Dolphin Browser HD review

Dolphin Browser HD: Can it keep its head above water in the ocean of the browser market?

With the rapid progression of mobile phones, the need for mobile browsing has increased dramatically to match the individual needs of the average consumer. Dolphin Browser HD is a free application, currently only available on the Android platform, however rumours spread that it could be released on to iOS and Symbian in the coming months but these are still to be confirmed. The question is; will it sink or swim in sight of all the competition?

The Ten Second Review:

• Application: Dolphin Browser HD
• Price: Free
• Summary: A good application with some interesting features
• Best of: Differentiates itself by having unique features
• Worst of: A little ‘in your face’ and slightly complicated
• Also consider: Opera Mini

In the world of browsers, it’s hard to make yourself heard. Dolphin, on the other hand, has done this in a wonderfully unique ways but sometimes could be conceived as overcomplicated.

The aesthetics of Dolphin Browser are great, similar to that of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer on PC, with a tab and address bar at the top. This simplistic design allows the user to easily navigate their way through the endless obis that is the internet. However, the Tab bar has an odd colour contrast between text and background, although this can be changed but its just something that could have been  coloured using pastel colours opposed to the neon green used. Overall this tab creates a much easier way to view multiple web pages whilst staying within the application.

Dolphin Browser is distinguishing itself from other browsers by using such unique features to make the overall browsing  experience more creative and fun. One of said amazing features has got to be the gesture recognition.  To access the gesture options, all it takes  is a simple press of a small translucent button, cleverly hidden away in the bottom corner of the browser. This takes you into the page where the opportunities are almost endless. There are some standard gestures that come with the browser, such as;  ‘>’for forward and ‘X’ for close tab. However, this is not the most beneficial factor of this gesture system, this would be how you can map a specific gesture  to a websites, for example mapping ‘G’ to Google to save those vital seconds wasted doing ‘pre-historic’  typing. On the other hand, this feature does have it’s problems.  Gestures can easily be mistaken and can lead to a different web page or the tab itself being completely closed.  The other feature that sets Dolphin out from the crowd is the swipe system incorporated into the user interface. A simple swipe to the right reveals your bookmarks, making it extremely easy to navigate to your favourite sites. Alternatively a swipe to the right reveals a quick link to the settings or the full screen view, which in itself is a good feature to have.

The customisability of the application is probably the deciding factor for many people. Dolphin Browser has many different ways that you can change itself to fit your individual needs, for example different ‘add-ons’ are available from the market at no cost, not forgetting the gesture system incorporated.

Overall Dolphin Browser, is one of, if not the best on the market, but it’s probably down to individual taste as these unique features could be seen as tacky but after all its free, as long as you can cope with the odd advertisement.

Review by: Charlie