Fellow Windows sufferers, rejoice: we’ve been blessed with yet-another-browser-option. Samsung’s popular Internet Browser has officially launched on desktops after a long beta period, meaning that anyone can start using it.
It’s an interesting move from Samsung. Internet Browser is one of the most highly rated Android browsers, but that’s partly due to the sheer weight of Samsung owners worldwide. Not that many folks don’t like Internet Browser regardless — many find Internet Browser a better mobile browser than Chrome and stick with it regardless, as it’s deeply integrated into One UI and its various apps and services.
The big question is, how does Samsung Internet translate to Samsung Browser, where it doesn’t hold an automatic advantage over most of its competitors?
Samsung Browser gives us another Chromium-based browser option
But it is easy to use
Samsung is immediately on the back foot on Windows. It’s vastly more competitive, with Chrome holding around 70-75 percent of the global browser market, and everyone else battling it out for scraps. Given this is yet another Chromium browser, it’s difficult to see how it can truly differentiate from the numerous other options.
After heading to Samsung Browser and downloading the latest version, the installation process is simple and as you’d expect. Fire up the installer, choose a suitable directory, and it does the rest. There are no hidden surprises in the installation process, as you’d expect from a leading tech company like Samsung.
From there, you meet the import your data screen, which is handy. You have the option to import from Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or… Internet Explorer. Yes, that Internet Explorer, the one that hasn’t existed properly as a daily driver since at least 2022. I mean, you can still access Internet Explorer on Windows 11 if you know where to look, but I struggle to imagine anyone needs to import their bookmarks and so on from it.
That aside, the import process worked fine, and everything I wanted to arrive in Samsung Browser did, so I could start using my regular accounts without much hassle. I also appreciated the option to toggle on an integrated ad-blocker.
Once you click through those pages, though, you’re met with the sudden familiarity — Samsung Browser is actually based on Chromium, the same project that powers Google Chrome, Brave, Opera, and what feels like every browser bar Firefox these days. The familiar menu stylings of Chrome are all here, along with all the other Chromium bits we love, such as a secure password manager, extension support, proper DRM support, and more.
One feature I’m not sticking with is the default browser background, which was like being stuck inside a unicorn, burning the colors from a 7-year-old’s birthday party into my retinas. Thankfully, this is all customizable, but wow, Samsung, choose a more sympathetic color scheme for the default next time.
Samsung Browser hits the bench(marks)
Decent but not spectacular
So yes, it’s another Chromium-based browser, and it’s hardly pushing the envelope in design and experience, but at least we know Samsung Browser is safe and will likely perform well.
With 5 tabs and 33 sub-processes open, Samsung Browser used around 1GB RAM. Opera used around 1.3GB, Vivaldi used around 1.1GB, Brave used 800MB, and Chrome used around 1.2GB. So, as far as RAM consumption goes, fairly standard, though I have to say this wasn’t a massively scientific test, so your mileage will most likely vary. Also — wow — go Brave.
|
Browser |
RAM Consumption (5 Tabs) |
|---|---|
|
Brave |
800MB |
|
Samsung Browser |
1GB |
|
Vivaldi |
1.1GB |
|
Chrome |
1.2GB |
|
Opera |
1.3GB |
I also took Samsung Browser for a spin on the go-to browser benchmarking tool, Speedometer 3.1 — and this time, I was surprised by the results. Turns out, Samsung Desktop could be quite the performer, giving me much faster speeds than Chrome, which I expected, but also Thorium (a stripped-out version of Chrome), which I didn’t. Over five tests, it scored an average of 29.1, which significantly outranks Google Chrome on my hardware.
|
Browser |
Speedometer 3.1 (Higher is Better) |
|---|---|
|
Chrome |
23.2 |
|
Thorium |
26.0 |
|
Samsung Browser |
29.1 |
Speedometer 3.1 is hardware-specific. What works on my hardware (AMD Ryzen 7 5800x, 32GB RAM, GTX 1070) will be different on yours.
Samsung Browser does feel snappy. Pages load quickly, and the overall experience is responsive. It’s a nice switch from what Chrome chugs along, it has to be said.
Integrated Galaxy AI needs considerable work
Keep your Claude tab open
The integrated Galaxy AI summarization tool, from my experience, needs some considerable work. It has two modes: Standard and Detailed. Okay, that’s fine; it’s limited, but you can choose.
The problem I found is that neither mode really delivers much by way of analysis, and in some cases, it is outright pointless. I asked both to summarize a recent news piece explaining that you can finally import your ChatGPT and Claude chats into Gemini. Galaxy AI really struggled to provide anything of worth about this page, with both versions of the tool struggling to move past the idea of “Consolidation,” with the Detailed version being slightly more verbose but only mustering two sentences.
Taking a look at the MakeUseOf homepage, Galaxy AI correctly said it’s a tech site, but didn’t provide any information on the articles it could see, the titles, themes, or really anything.
Hardly a searing slam dunk in the face of other browsers with AI, or even just keeping your favorite AI tool open in a pinned tab that you can access all day long.
What I don’t fully understand is where the rest of the AI features are. The summary feature had more to say about Samsung’s own page talking about this browser, but the same page shows a fully integrated AI assistant helping you plan trips, meals, workflows, and so on. Where is it? I’ve made sure to download the browser and check it’s updated, created an account, restarted the browser, and made sure the Browsing Assist feature is turned on, but I cannot access the extra features.
I’m putting it down to teething problems and something that Samsung will fix rapidly, but it’s frustrating that this is missing at launch.
I ditched Chrome for this lightweight browser — and my PC’s faster than ever
This browser offers Chrome familiarity with less memory use and hidden tracking.
This is a browser for Samsung owners
Everyone should use something different
If you have a Samsung device, Samsung Browser is a great option. For everyone else, better options exist that don’t prioritize specific devices. I know, I know: it’s literally Samsung Browser, and I should expect that it prioritizes its devices.
That might be true, but it also makes it a really pointless experience for everyone else. I’m signed into Samsung Internet on my phone and Samsung Browser on my desktop with the same account, and I can’t sync tabs, history, or otherwise. But in the other browsers I use daily, such as Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Vivaldi, this is automatic, default behavior, no matter the phone I use.
Again, could this be an early rollout teething problem? Potentially. But given Samsung Browser was in beta back in November 2025, it seems to have taken a serious downturn since then. At the very least, I can’t really see where it has progressed because the features that I’d like to use — integrated agentic AI and device sync — don’t work.
So, at least for now, give Samsung Browser a pass until it can figure out what it really wants to be on Windows.
