Opera Neon

Right off the bat, we are going to tell you that this is not an improved version of the Opera browser you have come to know (and possibly to love) and for good reason, as it's being marketed as a "concept browser" by the development team behind it.

In actual fact, Opera Neon is an all-new Chromium-based web browser, designed from the ground up to showcase what "the future of web browsing" could look like but, if it will really impress you or not, we guess, it depends on what exactly you want from a web browser.

Overall simplicity, a modern and stylish user interface with smooth transition effects (thanks to a bespoke physics engine) and a few "why-don't-all-other-web-browsers-have-this" features represent the stones upon which this browser is based on.

The installation is unquestionably simple, and the first visual impression is a very good one, indeed. The browser automatically takes it upon itself to borrow your computer's current desktop wallpaper for a touch of familiarity, perhaps. Visually, the browser looks miles better than almost all web browsers out there as there are lesser hard-edged UI elements, and, just by hovering with the mouse cursor over them, everything seems a tad bit more interactive.

We even liked the fact that the most important UI elements (a typical toolbar and the tab bar) are on each side of the main window, since, as we are sure you'll agree, flicking the cursor from one side to another is way easier and more precise than having to move it up or down.

The Speed Dial is a bit different, to say the least, then what you are used to finding in the non-conceptual Opera browser. Simply drag and drop any tab directly onto the Omnibox to effortlessly bookmark your favorite websites.

Now, as the effects of the first visual impressions wear off, we should stop beating around the bush and tell you what you really want to know. For starters, yes, it's fast. Secondly, here's what you can expect in terms of features: an efficient and quite nicely designed split-screen mode, a uber-useful video pop-up-player-thingy (which we'll thoroughly explore in a bit) and a super-simple tool for capturing in-browser snapshots.

To engage the split-screen mode, just drag any tab on the upper part of the browser's window and place it either on the left or right part of the hover-on-display menu.

The snapshot tool can be accessed from the left-sided, auto-extendable toolbar and it allows you to capture literally any image of the browsing area. Quite conveniently, your saved snaps will be swiftly saved within the browser's built-in Gallery, accessible from the same toolbar.

Lastly, we have the pop-up video player, which is, in our opinion, the best feature of Opera Neon. Basically, all the currently-playing video content is automatically included in the auto-extendable Player section. From there, you can play or pause the videos but, more importantly, they can be popped out into their own little windows. Evidently, the video windows in question are adjustable and can be placed anywhere within the browser's UI.

This is probably the most awesome feature of this browser, as it allows you to do the following.

With the help of both the split-screen mode and this pop-up video player, you can chat with your friends using Facebook Messenger on one side of the main window, read an interesting article on the other,  and watch a YouTube video at the same time. Quite enthusiastically, if need be, you can even take snapshots of everything from the situation described above.

This being a "concept-browser," we should very much treat it more as a launch-pad for geeking out on browser-philosophy and browser-conceptualization but, at the end of the day, without a doubt, Opera Neon ticks most of the right boxes. It's fast, it's stylish, it's extremely user-friendly, and it's focused on the actual web content.

Having said that, in a strange way, it has little meaning if we were to compare with another web browser, which, depending on your pick, can be more development-orientated, faster, more customizable and certainly more feature-packed. In spite of everything that's said, we can't let this one slip: a built-in ad-blocker would bring it a step closer to its own philosophy, in which the way content is presented is very important. Oh, we almost forgot: a Reader-view option, as well.

As an ending note, if Opera Software plans on going further with these design ideas, it will surely be interesting to see how future browsers will feel and look like, because, let's face facts, most browsers are quite boring, with their outdated layouts and pragmatic approaches, in spite of various modern features and integration capabilities.