I’ve only used Samsung for years, but I never saw the appeal of Samsung Internet when Chrome worked just fine across all my devices. So when Samsung released a Windows version of its browser, my first thought was: why would anyone bother?
Turns out, I was wrong. After two weeks of using Samsung Internet as my default browser on Windows, I’m genuinely impressed. It’s fast, clean, and surprisingly polished for a Beta release. And now I get why Samsung Internet beats Chrome for so many people.
As of the publishing of this article, Samsung Internet for Windows is still in beta and is currently only available in South Korea and the US.
- OS
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Windows
- Price model
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Free
Samsung Internet Beta for Windows offers safe, fast browsing with sync across devices, secure login via Samsung Pass, and seamless continuation of web sessions. Bookmarks and history are cloud-synced for convenience.
Built on Chromium
Comes with support for Chrome extensions and a familiar look
Much like the Android version it’s based on, Samsung Internet for Windows is powered by the Chromium engine. This means you can install almost all the extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Whether you need uBlock Origin, Bitwarden, or any other productivity tool you rely on, chances are it’ll work here without any issues.
Samsung Internet features a minimal interface right out of the box. If you sign in with your Samsung account, tabs from your Samsung phone will sync and appear under the From other devices section, though you can turn this off. You can also change backgrounds, add widgets, and create shortcuts to frequently visited websites.
The home screen offers useful links and information at a glance, and there’s no news feed. I’ve grown tired of browsers shoving headlines at me every time I open a new tab, so Samsung’s cleaner approach feels refreshing.
The browser also brings one of its tab management features from the mobile version. Clicking the stack icon in the top left corner shows your tabs as card-like previews, making it easier to find what you need when you have too many open. You can also close all open tabs with a single click without closing the browser window. For navigating a crowded tab bar, the arrow buttons on either side let you scroll through tabs when the window is in split-screen mode or when tabs overflow the screen.
Multitasking features and AI integration
Split screen, side panel, and AI magic
It’s hard to find a mainstream browser without AI features these days, and Samsung Internet is no different. The browser comes with a browsing assistant that can summarize web pages. There’s also a translation feature, though you’ll need to download language packs first. Once that’s done, it works as well as translation features in other browsers.
The split-screen feature lets you open two tabs side by side for multitasking. I’ve used this on other browsers, including Edge, and I’m glad Samsung included it here. It’s one of the must-have features when considering a browser, and I use it when comparing products or referencing documentation while writing. Having both pages visible without juggling windows is genuinely useful.
The sidebar is another multitasking tool. It gives you quick access to your favorite websites and apps without leaving your current tab. By default, it comes with shortcuts to popular services, but you can swap those out for your own. Yes, sidebars aren’t unique to Samsung Internet, but this one does it better than Edge’s version without blocking content on the page.
Built-in ad blocker and impressive performance
No need to install a third-party ad-blocker app
Samsung Internet has a built-in ad blocker that handles annoying pop-up ads. It even shows you how many ads it blocked. While Google is aggressively fighting back against ad blockers, this one worked well on most websites. YouTube is a different story, but more on that later.
What impressed me the most was its performance. Pages load quickly, partly due to the aggressive ad blocking, but also better optimization overall. I checked Task Manager after a day of use, and memory usage was lower than both Comet and Edge with identical tabs open. That’s a pleasant surprise, especially since I’ve grown used to browsers hogging resources. If you’re looking for a capable Google Chrome alternative that doesn’t eat through your RAM, Samsung Internet is worth considering.
More than a few features are missing
Lacks a multi-profile setup, gesture support, and a custom search engine option
While it’s still in Beta, the Internet Browser misses out on quite a few features, including some that I rely on to navigate the web. For instance, I use the gesture feature to navigate between pages, and that’s missing. What you’ll also notice is that it doesn’t offer a way to add a custom search engine, but only lets you choose from a list of different search engines included with the browser. And if you use multiple profiles to keep work and personal browsing separate, you’re out of luck.
The built-in ad blocker is a bit of a mystery. It blocks ads on most websites, but YouTube ads slip through like the blocker doesn’t exist. I tested the same video on Perplexity’s Comet and Samsung Internet. Comet blocked the ads; Samsung Internet didn’t touch the in-video ones. I’m not sure why. Maybe Samsung is playing it safe since it partners with Google on other fronts, or perhaps it’s just a bug that’ll get fixed in a future update.
The Internet browser is built to complete Samsung’s ecosystem
Samsung Internet isn’t just another Chromium browser. It exists to fill a gap in Samsung’s ecosystem. The company wants more people to use its browser, but that’s a tough sell when nobody wants to juggle two different browsers on their phone and PC. Also, building it on Chromium removes the biggest barrier to competing with Chrome.
For Samsung phone owners who want their browsing to stay in sync across devices, this is precisely what was missing. The browser is fast, clean, and doesn’t bombard you with bloat. Yes, some features are missing, and the YouTube ad blocking issue is frustrating. But for a beta release, Samsung Internet on Windows is surprisingly polished. If Samsung keeps improving it, this could become my secondary browser on both phone and PC. And I didn’t expect to say that two weeks ago.