@hellothere333asdf
Uninstall / reinstall / update opera mini fixed the problem. High data savings / low image quality / ad blocking on is now working for those affected sites and search bar. The cause? I have no idea. I made no changes to stock android (no updates, no changes in settings), no changes to the wifi config on router nor on phone, didn't install any other apps. Glad it's working again. Hope this helps someone else.