However, I have heard my friends using devices like Moto E and Android One complaining about how browsers like Chrome hog their resources. After all, all they want is a simple web browser to read articles or browse some shopping websites. So here are three lightweight browsers you can install on your Android to browse the web like never before. Let’s start and have a look at these browsers one after another. I have arranged the browsers in ascending order of their file size on the Play Store.
Now Browser
The Now Browser APK file is unbelievably small in size, at just 178 KB. After installation, it doesn’t take more than 4 MB and that’s just about 4% of what browsers like Chrome and Firefox take on most Android devices. But when it comes to usability and features, it will really surprise you. The browser loads up as soon as you tap the icon and there is hardly any delay in loading the new tab page. You can browse websites, add it to bookmarks and check out history just like any other browser. The browser supports native downloading and a user can also choose if he would like to browse a website in a desktop or a mobile view. You also get incognito mode options to maintain privacy. The page load time was also faster than Chrome. We’ll cover more about it in a table at the end of the post.
Apus Browser
Apus browser is just 600 KB in size when it comes to the installation APK and takes only 9 MB after installation. One of the most remarkable features of Apus Browser is its Navigation page. The page has the top 10 websites from your region and also gives you a glance of the top news. The default search provider for the home page can be changed from settings. You also have voice search facility powered by Google. When it comes to features, Apus doesn’t have many options. You just get basic functionalities like bookmarks and history. You don’t have the option of private browsing, but all the browsing data can be deleted from the settings in just a single tap. The page loading time is significantly lower when compared to Chrome, but lags behind Now Browser. But in terms of graphics and looks, Apus stands ahead of the former.
KK Browser
Last but not least, we have the KK Browser at 1.2 MB in size, which installs up to 6 MB. The load time of KK Browser is next to nil when it’s not running in the memory. In the home page, you have some pinned websites along with links to most popular websites for News, music and videos. The page loading time is bit higher when compared to other browsers, but then you get some interesting features like changing font size and user agent in KK browser. You also get the option to remember the data for forms and passwords you fill out online for faster browsing. No private browsing here either, so you have to clear your data manually when needed. Look-wise, KK Browser is nice and the option to bookmark and share pages can be found in the three-dotted menu. Enable Text Only mode for super-fast browsing with a load time less than any of the other browsers. The night mode is an added bonus for a browser of this size.
Summing it Up
KK Browser might take some additional seconds while loading pages, but feature-wise, it’s the best you can get for just a MB. Now Browser is not great when it comes to looks, but has the lowest memory footprints and page loading times. Apus Browser is great when it comes to looks and has decent memory footprints and page loading speed. Here’s a table to compare the page loading time for all the browsers. The time is in seconds and is an average of three sample sets after resetting the browser before every run. I used Guiding Tech and The Verge as the testing playground. So go ahead and pick a faster, streamlined browser, but don’t forget to keep us in the loop.
