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Alternative Mobile Browsers Tested For Speed, Usability, JavaScript Rendering
CNETNate writes "Do Opera Mobile, Skyfire, or Mozilla's Fennec have the power to take down the BlackBerry browser, IE on Windows Mobile, or Safari on the iPhone? This lengthy test aimed to find out. Speed, Acid3 compliance, JavaScript rendering capabilities, and general subjective usability were all tested and reviewed. So were Opera Mini and the default Symbian browser, but these two were unable to complete some of the tests and benchmarks."
What about the Pre's browser? It'd be interesting to see how it differed from Safari.
No mention of Android. Do not care.
interactive hologram, or it didn't happen.
CNETNate writes about a test on CNET's site which isn't a test at all. They have tried several browsers, described them in two to three paragraphs each, and measured JavaScript execution speed with the help of a nameless benchmark. Not even a mention of which sites were used for testing.
Great job!
We've distilled each browser's strengths, but note you can't get all of these on the same phone -- if you've got a BlackBerry, you're stuck with its browser...
You are most certainly not. I typically have Opera up and running before I configure my email on a new BlackBerry.
0 = 1 + e^(Alt something)
The points compared are mostly irrelevant for today's handeld devices.
What I really would like to know is not if it'll take my phone a few more milliseconds to render the page, but rather:
Rendering speed will become an issue only after network and power related issues are resolved.
How many of these browsers that they say get 100/100 actually pass the test? Safari on my iPhone gets to 100, but has a white X in a purple box with a red stripe in the top right corner.
Despite it's use of an unskinned version of Windows Mobile 6.1, I absolutely LOVE my HTC Ozone...except the included web browser.
What would be the best alternative for this particular phone? I'm likely not going to get a new phone until the sequel to the Droid is released, as I love the Ozone's hardware and don't want to give it up any time soon. Still, the included web browser sucks.
Suggestions for a different web browser for my Ozone?
Living With a Nerd
You can debate the validity of the data, but to save you from wading through nine pages of ads, listed here roughly in order of speed: Browser - Javascript - compliance
Fennec - 11391ms - 93/100
SkyFire - 14659ms - 52/100
Safari - 15499ms - 100/100
Opera Mobile - 40249ms - 100/100
IE - 74537ms - 5/100
Blackberry - DNF - 13/100
Browser OS Version Tested Javascript Benchmark Acid3 Result Flash
------- -- -------------- -------------------- ------------ -----
Skyfire Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 1.1.0.12052 on WinMo 14,659 ms 52/100 Yes
Opera Mobile Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 9.7 beta 40,249.20 ms 100/100 No
Fennec Windows Mobile or Maemo 1.0a3 on WinMo 11,391.20 ms 93/100 No
Safari iPhone OS version 3.1.2 15,499.20 ms 100/100 No
Internet Explorer Windows Mobile 7 74,537.60 ms 5/100 Yes
BlackBerry browser BlackBerry OS version 4.6.1.199 Did not finish 13/100 No
[Skyfire]: Uses server to render pages. Web sites looked accurate but heavily compressed. Flash videos jerky, out of sync and will not open in full screen.
[Opera Mobile]: Can easily open multiple pages and switch between them.
[Fennec] (a.k.a Firefox Mobile): Slick interface. Fastest at loading complex pages. Clearly a pre-release product.
[Safari]: Multiple pages won't load simultaneously. User interface is serene and easy to use.
[Internet Explorer]: Slowest overall browser. Handled Flash the best of those tested. Flash videos can be opened full screen but become jerky and out of sync.
[BlackBerry browser]: Browser doesn't come close to a full Web experience. Slowest at loading complex pages.
Schrödinger's cat is not amused—maybe.
They say they didn't test the default symbian browser since it was too simple compared with the others and unable to finish some tests.
I wonder which phone were they using...since the included browser on my nokia 5800 it's pretty good: Pages render pretty well, it supports javascript and even flash works pretty well (it uses flash lite which works with most flash objects)
The real test is how fast you can get through their article on a mobile phone. Consider this a distributed browser speed test.
The challengers
Skyfire (Windows Mobile, Symbian S60)
Opera Mobile (Windows Mobile, Symbian S60)
Fennec (Windows Mobile, Maemo)
The incumbents
Safari (iPhone)
Internet Explorer (Windows Mobile)
BlackBerry browser (BlackBerry)
So... for "incumbent" we have three platforms. For "challengers" we also have three platforms -- but only one of them is shared with "incumbents". How are the results of that execution on Symbian at all relevant to BB or iPhone users?
Unless they're saying that rendering, javascript, at al will behave identically from platform to platform -- which I find a bit hard to swallow. If they're going to perform tests, they should be meaningful ones - the only meaningful comparison here are the windows mobile comparisons, because those are the only ones on the same platform.
I just use web browsing on my BlackBerry Bold for reading articles. I don't care about graphics.
I don't like how they glossed over Opera Mini just because it can't pass some standards or whatever. It's absolutely perfect for reading articles because the text is rendered nice and large and the columns are always the exact width of the screen, plus I can browse one-handed because all page navigation can be done with the number pad.
I once took an excursion to Reddit, and later HN. Unlimited up/down voting sucks when dealing with a hive-mind.
You can't even load a CA signing cert
Sure you can. I imported my employer's CA certificate, and I have no problems using Safari on the iPhone with websites using certificates from that CA.
I used the iPhone Configuration Utility to create a "profile" containing the certificate, which makes it easier to install, but it's just some XML wrapping around the certificate. There are examples around that show how to do it.
Huh? Safari on iPhone definitely supports JavaScript and SSL.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
What about JS and SSL don't work on the iPhone? Flash doesn't work, of course, but JS and SSL work fine.
Sure you can. To add a custom CA cert, just make a link to it and have the user explicitly touch that link. Make sure the MIME type for the reply is application/x-x509-ca-cert. Try it and if it doesn't work, shout, but it should.
I'd imagine the same thing will work for a site cert, only with a different MIME type, but I'm not certain. Either way, given that StartCom issues free basic SSL certificates, the only sane reason to use a self-signed cert is for doing over-the-air enrollment with SCEP. For everything else, you should just spend five minutes at http://www.startssl.com/ and create yourself a real SSL cert.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Different programs perform differently on different computers!
On CNET? Not bloody likely. You might as well read Wired.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
As I stated in GP, users can't permanently accept self-signed certs or CA signing certs (for a corporate CA). Also, JS ghetto image animations don't work (changing an image inline via a script by loading all of the images and just switching which one belongs to the img tag), and they've worked since the inception of JS.
Sure you can. To add a custom CA cert, just make a link to it and have the user explicitly touch that link. Make sure the MIME type for the reply is application/x-x509-ca-cert. Try it and if it doesn't work, shout,
IT DOESN'T WORK!!
:D ;)
Everything I've tried only creates some "profile" that doesn't have my certs validated by the CA. In fact, it doesn't seem to do squat. Clicking the link works for every other browser, but not Safari on iPhone. Safari on iPhone is broken. And of course there's the silliness of accepting the local cert temporarily to apply the CA signing cert anyway. Good thing I'm one hop from my own server.
And don't get me started about the ridiculous animated gif file size limitation. I had to animate my radar images by using multiple stills, and the JS to animate it was broken, so I had to do ol' fashioned cgi pushes.
...and as I stated in reply to that post, you can in fact import a root CA. I don't know why people believe that you can't.
As far as ghetto image animations, I don't know about that specifically, but in general, Javascript works for me.
How did you get it to work? Everything I've tried works fine for desktop browsers but does nothing with the iPhone except create a worthless "Profile" in the "General" preferences menu that isn't associated with Safari in any way that I can tell.
Would have been nice to see how the browser on the Zune HD compares. It it presumed to be what is to come on WinMo 7, and is a marked improvement over what is available on current WinMo phones.
Similes are like metaphors
The testers didn't like opera mini, but on non smart phones it rocks, internet browsing becomes mostly doable.
I have the same issue, i need to import certs not just for safari but also for the mail client... nothing i tried has worked
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
It's also frustrating in that browsing the "real" Internet has been commonplace on phones (even bog standard cheap ones, not just "smart" phones).
I guess they were comparing themselves to WAP, which was in fashion ooh, about 10 years ago.
Still, this is the same phone that brags "3G" in the name as the most advanced feature it has, as if 3G was something new (and not 5 years out of date).
Mobile is plain C and it uses the Mini "compressed proxy" system while being a "real" browser, nothing at middle, e.g. for AJAX etc. stuff. It is at early beta stage but IMHO you should follow its development, it can be amazing with these unique features. Especially when Adobe releases the real Desktop flash on Mobile for free.