Although an Android version of Edge, the default browser for Windows 10, has been available for a while, now that it's been Chromium-based, it's become quite a headache for Google. Edge is no longer inferior, and in some respects may even be better than Google Chrome, which is also built on open source Chromium.
Another checkmate that Microsoft is pre-installing on all Windows 7 back to Windows 7. This means that on virtually all active Windows systems there's the new Edge, which is good, perfectly good for everything, so the first thing a user will do is not necessarily search for "chrome download".
Bad for Google, good for us, Android users, because now the Chromium-based Edge has arrived on this platform with full functionality. Today we're going to look at what it does better, what it does better than Chrome.
AdBlock Plus
Yes, as with Samsung Internet, the popular ad-blocking extension is available. It's important to note that it's only worth using if the site is bombarding you with violent ads, as most portals rely on advertising for their livelihood and revenue is essential to their operation.
Differences in appearance
The new Edge looks different from Chrome, with a different layout. It's a matter of taste as to who likes which one better, I think Edge's menu with icons has a more preferable, more friendly look.
Honey
Recently, PayPal acquired the coupon search service Honey. It is a must have for Chinese orders, a great addition.
NewsGuard
It is a service to check the authenticity of news on Android. It is not as useful in Hungary as the others, unless you read foreign (e.g. English) news portals, which are highly recommended to check for credibility and fake news.
QR code reading
Although Xiaomi phones can scan QR codes with the camera app and there is a dedicated app for this, it never hurts to have a browser that can do this.
Facilities - reading aloud
Microsoft's Edge browser on Android can also read the website in Hungarian, which can be useful in many cases.
Read mode
Many browsers already have a reader mode, including Edge for Android. It can be used in dark mode, and if you're just interested in the basics, without moving ads and other distractions, it's worth a try.
Collections
It's a similar feature to bookmarks, where you can sort your collected content into different categories. When is this useful? Links for a specific workflow can be sorted here, for example Windows installation, but also TikTok videos we like can be collected here if we open them from a share in a browser. Don't download it, there can be serious security problems, but it shouldn't be too bad if used in a browser!
Let's summarise
The new Edge is a great choice for Android, if the features above pique your interest. As for privacy concerns, I'd just say that it can't spy on anything more than Google, so it's not worth worrying (more) about. You can check it out at this link.