Opera browser is a browser that runs on multiple platforms like Windows, Linus, Mac, and Android. But the Opera Mini is designed to run majorly on mobile platforms like Windows Mobile, Java, Symbian, Blackberry, and Android.
Opera Browser was released to Google Play Store in 2012, while Opera Mini was launched in 2014 and made available to low-end phone manufacturers.
Differences between Opera Mini and Opera browser
In terms of resources consumption, Opera Mini is designed to consume less than a quarter of resources like space and data consumption compared with the Opera browser on Android devices.
Data Compression
When it comes to compression and performance, Opera Mini is a cloud-based browser. All browsing with Opera Mini goes through Opera servers. The servers compress web pages to about 10% of the original size to enable Opera Mini open websites faster even on a congested or weak network compared with the Opera browser. However, the Opera browser is designed to give users an optimized browsing experience similar to what obtains when browsing with a PC. Opera browser is ideal for watching and streaming high-quality HD audio and videos. Therefore, the Opera browser is suitable for use in regions with high data quality and availability, while Opera Mini is ideal for areas experiencing poor network connectivity.
Security
Opera Browser has more security features compared with Opera Mini. Opera browser uses the Chromium search engine which gives more protection while browsing. Opera Mini may have more security risk and compromise because of its compression services. Web pages have to be decrypted remotely before compressing. Therefore, end-to-end encryption between the client and the remote server may not be secure enough compared with the Opera browser’s encryption.
User Experience
Opera Mini displays some webpages better than the Opera browser because of its compression features. However, Opera browser loads webpages without compression, giving users a better experience. With the Opera browser, users can view heavy JavaScript content and other pages rich in multimedia content.
Tools and Menu Setup
App menu pops up vertically in Opera Mini, hindering full pageview. In the Opera browser, the menu is horizontal and better designed with less clutter. Users sign into their opera account from the horizontal menu and also have access to other navigation controls.
Opera Mini has an automatic data saver feature that shows how much data is saved and also gives details of ads blocked. The Opera Browser has similar settings, but data saver option is enabled manually through the app settings menu.
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