Brave is known to be a private web browser that does not make money by collecting user data, unlike most web browsers. Brave runs an advertising model based on user privacy and tailors its browser to aggregate user data when it needs to collect data. In this review of the Brave browser, we will see if it lives up to its reputation as a private web browser.
In addition to its reputation for privacy, Brave is also known for its native integration of features that would otherwise have to be added via an add-on. These include an ad blocker, an HTTPS Everywhere the feature, and even a cryptocurrency wallet. In addition to convenience, the presence of multiple native features reduces the CPU consumption caused by adding multiple extensions to the browser.
Brave is a unique browser that also has its own search engine, but you can choose from six others if you prefer. Although it advertises its privacy features as superior to Firefox’s and its speed as better than Chrome’s, the differences seem to be negligible. We had no problems with Brave, but it did not impress us beyond the basics. That said, there is nothing explicitly wrong with this browser, and if you like the look and feel of it, we see no reason not to make it your favorite.
Key Features
Having discussed the background and history of Brave, let us turn to the browser itself. As we mentioned, Brave is an open source browser that uses an MPL license. It is built on the basis of the open source browser Chromium. For those who do not know, this is the development version of Google Chrome, without any proprietary elements. We will analyze Chromium in more detail later when we make a direct comparison with Brave.
However, note that Brave will potentially have all the same concerns as Chrome and Chromium. You can hold out Brave using a number of plugins, some of which are GPL-licensed. As it’s based on Chromium, you’re also able to install any of the addition from the Chrome Web Store. They will run in the same way, with related performance. There’s also a Brave Dev version of the browser, which offers the chance to work with cutting-edge nightly builds. This is similar to the Developer Edition version of Firefox.
Fortunately, Brave offers the same caliber of Chrome and Chromium development tools, accessed via the same shortcuts. There’s also a Brave Dev version of the browser, which offers the chance to work with cutting-edge nightly builds. This is similar to the Developer Edition version of Firefox. Fortunately, Brave offers the same caliber of Chrome and Chromium development tools, accessed via the same shortcuts.
Web Security
These are all consistent features. In addition, you can enable HTTPS Everywhere to make sure that all connections to the site are encrypted. This is a very useful option if you find yourself regularly entering sensitive data, so it is nice to see that it is standard in Brave. It is clear that the developers want to improve the security and privacy of Internet users.
For example, Brave is the first browser to offer native support for IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) links. This shows how efficient “everyday” security settings are. You can access all “shield” settings from Brave’s toolbar-it is the small lion logo on the far right By default, shields are on and can be turned off with a simple switch. Below this, there is a simple screen showing the number of blocks executed.
Performance
Before we take a look at the browser comparison, let’s analyze Brave’s performance from various aspects. From an empirical standpoint, Brave loads just fine on a MacBook Air M1. It is probably faster than Firefox or Safari on the same system and apparently performs similarly to Chrome. This is magnificent, given the technology we mentioned that runs under the hood-TTPS Everywhere, Privacy Badger and more. If you take a look at the Brave website, you will see that these speed improvements are at the forefront. It is the first feature highlighted.
In fact, speed has been a key communication in the past. As such, you would expect Brave to hand over performance. embryonic benchmark tests were imposing, and that was for beta code only a year old. In VentureBeat’s most recent test, Brave performed well in all tests and even won the Basemark shootout. To see how Brave fares on a real-world machine, we ran four different benchmarks – MotionMark, Speedometer, Basemark, and WebXPRT for six different browsers.
Privacy
Many of Brave’s privacy and security features are built into the browser and do not require extensions. The main privacy controls are contained in the Brave logo “shields” menu, located on the right side of the address bar. In this menu, users can configure privacy and security settings for individual websites and choose how aggressively Brave should block ads, trackers, and cookies. The standard “trackers and ads blocked” setting is on by default, but users have the option to increase the block to “trackers and ads blocked (aggressive)” or to allow all trackers and ads.
Dismissing shields can be useful when visiting sites that rely on features that are normally blocked to work (e.g. pop-ups). The “Shields” menu contains further controls to block cookies, cross-site cookies and fingerprints at different levels of intensity. The strict fingerprint blocking setting is accompanied by a warning that some sites may be broken. Brave also has a built-in HTTPS Everywhere feature that will automatically establish a connection to all websites via HTTPS. Sites that are only available in HTTP will by default display an “unsafe” warning in the address bar.
User experience
Here is what the default browser dashboard looks like. At the top left, you can see statistics about the browser’s effectiveness in blocking ads and crawlers and saving bandwidth and time. Scrolling down the dashboard, you can see the news stories that keep appearing as you scroll down the page. The box on the right, with the link at the top indicating FTX, allows you to choose from the news stories you want to appear in the larger space below. For example, if you select Crypto.com, the information will appear instead of Brave Rewards in the example above.
Binance, FTX, Crypto.com, and Gemini are all cryptocurrency-related resources. These links are called Cards by Brave and can be hidden individually by selecting Edit Cards at the bottom. Overall, Brave has a nice-looking dashboard and you can make additional changes by going to the Settings gear at the bottom right of the page. You can edit background images, statistics, top locations, news, and the clock.
Private Mode and Tor
Brave includes a private browsing mode that is fairly standard for all Chromium-based private browsing modes, none of the browsing history, cookies or form data will be saved in the browser once you close the window. What differentiates Brave from most browsers is the “browse with Tor” feature.
Standard private mode will not secrete your IP address from the sites you visit or your ISP, but your IP address will be hidden on the Tor network. Your connection will travel through a chain of Tor nodes before reaching the destination, so there will be no way for your destination site to know anything other than the IP address of the exit node.
Conclusion
Since its release, Brave has been the main browser we use both on desktop and mobile. This browser is the one we recommend to our family and friends. It is a safe alternative to Apple Safari and even a replacement for Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome browsers. Along with these improved privacy and security features comes compatibility and a reward system that balances the traditional online ad model. With this Brave browser review in hand, try this alternative and see how brave you can be online.