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Add to SafariWhen comparing Puffin vs Photon, the Slant community recommends Puffin for most people. In the question“What are the best Android web browsers?” Puffin is ranked 21st while Photon is ranked 26th. The most important reason people chose Puffin is:
Games and videos. Most mobile browsers don't support it.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Renders Flash
Games and videos. Most mobile browsers don't support it.
Pro Seriously fast
In tests performed by PhoneArena, Puffin consistently outperformed any other browser both on synthetic JavaScript speed tests as well as real world cold page loads.
Pro Optional touchpad and cursor
Some websites require hover.
Pro Data savings
Puffin servers can compress pictures before you download them for faster page downloads and data savings for capped data plans.
Pro Loads banned websites
It loads websites which other browsers don't.
Pro Built-in reading mode
Reading mode allows removing everything on a page but the content. It removes ads, styling and anything else that could get in the way of a comfortable reading experience.
Pro True desktop browser experience
In flash mode you get remote access to desktop Firefox on a Linux server. Unbeatable desktop web compatibility on Android.
Cons
Con Logs browsing history
According to their privacy policy, they log the URLs of all websites visited by their users.
Con No apple mobile version
There is an Android version, but no iOS and ipadOS version yet. Iphone and ipad users are out of luck for that time being.
Con Poor privacy
Con No adblocker
It doesnt have a adblocker unlike the pro version.
Con Blocked in some countries
Puffin is blocked in China, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Con Rendering flash has ads
Con Videos are compressed twice
In Flash mode, you get an interactive streaming video of a desktop browser running on their server, but this means that when you watch videos (a major use case for Flash mode), which are already compressed, it has to be lossy compressed again to get to you, with noticeable loss of quality. So it's better to watch videos with Flash mode off if you can. There's also a bit of lag when scrolling and such.
Con Flash mode has ads
You can also get an annual subscription to turn these off, but it's $10/year. That's kind of pricey when you can get Puffin Browser Pro with unlimited service for a single payment of $4.
