As far as desktop use is concerned, Opera has little to no presence. However, on mobile platforms, Opera is #1 worldwide. Yes, that means Opera is used more than Android’s browser is.
Why does Opera have so much popularity on mobile? Because it runs on just about any smartphone that exists. If your phone no matter what it is can run apps and access the internet, it can most likely run Opera Mobile with no problem at all – and most likely vastly improve your mobile web access experience in the process.
On my recent purchase of an LG 800G by Tracfone, the first thing I did was install Opera. On my previous LG 500G Tracfone – which is a QWERTY keyboard with no touchscreen mind you – Opera installed on that with no problems either.
Installing Opera is very easy. Point your existing mobile browser to www.opera.com, download and install. The process is almost 100% automated and the app will appear in your "Apps" menu or possibly "Games" (which is also apps).
My tip for anyone that chooses to do this is to take whatever version of Opera that the Opera Mobile site prompts you to download. On my LG 800G for example, the version that was suggested was 4. However, if you want the latest 6.5 and know how to install apps on your phone, you can grab that from here – although be warned it may not work properly, hence why I suggest to use whatever the Opera site tells you to download.
What makes Opera better on mobile?
In my personal experience, Opera Mobile doesn’t necessarily render pages faster but rather better. Sites look like they’re supposed to, and for frequently used sites like webmail, you’ll have no problems loading them.
It’s also easy to speed up load times by disabling things like JavaScript and images if the network you’re on is slow.
Doing things like clearing cookies and cache is a simple task with Opera Mobile, and if you need sync ability, Opera has that too on mobile.
The mobile web experience using Opera is a good one, no question. No matter if you’re using fast, expensive smartphone or a bargain one like the one I own, it’s worth installing the app. You’ll be sure to like it.
Site: www.opera.com/mobile
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On an Android phone, be sure to try Dolphin Browser HD. It’s faster than Opera, has integrated Flash support (intelligently handled), great gesture support (logical on a touch screen phone), supports add-ons (like a PDF reader) and more. After using Opera for years, I switched to Dolphin and prefer it.