What to look for, when choosing a browser?
With so many browsers out there, it’s hard to choose. But if you are a vanilla Chrome user, you are willingly selling your data and soul to Google. If you also fell for the hype of “gaming” browsers like Opera, you are also selling your data to shady companies. My main wants in a browser is; speed, privacy and security. So what actually fits the bill?
Firefox is the way
So what is the best options for browsers out there? If you don’t want to fall into the monopoly of Chromium, there is an easy solution, Firefox!
Depending on your needs, privacy and security awareness, there are many forks out there, like Mull Browser, Waterfox or Librefox, . They are really great for privacy, especially for ephemeral or one-time use links.
For day to day use, I would use Zen Browser or Floorp. These browsers keep a balance between usability, user experience, but not as much focused on privacy, even though there is some basic security built-in.
For stubborn Chromium users
If you still want to stay in the Chromium ecosystem, then Brave is the only worthy browser (I use the Beta build). It actually prioritises security, blocking browser fingerprinting and not selling your data. Make sure to turn off all the crypto-wallet bloat if you don’t need them, and enjoy one of the fastest and smoothest browser experiences out there.
There is also Thorium and Vivaldi. Thorium was good but it’s really slow to update, potentially leaving you vulnerable to new exploits. Vivaldi is slower and also has some holes in it’s security. They both also still don’t live up to the performance, security or privacy of out of the box, like Brave.