvements over the existing beta version, most obvious of which is the ability to set it as your default browser - meaning all links from any application will automatically open in Opera Mini rather than the in-built Android browser.

Opera also claims to have improved how the browser renders desktop-sized pages on the small display of a smartphone, along with enhancements to the font rendering system which should result in clearer, easier to read text. Scrolling has also been improved, but sadly there's still no sign of fluid zoom ability - merely a toggle between a zoomed-out and a zoomed-in state.

As with the iPhone version, Opera Mini for Android transfers data through Opera's servers and compresses it before sending it to your handset resulting in - in theory at least - faster loading times and savings on your mobile broadband bill.

Opera Mini 5.1 for Android is available from the Android Marketplace, or directly from Opera for free.

Author: Gareth Halfacree

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