When it comes to browsers, a lot of us are picky. While there are tonnages of selections out there, many of them boasted unique abilities and aspects that cannot be found in others. Majority of us, however, automatically defaulted to well known and well trusted browsers such as Chrome, Opera, or Firefox. But it never hurts to try and discover alternatives, especially when they could potentially be greater than what the golden trio above could provide. And for that, we have discovered and now seriously recommend you to try out UC Browser. Even though at first it can be an awkward experience, since virtually no one had heard of this browser before. But in our opinions, for all the benefits it packed, it is well worth the venture.

Background

UC Browser is a free mobile Internet browser developed by a Chinese technology firm called UCWeb. And just like any browser out there, it is vying to compete with browser giants like the golden trio I’ve mentioned above for the place of being the most popular one on CH Play. So far, its efforts seem to be working pretty well, considering the fact that the app had saw not only extensive coverages by large tech sites, but also 17.2 million unique downloads as of date (June 2018th). That is a very large number, as you can easily tell. They still have a long way to go to match with these Internet giants, but it is clear that UC Browser has something very enticing to users that allow them to both develop their platform and make a statement in the process. That is the topic we are going to be sorting through today in this article.

Features

Like any other browser, the first thing that UC Browser provides to its user is … a browsing experience. And for this department, I would say that they have done a very good job. Pages load quickly, and the tab system is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it also provides a smooth transitional experience between pages being opened. What they have done is to utilise extensively the device’s RAM as well as employing proxy strategy. UC actively compresses web data into smaller and more accessible packages before they are sent to users, giving the browser the speed that it is so loved for.

The moment you started up the browser, you will be greeted with a launch screen, comprised of your favourite apps, or the apps that you frequent a lot that could save you a lot of time navigating. Extensions are also supported such as on Desktop browsers, and that increase dramatically the customisability of the browser. Which is quite a rarity for mobile browsers – they are known to be fixed and dried unlike their PC counterpart.

For phones equipped with newer Android version and better hardware, particularly, 2 GB and above RAM capacity. UC has a hardware acceleration mode that will put the entirety of this extra memory to the use to load pages considerably quicker than without. 2 GB of RAM, however, is a large number that most older phones can’t meet with conviction. But lately phone makers have been upping their production to the point where an atypical, budget phones can easily meet this requirement. So, if you are sort of new to the market or armed with a new phone, chances are, UC would be the most optimised browser for you to use.

But the best feature that UC browser provides isn’t that it is fast and speedy (Though that’s part of the equation, too). It is the integrated, full blown Download Manager that existed within the browser. For those who work on mobile or tablet, this feature is god-sent. It allows you to download multiple, selective elements and files at speed the native Android Download Manager couldn’t give. And as someone who usually work on the go, the native Manager is very clunky. Not a lot of browsers on the market today has this feature, even Chrome and Firefox, both of whom still relegated their downloads to the native Manager.

The browser is also optimised, and in a way, smart. It loads the best version of the page in accordance to your connection speed. For example, if you were to find yourself in the middle of nowhere with only GPRS as your mean of connection, it would, most likely, load the barest minimum of contents it could give you to both quicken load speed and save data.

Furthermore, the browser also supports multi-touch gestures. Swipe up with two fingers to close a tab, right to go backward, left to go forward, and finally, down to open a new tab. It is not new to the game, sure, Chrome also supports multi-touch, but it surely gives UC an edge over its competitors who don’t.

But one complaint from me is that even though the browser is aesthetically pleasing in most respects, much like Firefox in its early days, the app developers seem to have problems with organisation. All of the menu options and configurations, if you decided to pop them up takes up a lot of space that I have to turn on full screen mode just to read them all. This is especially a trouble for me since my phone only has a five-inch screen, and I rarely use my tablet. You can probably imagine the struggle of having to both squint your eyes to look for the cramped details on the screen, but also have to painstakingly navigate them on a screen real estate that is smaller than my hand.

Summary

UC Browser is, no doubt, a great browser for anyone still looking for one, and if you are thinking of switching platform, it is a great alternative for you to try out instead of the mainstream browsers. Even with the complaint at the bottom, in my opinion, the browser is still beautifully designed and well groomed. It has a little bit of tweaks to reach the kind of perfection in design that I’d want it to carry, but aside from that superfluous observation, it can surely compete with Chrome on the app market all the way.

Download UC Browser 13.4.0.1306 latest Android APK

You can install UC Browser on your Android devices by going to the Google Play Store and Apkdone.com, respectively. Just download UC Browser and install it.