Samsung’s mobile web browser, officially called Samsung Internet Browser, is now available for download from Play Store to a handful of non-Samsung smartphone models. Samsung says that “Officially supported devices are all Samsung Galaxy and Google Nexus phones with Android 5.0 and above”. However, my experience shows that you do not have to own one of those devices to be able to download and install Samsung Internet Browser from the Play Store. I will share my experience and then give you a summary of all the supported devices.
My First Attempt To Download Samsung Internet Browser
I logged in to Play Store on my PC and initiated an installation request from there. I was presented with a list of our devices, indicating which are compatible and which are not. The list of non-compatible devices included: Huawei GR3, TECNO Phantom 6, TECNO Camon CX, UMI Plus, Infinix Zero 4 Plus, Lenovo Vibe S1, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Infinix S2 Pro, and Gionee A1.
Of all the smartphones we have in the Play Store database, only one was listed as compatible: the Oukitel K6000 Plus. That set me thinking. Remember that I mentioned that the K6000 runs stock Android?
Notice how all the smartphones listed as incompatible do not run stock Android OS. They all have customised versions of the OS. I began to suspect that perhaps Samsung Internet Browser is compatible with all Android smartphones running non-customised versions of the OS. That would mean that more phones than just Samsung and Nexus phones would be able to run the browser. Imagine the wider possibilities – Android One smartphones, Pixel smartphones and pretty much any other Android smartphone that does not have any OS customisations.
I would have sworn that the UMi Plus runs stock Android OS too though (see our UMi Plus review). One wonders why it doesn’t make the compatible list.
OUKITEL K6000 To The Test
So, we put the OUKITEL K6000 to test. We searched for Samsung Internet Browser in Play Store on the phone, found it and we were able to install it without any issues. Would it work? We found out that it does. The browser runs smoothly on the K6000.
Unfortunately, we do not currently have any other stock Android smartphone in the Arena and so are unable to test our hypothesis further. But if you would like to enjoy the features of Samsung Internet Browser and you own a smartphone running stock Android 5 and above, go give it a try. It would have been nice to try with the UMi Plus.
In summary, it looks like beyond Samsung Galaxy and Google Nexus phones, Samsung Internet Browser will work on any smartphone with stock Android 5.0 and above. Give it a try and let us have your feedback. Here is the Play Store download link.