The best browser debate is a war that seems to never run out of weapons. Every other day, a new browser shows up with shiny features, gunning to snatch users from big G’s hands. Some, like Vivaldi, have been surprisingly successful, while others, like Firefox, are fading into the desert like tumbleweeds. One long-standing contender in this debate, one whose hype simply refuses to die, is Opera GX, popularly known as “The Ultimate Gaming Browser.”
I had come across Opera GX before, though during that period, the browser was in the midst of spyware conspiracies. So, like any sensible individual, I decided not to install it on my PC. Funny enough, we never got a proper verdict on whether any of those claims were true at all, but with how people in my circle can’t seem to get enough of Opera GX, I finally decided to see if it truly deserves the spotlight.
There is a lot to unpack here
Features, features, and features
Opera GX is marketed as a gaming browser, and you will see this the moment you first launch it. Flashy neon colors and gamer aesthetics bombard your face right away. At first glance, I was pretty overwhelmed with everything the browser had to offer. The more features the better, but for someone like me who’s always trying to strip bloatware off even from my Windows, I felt dizzy just looking at the cluttered main page.
My cries of keeping everything as vanilla as possible will never end, so coming back to the browser, it does have some pretty interesting features. The big one is GX Control. This tab gives you the option to limit your RAM, CPU, and network, all straight from the browser. This was particularly interesting for me as one of my big concerns, being an avid Chrome user, is the amount of RAM it eats. The 32GB G-Skill Trident in my system keeps me from hitting critical, still, can I have my 3GB RAM back, please? As for how good a job this resource limiter does, we’ll come back to that.
The rest of the features include a sidebar where you can pin and access your favorite apps like Twitch or AI chatbots like ChatGPT, taking multitasking to another level. There’s also Picture in Picture, which lets you pop out any video to play on top of other applications. The built-in ad blocker for annoying pop-ups, and the free VPN, which gives you three free regions (Asia, America, and Europe) to play around with. The browser also makes switching from another browser easy by transferring your bookmarks and browsing history automatically.
10 Vivaldi Features That Google Chrome Doesn’t Have
Vivaldi is a popular alternative browser to use, thanks to the features it offers. Here’s what it provides over Google Chrome.
Who doesn’t like swooshing cursor sounds?
Let’s talk customization
Customization is a big selling point with Opera GX, and what it offers truly puts Chrome to shame. Chrome gives you the option to slap a theme and call it a day, but Opera GX takes things a step further. Alongside its themes, which is a pretty huge collection in itself, inspired by video games, anime, TV shows, and even memes, you also get custom sound effects and keyboard sounds to go along with your browsing experience.
Depending on the theme’s settings, these sounds can play when you move the cursor around, open a new tab, type on your keyboard, and more. I personally found them pretty distracting, and my excitement for browser sounds wore off after a few minutes. You also have Opera GX Mods, which are essentially customization packages that completely transform your browser’s appearance. The endless customization options were a major win for Opera GX in my book, yet it wasn’t something that interested me much. For me, the real test was yet to begin.
Hold on, it’s using the same memory as my Chrome
I even tried the RAM Limiter
Memory consumption is another one of Opera GX’s top features, and one that I was particularly interested in, since it could make or break my switch to this browser. So I put it to the test. I fired up four YouTube videos and a few Reddit tabs on Chrome and did the same on Opera GX, and the results had me rolling. Task Manager showed OperaGX not just failing to impress in memory efficiency, but actually eating even more RAM than Chrome. The irony. I gave it another shot, this time with the Ram Limiter feature turned on. The browser slowed to a crawl, so I was expecting some decent numbers in return. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be wowed by.
So, did Opera GX just sell me false advertisements? No, hold your horses. Thanks to my knack for stripping bloatware, I figured that all the features and customization options packed into this browser, plus the ones I had added on top, were all just eating up my resources. I stripped Opera GX down to bare Chromium, no themes, no sound effects, nothing unnecessary, and gave it another shot. Voilà, and sure enough, my resource usage dropped even below Chrome. Success! Or was it really?
Opera GX is different from your average browser
Not in terms of memory usage
Opera GX has something going for it; I will give it that. Thousands of users love the feature-packed browsing experience it offers. But calling it the better browser is not for me. My ideal browser uses as few resources as possible (the search continues) and lets me get things done without putting my PC under unnecessary load. In that department, Opera GX fell short. However, I can see why someone chasing a full gaming experience with even their browser matching the RAM stick’s RGB would make the switch.
The plethora of customization Opera GX has to offer all comes at the cost of more resources down the drain. If you can manage that sacrifice, it’s hard to get bored with everything it has. From mini-games to daily customization to a gaming news hub to a built-in AI chatbot, and more, this browser’s got everything baked right into it. And in that way, the hype is real.
That said, Opera GX has occasionally faced claims of being spyware. Much of this stems from Opera’s privacy policy, which mentions a unique installation ID used to collect user data. During installation, the browser also asks for access to geolocation and other system information. Plus, its Browser Assist setting monitors your hardware and Windows notifications and reports them all back to Opera.
So in terms of privacy, there’s a question mark around Opera GX, but then again, which browser doesn’t have one? With everything in mind, Opera GX couldn’t make me switch, but if you find yourself won over by its flashy UI and a level of customization, you simply aren’t seeing anywhere else, it doesn’t hurt to try.
These Are the 7 Best Browsers That Aren’t Google Chrome
Chrome is excellent, but it’s not the only game in town.
