Phoenix is a fast and intuitive web browser designed explicitly for mobile devices, and supports both Android and iOS. Developed by CloudView technology in 2016, Phoenix is best known for simplifying watching and downloading videos online.

Whether or not Phoenix can be your next default browser will be answered today — read our guide till the end to know everything about its features, disadvantages, privacy policies, and more.

Phoenix browser: Features

Phoenix supports video downloads in multiple formats and from multiple sites.

Say you want to know which videos are downloadable on a site — you don't have to click on them individually to check.

Phoenix has a smart video detection feature that automatically points out downloadable videos and leads you to them. However, this feature doesn't work on YouTube owing to Google Play’s privacy policy.

The browser also has a “data saver” feature that the developers claim will compress web pages before they are displayed on your device, in order to reduce the amount of mobile data used while browsing the web.

Another benefit of using Phoenix is its built-in video player. No more hopping onto your gallery to play a video you've downloaded — play the video directly on the browser and lock the screen to avoid disturbances.

Using the video player you can control playback speed, and it also supports a picture-in-picture mode to play videos outside the browser over other apps.

The Phoenix browser comes with an incognito mode, which allows you to browse the web privately without saving your browsing history, cookies, or cache.

Phoenix’s interface is a treat to the eyes. Its web view is built on Chromium, just like Chrome and Edge. This means that when you load a new site, all the elements of that site are displayed without breaking the site design.

The browser also lets you take custom screenshots of the web page. You can take a custom-sized picture by dragging your mouse and then annotating the picture right after. Unlike other browsers, you won't have to go back to the gallery for the edits.

Phoenix ships with a built-in ad blocker that keeps away ads, pop-ups, and annoying notifications. The ad blocker also keeps track of the number and type of ads it has blocked, and the amount of mobile data saved, as well as other details.

Talking of built-in apps, the browser also has a fully functional file manager that you can use to view all kinds of files including PDF and Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations, and a lot more.

The app also has some PDF tools that’ll help convert images, Word files, and PowerPoint presentations into PDF documents.

Phoenix browser: Privacy

When it comes to privacy, Phoenix pretty much covers the basics. For starters, it has an incognito mode that you can use to prevent the browser from logging your data and search history.

Its builtin ad blocker will also help boost your privacy by discarding any tracking scripts, cookies, and other data-gathering elements on web pages. This can substantially limit the amount of information websites and advertisers can collect about your browsing habits.

You can also use Phoenix to clean junk files from your mobile, as well as all kinds of browsing data, such as cached images and videos, along with cookies and browsing history, and more. As an added bonus, it can also help free up space by helping find and remove videos, large files, and WhatsApp data.

Phoenix browser: Ease of use

Phoenix browser has a clean interface, with a search bar in the middle of the interface and pinned websites below it. At the bottom, you get buttons to launch the file manager, switch tabs, and more.

Its file manager is also pretty intuitive to use. It gives easy access to the downloaded files, as well as the PDF tools. There’s also a find function to help find files.

You also get buttons to quickly access all audio files, video files, documents, images, and more, and can easily clean browsing data, and more with a single tap.

The ad blocker is enabled by default, which is a plus. That said, you do get the option to disable it for specific websites using its icon next to the address bar.

Phoenix browser: Competitors

Phoenix is one of the few mobile browsers that has interesting features such as a very helpful video downloader, and a fully functional file manager.

It also ships with a built-in ad blocker, much like Opera and Brave.

On the downside though, unlike its popular peers, be it Chrome, Edge, or Safari, Phoenix is ad-supported, and will occasionally display full-screen ads.

Also, when it comes to other browsers like Avast, Opera, Mullvad, or even Firefox, Phoenix gets a lower rank in terms of user privacy. All these browsers offer extra privacy in some way or the other, such as with a built-in VPN. However, all that Phoenix has to offer for free is an ad blocker.

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Phoenix browser: Final verdict

Phoenix is a pretty decent browser. Sure, it doesn't drop jaws in any parameter, be it privacy or features, but it does a little bit of everything, which makes it the perfect solution for those looking to replace their default mobile web browser.

The built-in ad blocker, combined with the “data saver” functionality, is a boon for those who want to save mobile data. Its activated-by-default nature will also appeal to privacy conscious users.

Phoenix’s download manager is ideal for those who regularly download videos on their mobile. In the same vein, the file manager and its productivity features also make it an interesting option for those looking for such functionality.

If you care for any of these features, and can live with its shortcomings, you should take Phoenix for a spin.

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Maxthon was designed to support blockchain apps and make it easier for users to access them. Released in 2002, this Chromium-based browser works on Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. Currently, it's available in 55 different languages.

The browser is best known for its rich catalog of features. It might not be as popular as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, but it can stand up to these stalwarts in terms of features.

In this review, we have covered everything about Maxthon’s features, competitors, and pros and cons so that you can decide for yourself whether it's the best browser for you.

Maxthon: Features

Maxthon comes with a built-in notepad called “Maxnote” that can be used to take notes as you browse, copy information, web addresses, and images, and arrange them on different platform devices.

The Passkeeper is a password manager that helps you save passwords, usernames, and other login credentials in one click. The next time you try logging in, Maxthon will automatically offer to auto-fill the details on your behalf.

Maxthon’s most unique feature is the “Snap Screen.” This box selection tool lets you select a particular area of the screen to take a screenshot. With most other browsers, you’ll have to take a screenshot and then crop it in the gallery. However, with Maxthon, you can directly crop the desired area before taking the snapshot. If you want to capture the whole screen with a click, go for the “Snap Page” option.

If you want to run a quick background check on certain images, videos, or music, Maxthon’s resource sniffer will be your friend. Within seconds, this feature will extract the URL of any digital asset and lead you to it. The only issue is that this feature is only available in the desktop version.

Maxthon is also one of the very few browsers that supports customizable mouse gestures for common functions, such as switching tabs, and scrolling pages.

Another benefit of using Maxthon is “Tab Grouping.” This feature lets you group tabs on similar topics together to create a more harmonious workspace. After all, if you’re working on multiple topics and have multiple tabs open, keeping track of each page without proper categorization can be challenging.

If you have a lot of tabs open at once, you can also put the inactive ones to sleep. This will prevent your system from lagging or going into overload.

The browser also offers a free VPN as an optional extension that you can add while installing the browser. However, you’ll have to agree to occasionally share your computer’s free resources and your IP address, to use the feature.

Maxthon also has a “Reading mode” that removes distracting elements from a webpage. You can also consume the content using the “Read aloud” function that’ll convert the text on the web page into speech.

The browser also includes a free trial of an AI chatbot. You can also use it to download any video on any webpage. This functionality too is implemented as a free trial.

The headline feature of the browser is its support for blockchain apps, thanks primarily to the inclusion of a blockchain wallet and identity manager called VBox.

Maxthon: Privacy

Maxthon, like most browsers, mentions in its privacy policy that it doesn’t disclose user data to any third party apart from certain special scenarios, such as legal cases.

They also say they collect usage data to improve user experience and browser functionality. But they claim to anonymize the data and ensure that it can’t be used to identify individuals.

Maxthon Browser also claims that it is equipped with robust anti-phishing mechanisms to help protect users from fraudulent websites that trick you into revealing personal information. However there’s no option to tweak, or customize, or even disable this protection in the browser’s settings.

Also, the browser, like virtually all its peers, allows you to browse the web in the Incognito Mode. A more robust option is its VPN service. However, using that will expose your IP address and even use the free resources on your computer, nullifying its existence for many users.

Maxthon: Ease of use

You are asked to sign in/create a Max account when you launch the browser for the first time. This will help sync the browser data across installations. But if you don’t want to use this feature, you can choose to sign in with a guest account.

Also, while its dashboard follows the design philosophy of most web browsers, Maxthon has a rather busy interface.

The dashboard has a dozen pinned websites and you can add and remove them as per your needs. There’s also a search bar, which defaults to Maxthon’s Google-powered MaxAsk search engine. You can of course switch to other options such as Bing, and DuckDuckGo, without much effort.

Some unique Maxthon features, such as Read aloud, Reading mode, Snap Screen, MaxNote, and AI chat, are all easily accessible either from the address bar at the top, or the left sidebar.

The dashboard displays random wallpapers by default, but you can tweak this behavior to display a local image, or none at all. You can also show and hide all the other elements in the dashboard.

You can enable/disable and tweak all of Maxthon’s features from inside a dedicated section in the browser’s neatly arranged Settings section.

Maxthon: Competitors

Maxthon was founded way before Chrome and Edge, which is why it enjoys a user base of over 100 million users in 140 different countries.

As an old and experienced player in the market, Maxthon is aware of what users want, which is evident through its smart features.

For example, it comes with a useful screen-splitting feature that gives you two interfaces to work with at the same time. This feature is a godsend for multi-tasking fans.

Another benefit of using Maxthon over Chrome and Edge is it doesn't track your behavior. It might collect basic, non-personal data such as your time and frequency of browsing, but it’ll never spy on your online activities.

Maxthon follows Edge’s footsteps to optimize speed and performance and puts inactive tabs to sleep. The logic here is quite simple — the more open tabs you have, the heavier it is on your system. But when you put inactive tabs to sleep, it’ll free up a lot of space and CPU power which can then be used to support other apps and processes.

In terms of security though, Maxthon is clearly defeated by the likes of Firefox, Opera, and Tor. Although it does bundle a free VPN, its riders make it a no-go for privacy-conscious users.

Maxthon: Verdict

Maxthon is a good browser for those who care for its built-in blockchain wallet and identity manager. It's not the best browser in the market in terms of performance or security, but when it comes to features, Maxthon is up there with the best.

That said, some of its interesting features like the FreeVPN and the AI chatbot are only available as free trials.

All things considered, Maxthon is a good option for those interested in its blockchain-friendly features. The browser has all the features you’d expect from a modern browser, but none of them unique enough to help it stand out from the crowd.

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