We all have specific preferences when it comes to how we search the web. We already have a nice selection of mobile web browsers on the market (Opera, Firefox, Dolphin, Skyfire, xScope, etc.). Is this one good enough to compete with such big contenders?

Don’t be fooled Maxthon isn’t just jumping into the mobile market totally wet behind the ears. Their Windows, Internet Explorer based, browser has over 580,000 downloads, with a rating of 5 stars by CNET and an average of 3 1/2 stars by users. Having never used their original PC browser I can only speculate so I’ll leave the fact finding on the PC stuff to the experts at CNET. The mobile browser on the other hand is a different story.

Based on a few dozen web searches and loading some of the more content filled sites, I’d say the speed is comparable to the other browsers. At first is does seem kinda slow, however it gets a little speedier the more you use it(not referring to cookies and caching making sites you’ve already pulled up seem faster on a reload). For some reason certain sites that are normally mobile didn’t pull up that way for me which did make the experience a bit slower, but they didn’t affect my judgment on the speed(I know full sites are slower than mobile optimized ones). As far as smart goes, I believe the software is only as smart as the user using it. That being said with the right customizations and a few searches and queries it does seem smarter. I didn’t try the sync options, which allows you to share your favorites/bookmarks with your pc, so I can’t really comment on it. Maxthon did a decent job on the customizations and options available. When you open the browser for the first time a nice little dashboard pops up with buttons that link to most of the popular search engines, social networking, news, shopping, and video sites. You can use one of the buttons to go to one of those sites or simply enter a url at the top of the page. Upon hitting the menu button on your phone or the browser, a small window slides up giving you access to your:

• Account settings
• Favorites
• History
• RSS reader widget settings
• Downloads
• Browser Exit
• Update availability
• Brightness setting
• Page Search
• User Feedback
• Help
• Fullscreen

You can also gain access to further customizations like avatars and such by making an account via the account options in the browser, which I haven’t messed with at this point.

The user interface is clean and easy to use. Overall I think it’s a decent start for a company branching out to the mobile world. My opinion doesn’t carry much weight as Im just one person. So I ask you to download it and give a few minutes of your time and answer this question. Can it hang?

This quick look was done on my myTouch 4G, mostly tested with 3G speeds as my HSPA+ goes in and out. I compared the speeds to those of my stock HTC browser.

Summary and Downloads:

Application: Maxthon Browser for Android
Developer: Maxthon
Cost: FREE