Because new games regularly impress with their new graphics and therefore always need new hardware, gamers are usually already in the know when it comes to the newest tech­no­logy. But if you also want to keep an eye on everything while surfing and be informed at all times, a gaming browser like the new Opera GX is a worth­while option.

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Opera GX – a browser for gamers

Perhaps it may seem a bit unusual at first glance to develop a dedicated browser just for gamers. Unlike most video games, you don’t need a full-featured high-end PC to surf the web. But first things first: Opera GX is a special version of the well-known Opera browser. As such, the GX, which has been developed as a gaming browser, also has all the important standard features of the Opera family. This includes, for example, a built-in adblocker, in­teg­rated messaging services like WhatsApp, Twitter, or Instagram as well as its own VPN function. The latter is useful for gaining access to virtual private networks.

A unique selling point of Opera GX is to make the in­stall­a­tion of ad­di­tion­al programs obsolete by in­teg­rat­ing them into the browser interface. Thus, you as a user have the option to install ex­ten­sions for Twitch or Discord, for example, and in this way always be in touch with your gaming contacts or never miss a live video from your favourite streamer. Speaking of video: Thanks to con­veni­ent and intuitive pop out feature, you can detach videos from the actual tab en­vir­on­ment and freely place them on the screen. This way, you have everything in view and can sim­ul­tan­eously continue surfing the web in your Opera GX.

Image: The GX Control window in the Opera GX gaming browser
In the Opera GX menu ‘GX Control’ you can not only see the util­isa­tion of RAM and CPU, but also limit the network bandwidth.

Tuning – the cus­tom­is­able browser

What case modding, i.e. the optical pre­par­a­tion of the PC case, is for the pas­sion­ate gamer, the gaming browser Opera GX is the gaming-typical and intuitive design of the interface. Depending on taste, there are different templates to choose from, which have even been awarded the coveted Red Dot award for ex­cep­tion­al design in the past.

In­di­vidu­al­ity is the second big factor of the Opera GX: Not only can the optical ad­just­ment dials be set precisely to the taste of the re­spect­ive user. It is also possible to in­di­vidu­al­ise the numerous ac­com­pa­ny­ing sound effects while browsing. If you don’t want to be dis­trac­ted with an acoustic no­ti­fic­a­tion every time you receive a new message, start a video, activate the Teamspeak server, or reminders to continue watching the Twitch streaming tutorial, you can also de­ac­tiv­ate this function com­pletely.

Stylish elegance

The colour scheme of the Opera GX gaming browser can be fully cus­tom­ised to match the look of your own gaming setup or personal taste. Pre-made designs can be in­di­vidu­al­ised thanks to numerous setting options. A special feature is that the LEDS of the cor­res­pond­ing gaming hardware (mouse, keyboard) can light up in the colours of the browser design, which leads to a coherent overall picture. As usual, there is a light and dark mode. The latter can also be set per­man­ently if desired.

Besides the already presented features for auditory feedback via a wide sound palette of available sounds, the Opera GX has even more features for the ears. The browser’s audio features known as GX Soundtrack also include various pieces of adaptive back­ground music. Choose from various ‘GX Composer Award’ winning pieces to always be in game mode acous­tic­ally while surfing. Of course, music and sound effects stop as soon as you access mul­ti­me­dia content via the browser.

Image: Opera GX design settings at a glance
In Opera GX’s settings, you can choose between several award-winning designs. You can also choose an un­ob­trus­ive audio back­ground, suitable sound effects, or de­ac­tiv­ate the sounds com­pletely.

Security as a top priority

When it comes to security, the gaming browser from Opera follows the standards of the com­pet­i­tion – and with the in­teg­rated VPN function, it brings an important option for secure surfing and remote access to foreign network en­vir­on­ments, which is not a matter of course. If you want to get an overview for yourself, which program provides you with the most secure Internet ex­per­i­ence, have a look at our secure browsers com­par­is­on.

GX Control – Captain on the bridge

If you use Opera’s gaming browser, you will have the feeling of being captain – like on the ‘En­ter­prise’ or the ‘Voyager’. Spe­cific­ally, this means that via GX Control you can not only see from the interface to what extent the CPU and RAM are utilised during the current usage. You also have the option to throttle the load and thus reserve capacity for ap­plic­a­tions that require more resources. So if you suddenly get a message in Opera GX via the Discord interface that your friends on the FS19 Server are raking in the harvest, you can start the game without any problems.

This also applies to the network bandwidth. The gaming browser allows you to allocate an in­di­vidu­al share of the available bandwidth of your Internet con­nec­tion to certain ap­plic­a­tions. For example, you can set your download to use only so much of the available capacity that you can still defuse a few bombs on your CS:GO Server or hunt a few creepers on your Minecraft Server.

Everything in view

One of the most important functions of the gaming browser seems almost in­cid­ent­al: A dedicated news section all about gaming keeps you as a user per­man­ently up to date on your favourite topic. An up-to-date release calendar with the release dates of upcoming block­busters, tips for free games, helpful videos, or re­com­mend­a­tions such as the game of the month are just some of the content that you always have in view with Opera GX.

The ad­di­tion­al in­form­a­tion is elegantly in­teg­rated into the browser’s design so that the overview isn’t lost with the manifold content. The mentioned plugins for Discord and the streaming service Twitch are un­ob­trus­ively in­teg­rated into the browser’s sidebar. Not only do you receive a no­ti­fic­a­tion directly when one of the channels you are sub­scribed to goes online, you also see info about the in­di­vidu­al channels as well as their current status via the sidebar.

Image: Opera GX: Overview page for gamers
In the ‘GX Corner’ section, gamers can find all the important in­form­a­tion. Release calendars, an overview of free games as well as curated lists ensure regular re­plen­ish­ments for the hard disk.

Opera GX: A summary of the most important functions for gamers

  • A de­vel­op­ment of the popular Opera browser optimised for gaming
  • VPN function for secure access to private networks
  • Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Twitch and Discord
  • Pop-out video feature
  • Award-winning visual and audio design
  • News feed, game re­com­mend­a­tions, and more gaming-related in­form­a­tion

In­stalling Opera GX

In­stalling the Opera GX gaming browser is as easy as in­stalling any other browser. It is free and can be down­loaded from the Opera man­u­fac­turer site. Thanks to an in­stall­a­tion wizard, the setup is done quickly, so you can surf with the new browser within a few minutes. Since Opera GX has an intuitive interface, users of other browsers will find their way around im­me­di­ately.

Opera’s gaming browser works flaw­lessly on all modern and almost all older Windows operating systems. The same applies to devices with macOS, Android, and iOS.

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