Just how many web browsers does the world need? Norwegian browser specialist Opera thinks the more the merrier. Opera Air joins its primary (recently rebadged Opera One) and uber-customisable Opera GX browsers to offer a simple, yet soothing, alternative.

We’re always being told to take regular time out from working at our computers to avoid falling into bad, sedentary habits that we’ll pay for later in life. Opera Air figures that given the increasing amounts of our working lives spent online, accessing services and apps through a web browser, it’s the perfect tool to deliver those reminders.

The browser offers two key features: first, Take a Break will prompt you every 60 minutes (but you can alter this) to pause your browsing activity. It can then lead you in a range of exercises split into four broad categories: Breathing, Next Exercise, Meditation and Full Body Scan. Each option provides four guided exercises with your choice of voice to follow, accompanied by soothing background sounds.

Alongside this are Boosts, binaural beats that are designed to stimulate your brain through different sounds and music designed to be listened to while you get on with your day. There are 19 in all, all offering different kinds of stimulus, from boosting creativity to deep relaxation and even dream recall. The beats, ambient sounds and music tracks are all customisable, or you can simply select one to play, then carry on working or browsing as you see fit.

Installation is simple, but make sure you click Options if you don’t want Opera Air to (yet) make itself your default browser or start with your computer. You’ll then be prompted to set up your new browser – start by choosing a suitably soothing wallpaper from the various options provided, import data from your current browser if you wish and then click Start.

You’ll now find yourself at the main Opera Air desktop. Its layout isn’t too far removed from Opera – including the sidebar, but it’s sleeker, cleaner and comes with a calming colour palette. Many of Opera’s core features are here, including workspaces and access to Opera’s Aria AI assistant, but not all: split screen and tab islands are just examples of features not (yet) present.

It’s good to see a wide choice of boosts and take-a-break exercises in this initial release, but while all of Opera’s core features are here – including ad-blocking, VPN and other privacy enhancing features, you may find yourself feeling the browser is a little too basic.

That said, given Opera Air will happily co-exist with your current browser, it’s worth giving it a go – you never know, your mental well-being might get a much-needed boost…