When comparing Opera vs Opera GX, the Slant community recommends Opera for most people. In the question“What are the best desktop web browsers?” Opera is ranked 28th while Opera GX is ranked 35th. The most important reason people chose Opera is:
The built-In adblocker is faster than any extension. It's possible to add your own filter lists. However, the adblocker isn't enabled by default.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Built-In Adblocker
The built-In adblocker is faster than any extension. It's possible to add your own filter lists. However, the adblocker isn't enabled by default.
Pro VPN onboard
Free VPN onboard (but it's slow and it leaks your IP), includes Germany, Canada, USA, Netherlands, Singapore.
Pro Video pop-out feature
You can pop-out any video and it will stay on top while you are surfing on other tabs.
Pro Compatible with Chrome extensions
Since Opera is built on Blink, the same engine Chromium is built on, it was possible for Opera developers to allow Chrome extensions to run in their browser.
Pro Strong HTML5 feature support
Opera scores highly on HTML5 feature support.
Pro Opera Turbo
Opera has a functionality called Turbo which increases browsers speed and reduces data consumption considerably by compressing the data that's found in a web page.
Pro You can install extensions on the sidebar
Unlike other browsers, you can install add-ons such as tabs, bookmarks, history, sessions, notes, and extension manager in the sidebar. So you have the flexibility to use it for your purpose.
Pro Opera Sync
Opera Sync allows you to synchronize your bookmarks, passwords, and more from any computer, phone, or tablet.
Pro Customizable
Opera is full of user controlled settings. Everything can be imported and exported even RSS feeds. It can be skinned in a variety of different themes or it can be extended through the use of a large number of plugins available.
Pro Battery saving mode
Pro Opera can have extensions from Opera Addons & Chrome Store websites
Opera supports cross-browser extensions. Opera Addons site keeps quality up compared to Chrome Store. Full of useful extensions, Opera also supports extra APIs like Speed Dial API, Extension Sidebar API and Stash API meaning wider variety of extension possibilities than in Chrome.
Pro Speed Dial
Opera's Speed Dial (new tab page) has the ability to hold as many websites as you want, and you can customize it almost however you want. You can also organize the websites on the Speed Dial into folders.
Pro Partly open source
Source code available on GitHub.
Pro Blazingly fast
Scores top on Basemark.
Pro Portable
You can save the Opera's setup files on a USB hard drive and run its portable version anywhere.
Pro For Opera 2017 & 2018 gonna be time of new
Opera got Reborn UI as the first implementation from Opera Neon concept browser. Snap -feature is next. Opera constantly improves its basic functionality - unlike Chrome.
Pro Free vpn
Without any cost unlimited and working.
Pro Lightweight
It doesn't consume much RAM, unlike Chrome.
Pro Touch bar support
Pro Built-in currency converter
Just highlight price on a website and see this price in your currency.
Pro Fast video loading
Opera loads videos faster, making it useful for slow internet connections.
Pro Customizable
Browser is highly customizable, with dual colors, sounds, effects, bookmarks and tabs and much more.
Pro Built-in adblocker
Pro Built-in tracker blocker
Pro GX Control
Lets you limit the network traffic, RAM and CPU usage of the browser.
Pro Built-in messenger services
It has built-in Whatsapp, Telegram, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and much more and this feature itself is better than most of the browsers out there.
Pro Built in music player
It has a built in music player which you can listen to Spotify, Youtube Music and Apple Music in the background.
Pro Very fast
Using the chromium engine, this browser is as fast as Chrome and Edge.
Pro Lots of Add-Ons
Opera Store and Chrome Store is available for this browser with millions of add-ons.
Pro It is good for gaming
Pro Opera Sync
You can sync everything via other devices and it is password protected apart from a standart login.
Pro Built-in news reader
Apart from other browsers like Edge which forces you to read only their feed, you can add any feed and news channel, and read them anytime.
Pro GX Cleaner
Lets you clean browser data easiliy.
Pro GX Corner
It's a page designed for game lovers with news, prices, deals and much more about the latest games.
Pro My Flow option
The browser has a built-in software which lets you send everything from files to pictures, and messages to yourselves via "My Flow" to your other devices and phones.
Pro Built in dark mode system
Pro Built-in VPN
It's a free service and unlimited (but it leaks your IP address). Perfect and very easy to use.
Pro Built in Ambient Music player and button sounds
The dynamic background music is an ambient downtempo that will immerse you further in your gaming-themed browser. Actively browsing, clicking and typing intensifies the music, for example, while slowly scrolling and reading will take the music down a notch. This dynamic reaction to your activity blends into the background when you’re in focus-mode, so you often don’t notice it until you miss it.
Also when you type via keyboard , a very nice click sound is there to feel like The Matrix computer engineer.
You can switch these sounds off.
Cons
Con Owned by a Chinese consortium
Who certainly need to conform with Chinese government requirements to let them infiltrate everything you do online.
Con Trash VPN (Slow and Leaks IP address)
Terrible VPN service. Super slow. It's just a proxy service that leaks your IP address, not a VPN. Not recommended!
Con Cannot select tabs
Unlike in Chrome and Vivaldi, one cannot select multiple tabs to move to another/new window.
Con WebKit/Blink is not customisable or lightweight
Opera is built on WebKit/Blink, which means it shares cons of Chromium: high RAM usage (Not lightweight), lack of customizability.
Con Uneditable default search providers
It can not delete or replace already built-in search services such as Yahoo, Google, DuckDuckGo, and Wikipedia.
Con Proprietary
While Opera is currently available gratis (without monetary charge), it is currently not libre (meaning that it does not allow users to view the source code used to create, to modify that code, or to redistribute modifications) and is therefor neither free nor open-source software.
Con Unable to sync extensions
Imagine having 100 extensions and Opera link cannot sync them, which will be troublesome.
Con No address bar in fullscreen mode
Unlike in Vivaldi.
Con Buggy
Some buggy or confusing behavior with the bookmarks bar and moving tabs, and entire windows turning black after a while.
Con Same security-holes as Chrome
Opera uses the same browser engine as Chrome, meaning it has the same security-holes as Chrome. Chrome is a big target for hackers (being the most popular browser in the world), and a webpage that will hack Chrome will also hack Opera.
Con No reader view
There is a great reader view extension which is available.
Con Built ad-blocker works when it wants
Con Basically a Chrome clone
The latest versions of Opera are basically Chrome clones, so they really don't add anything new.
Con No menu bar
Con The advertisements are terrible
There are too many advertisements in this browser.
Con Extension icons not directly moveable
Con Cannot stop auto update
Con Needs user prompt to install from Chrome web store
Every time you install an extension, you need to say install first from Opera extension list to proceed.
Con Owned by a Chinese consortium
Although it has many privacy and security features, Opera is owned by a Chinese company and everything you do online is spied by China probably.
Con GX Control not so effective
RAM, CPU and Network limiter is not so effective.
Con May not be for everyone
It's a gaming themed browser with dark and colorful interface. May not be everyones taste.
Con Opera GX for Android is bad
Slow.
Con Slow opening time
When compared to Edge, Chrome and Brave, this browser starts up a little later due to many features it has inside.
Con Practically spyware
Owned by a Chinese company.