It does not sound like the same thing if you are not forced to watch ads (I think you have to opt in to receive rewards). In fact what Brave does is they replace existing ads, iirc.
1) Block existing ads (like any other ad blocker)
2) Opt in to Brave ads (which are served via system notifications).
If you opt in, you can get "paid" in BAT. You can cash this out (from an exchange) or donate them to the sites you visit.
Realistically, it will never be an amount worth cashing out, so I suspect most people donate it to the sites and content creators they like. Thats what I do anyways.