Same experience here! The only problem I have is that the Android search bar seems to ignore the default Browser setting, but avoiding it (opening FF rather than using the search bar widget) is a small price to pay for avoiding ads so effectively.
If you have a good keyboard, you can even use DDG !bang syntax. I find this very helpful for finding what I want fast.
Which phone / OS do you use?
Btw, to search for something I open Firefox and type in the URL bar.