Maxthon 2.7 (for Android)

My colleague, lead software analyst Michael Muchmore, called the Maxthon browser ?a revelation" on desktops, for its rich feature set and excellent standards compatability levels. On Android devices, however, Maxthon (free) is rather clumsy to use and misses the holy grail of mobile browsing: speed.?

Like its desktop sibling, Maxthon on Android offers a ton of nifty features, like customized skins, reader mode, screen grabbing plug-in, adjustable brightness, and incognito browsing. It's a decent choice if you like all the bells and whistles, but if you value speed, check out Opera Mini, Chrome for Android, or our Editors' Choice browser for Android devices, Dolphin HD.?

Interface:
Maxthon's interface is a bit cluttered. Like Chrome, it features tabbed browsing and an omnibox at the top. However, Maxthon also placed a navigation bar on the bottom, with buttons for bookmarks, favorites, add-ons, browsing history, and general settings?a waste of the small real estate of mobile devices in my opinion. The nav bar would work better as a slide-out.

Maxthon's tabbed browsing could also use some work. To get rid of a tab you need to tap a very tiny 'X' button at the top right-hand corner of every tab, which was difficult even with my small finger tips. In Chrome, you simply swipe a tab to get rid of it, while in Firefox the tabs are wider and easier to delete.

However, kudos to Maxthon for offering users the choice of searching via Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yandex (a Russian search engine), Wikipedia, Amazon, or eBay. The stock Android browser only lets you choose from three search engines, while Chrome obviously only offers a Google-only search omnibox.

Can Maxthon Do That? Probably.
Maxthon can proudly boast "me too!" to nearly all the best features you'll find in other Android browsers. You can access them all by tapping on Maxthon's bottom-fitted navigation bar.

A couple nifty, mobile-centric options include Quick Scroll, where you can use the volume button to scroll up or down. I also like WAP mode, which lets you switch from standard HTML to the less resource-intensive WAP protocol, a good way to browse when you're on a weak connection. Night Mode simply darkens bright interfaces to let you save on battery (and eyesight). In Maxthon, you can choose from up to 13 unique skins (they're all pretty kitsch, like a cartoon animal theme) and lose any semblance of Maxthon altogether. You can also create your own theme with your own photos, by installing an extra APK file.

You'll also find features like User Agent, Reader Mode, and pre-fetching, which are now standard in most full-featured Android browsers, but not the stock one.

At press time there were only six extensions available for Maxthon. I like the screenshot add-on, given that most Android devices can't take screen grabs, and you'll also find a file manager and gesture support. But how about giving us the most basic ones, like a note-taking app or a password manager? If you're a plug-in junkie, Firefox for Android will suit you better.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/D6Krv-rZkjY/0,2817,2409799,00.asp

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