I’m not the biggest fan of Google Chrome, despite it being the world’s most popular browser. My browser of choice is the good ol’ default internet browser that Samsung provides on Galaxy devices. It’s simple, customizable, private, and filled with useful features.
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One-Handed Use Is Easier
Samsung takes customization seriously, and that applies to its internet browser as well. On Samsung Internet, you have the option to move the address bar to the bottom of the screen, making it far more reachable and easier for one-handed use.
The controls are intuitive too: long-pressing the Tabs button opens a new tab, while a single tap reveals all open tabs. Similarly, long-pressing the Tools button (hamburger menu) opens browser settings, while a single tap pulls up all toolbar buttons, which you can tailor to your liking. The toolbar can hold up to 30 buttons for taking quick actions while web surfing.
Also, when scrolling up and down a webpage, you’ll see navigation buttons to jump to the very top or bottom of that page. I personally use this feature a lot to quickly see the footer of a website where the contact information is usually located.
5
Better Video Playback Across Sites
One of the worst things about streaming video through a web browser, as opposed to a dedicated streaming app, is how each website has its own video interface with inconsistent controls. If you regularly stream video this way, you know how annoying it is.
Samsung Internet’s video assistant feature fixes this. When you play videos on websites, an option will pop up allowing you to switch to Samsung’s video player and go full screen.
Here, you can use gestures to adjust brightness and volume, and go back or forward in your video. There are also controls to lock the screen to avoid accidental touches, rotate it, change playback speed, and resize the video to fit your screen.
For supported websites, you can even play videos in picture-in-picture (PiP) mode by tapping the pop-up icon. Also, for times when you’re listening to music or a podcast, you can have videos keep playing in the background when you leave the tab or the browser app.
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4
Secret Is Better Than Chrome’s Incognito Mode
You wouldn’t be the first person to not trust Chrome’s incognito mode. In fact, in 2020, a class-action lawsuit alleged Google tracked activity of people using incognito mode on Chrome without their knowledge. Google settled the lawsuit in 2024 by agreeing to wipe billions of private browsing data records.
This shouldn’t be surprising, though. Google is fundamentally an advertising company, and so its business model requires it to know as much about you as possible in order to show you relevant ads. It’s safe to assume that Samsung has no such objectives with its Secret mode.
On Samsung Internet, you can instantly change your search engine to a more private one, like DuckDuckGo, even outside of Secret mode. In Secret mode, you can bookmark sites like you normally do and set up a password or biometric lock to keep them away from prying eyes.
More importantly, anything downloaded in Secret mode, like images, videos, and documents, can be set to only be visible in Secret mode. That means they’ll not be accessible anywhere else on your phone; not in the gallery, not in the Files app, and not via a third-party app.
3
Superior Privacy Settings
Secret mode is one thing, but Samsung has made sure that regular browsing is also just as secure. There’s a dedicated privacy dashboard that shows you a weekly summary of the number and frequency of trackers blocked.
Under the Smart anti-tracking menu, you can set the browser to prevent websites from seeing your browsing history, and view the list of trackers to know which sites are the most nosy. Of course, you can manually delete your browsing data too, just like Chrome.
What I found particularly helpful was being able to block pop-ups, automatic downloads, backward redirection, and apps from opening a new tab without your permission. No one likes it when a website starts taking control of your device before you even have a chance to read its contents; these settings help prevent that.
If you happen to visit an unsecure website (HTTP), Samsung Internet can automatically redirect you to its secure, encrypted version (HTTPS) if available.
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2
Chrome’s Dark Mode Doesn’t Go Far Enough
When I compared Google Chrome and Samsung Internet, it became abundantly clear that the former doesn’t implement its dark mode well. On Chrome, a lot of websites appear the same, regardless of whether you’re using dark mode.
This is not the case with Samsung Internet, since you can force a darker overlay on websites that don’t support dark mode using a dedicated button in the toolbar. You can even adjust the level of webpage brightness in dark mode, reducing eye strain during nighttime.
1
More Power Efficient on Galaxy Devices
Samsung Internet is not a system app since it can be uninstalled, but it does come pre-installed on Galaxy devices and is highly optimized for them, resulting in less power consumption. If you do a lot of web browsing, you will be able to spot a noticeable difference in battery life when using Samsung Internet as opposed to Google Chrome.
Note that Samsung Internet is not exclusive to Galaxy devices; it’s available to download on all Android phones via the Google Play Store.
Download: Samsung Internet (Free)
Samsung Internet might not be as efficient on non-Galaxy Android devices, but I still highly recommend it over Chrome for its plethora of customization features and security measures.