Brave Software described its Chromium-based Brave browser as three times faster than Google Chrome while loading major news websites both on desktop and mobile up to six times faster than Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari browser from Apple.
With a main selling point that promises to promote and protect the privacy and security of users and their data, this web browser exhibits an attempt to rethink the web, revolutionize online content consumption, and change the way users browse through websites.
Pros of Brave Browser: Advantages and Notable Features
Builds on the Strengths of Chromium
The Chromium codebase is a major advantage of Brave. Similar to notable Chromium-based web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera, this browser alternative inherently has a minimalist user interface to prioritize speed and performance. Furthermore, it is compatible with most Chromium-based browser extensions, as well as with the fundamental web technologies and standards utilized in the Chromium codebase.
Web Tracker and Native Ad Blockers
Remember that promoting and protecting user and data privacy is the major selling point of this browser. Unlike mainstream web browsers such as Google Chrome and Safari, it does not only block most web trackers such as cookies but also removes all digital advertisements placed on websites. Preventing websites from tracking users promote anonymity while stripping ads from these sites and web pages provides a less intrusive browsing experience.
Notable Browsing Speed and Performance
Another remarkable strength of Brave as a web browser, especially when compared to other mainstream alternatives, is speed. Tests from technology reviewers have validated this claim. This faster browsing experience is not surprising. Aside from the inherent speed of the Chromium codebase, blocking trackers and ads allows enables this browser to load much fewer contents from a particular website than browsers without ad and tracker blockers.
Arguably Light on Hardware Resources
Heavier utilization of system resources is one of the notable drawbacks of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Opening multiple tabs on Chrome would consume more RAM while memory consumption in Firefox is less efficient with one to fewer tabs opened but becomes more efficient with heavier tab browsing use. When compared to these two based on numerous tech reviews, Brave is considerably lighter on systems resources.
Cons of Brave Browser: Disadvantages and Issues
Unfair to Publishers and Content Creators
Most digital publishers and content creators earn from online advertisements. Hence, they will not earn from users who browse their websites using Brave or other browsers with ad blockers. Popularizing these browsers could also undermine the profitability and sustainability of smaller publishers who depend solely on ads. Stripping online ads on websites is fundamentally unfair considering that ad revenues enable them to create and publish contents.
Has Its Own Ad-Based Revenue Model
Another criticism of Brave browser is that it runs its own revenue-generating model that is also based on online advertisements. Several publishers have called this browser and its business model parasitical. While it blocks ads from other ad networks, it also runs its own ad network based on a user-centric rewards system. When activated, users can earn tokens for viewing ads, as well as send tokens to websites they want to support.
Summary: Advantages and Disadvantages of Brave Browser
The most salient feature and advantage of Brave is its special focus on privacy and security that works by blocking web trackers and online advertisements. Users who do not like ads and their data tracked would find this web browser a good alternative. Note that Google Chrome has been criticized for numerous privacy issues. Other mainstream alternatives such as Mozilla Firefox and Safari, as well as Microsoft Edge, are not as private.
However, this selling point has its drawbacks: a widescale disregard of the importance of online advertising could be detrimental to the entire digital publishing industry. Most smaller publishers earn through ads. These ad revenues are the main motivating factor for them to create and publish content while making them available to the public without subscription fees and other means to put up digital paywalls.
It is also worth mentioning that although the browser claims to detest the current online advertising industry, its software developers intend to generate revenues through their own ad network with a somewhat different ad delivery model. The fact remains that these developers need to monetize this browser. Hence, it is not a true alternative to mainstream browsers.
