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Best Browser for Watching Videos & Streaming [YouTube, Netflix]
Try our expert’s browser recommendations for watching videos online
7 min. read
Updated onJuly 11, 2024
updated onJuly 11, 2024
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Key notes
Browser video playback has come a long way largely thanks to the advent of HTML5 video, which has largely replaced browser plug-ins such as Flash.
Users can watch high-resolution videos on websites such asYouTubeor subscribe tovideo-streaming services to watch movies and shows within their browsers.
The bestbrowserfor onlinevideosupports most HTML5 video and audio codecs provides fast browsing speeds and has plenty of extensions so that users can enhance and customize playback.
When choosing the best browser for streaming video on Windows 10 and 11, it can get confusing with all the information found online, and for this reason, we’ve compiled a great list of the best Windows browsers for watching videos.
Which browsers can play 4K video?
As the evolution of video equipment and image quality keeps improving exponentially, almost all well-known browsers can play videos in 4K quality, but not all of them perform the same.
Opera One and Opera GX are our top recommendations for watching 4K videos because of the easily-accessible VPN and adblocker, which will significantly improve your experience no matter if you’reusing it on Netflixor other streaming services.
Added to that, having easy access to all messengers and social media accounts can be extremely useful if you want to share your favorite videos with your family and friends.
You could of course also play 4K videos on your Edge, Firefox, or Chrome browsers, but when considering the overall performance, Opera One is still the best.
What are the best fast browsers for YouTube and video streaming?
Opera One– The best browser for streaming
Opera One incorporates some uniquevideooptions and features that users won’t find in most alternative browsers, making it one of the best browsers for YouTube.
It includes avideopop-out that enables users to move videos out of the Opera One page tabs into separate standalone frames and put them anywhere on the Windows desktop. Only this feature makes the app the best browser for movies, as having customization options can be extremely useful.
Turbo Mode is a similar feature to the Opera One desktopbrowserthat can save bandwidth when playing videos and speed up browsing.
Mobile versions of thebrowserenable users to compress videos, which reduces buffering, making it the best browser to watch Anime with. Additionally, Opera One incorporates a 360 video player for virtual reality headsets.
The browser’s built-in ad blocker will remove ads fromvideowebsite pages and their clips, which will further speed up browsing onYouTube, Vimeo, and other sites. The processing speeds also make Opera One thebest browser for Netflix.
You can find 195 extensions forYouTubein the browser’s own extension library if you enter the keywordYouTubein the add-ons search box.
If preferred, one can also add Chrome’svideoextensions to Opera One, as it’s based on the same Chromium engine.
Other useful features:
Opera One
UR browser– Good browsing speeds and privacy features
UR is one of the best browsers for watching videos that you have probably never heard of. Yet, UR has been getting some rave reviews and scores highly on HTML5video, audio, and streaming benchmarks.
This browseris great for watching videos on websites primarily because it’s based on the same Chromium engine as Chrome and Chromium-Edge.
Thus, the HTML5 support is comparable to Google’s flagshipbrowser; and users can utilize Chrome’svideoextensions to customize playback onYouTubeand other websites.
UR also boasts a built-inVPNthat allows you to watch location-restricted content. Few other browsers can match this feature.
Other useful features:
UR Browser
Edge– Faster than other browsers but lacks in features
Microsoft Edge is thebrowserincluded withWindows 10that most users overlook in favor of other alternatives. Yet, Edge is certainly one of the best browsers for videos.
Edge is the onlybrowserthat currently supports all HTML 5 video and audio codecs. It’s also the only browser that can play Netflix video at a 4K resolution thanks to its PlayReady DRM tech.
The browser provides the most battery-efficientvideoplayback on laptops. Furthermore, Edge users can add Chrome’s YouTube extensions now that it’s embracing a Chromium engine.
Other useful features:
⇒Get Edge
Google Chrome– Huge number of extensions and addons
Google Chrome boasts a massive user base nowadays. It generally provides the most extensiveHTML5support and incorporates the latest web technologies to ensure the bestvideoplayback.
Chrome is among the fastest browsers for streaming videos. In addition, users can add many greatYouTubevideoextensions to Chrome, such as Magic Actions, Turn Off the Lights,YouTubePlus, and more.
Chrome is also a good choice for streaming, and users can certainly be sure all the extensivevideo-streaming services support Google’s flagshipbrowser.
WatchingNetflix moviesat a high-definition resolution with the Netflix 1080p extension is among Chrome’s top features. In addition, there are numerous Netflix extensions in Chrome’s vast add-on repository.
Other useful features:
⇒Get Chrome
Vivaldi– Great customization features
Another great browser that can be used to play videos online and have a great viewing experience is Vivaldi.
This browser has many customizable elements, allowing you to make your browsing experience your own.
Workspaces are customized just by quickly dragging and dropping elements from one location to another, and pinning the tabs to the sidebar can make you even more efficient.
Additionally, Vivaldi doesn’t track or store your data, so no third parties will ever have access to your data.
Other useful features:
⇒Get Vivaldi
Which browser has a built-in video player?
Opera One is the only browser on the market with some advantageous video-related features. This versatile browser has a built-in video player that allows users to customize how they watch online videos.
The video pop-out element can be beneficial, allowing you to move videos out of Opera One’s page tabs into standalone frames.
This feature can be handy when used properly, as in the case of comparing products by using video reviews, hunting for your favorite items on shopping platforms, etc.
As you can see, Opera One, UR, Edge, and Chrome are all excellent browsers for watching videos that also fully support HTML5 multimedia.
They’re all Chromium-based browsers and share Chrome’s repository forvideowebsites and streaming services. So, Chromium browsers are the best for playing videos.
Whichbrowserdo you prefer? Share with us your experience using the dedicated comments area.
More about the topics:browsers
Matthew Adams
Windows Hardware Expert
Matthew is a freelancer who has produced a variety of articles on various topics related to technology. His main focus is the Windows OS and all the things surrounding it.
He is passionate about the tech world, always staying up-to-date with the latest and greatest. With an analytical view, he likes problem-solving, focusing on errors and their causes.
In his free time, he likes to read and write about history and tries to always develop new skills.
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Matthew Adams
Windows Hardware Expert
He is passionate about everything surrounding Microsoft’s OS, focusing on troubleshooting guides & tips for everyday problems.
