Oh my god! I could get a faster browser and save myself 10 milliseconds! That will make so much difference to my life I can't tell you how much.
FFS GALP.
Browser speed comparison - N86, N97, iPhone 3G, T-Mobile G1 and more
besides the unknown os version the iphone was using, are we even sure every phone is loading the same site? what if some were loading a mobile version while others is desktop then some are iphone specific.
junchao8 wrote:Be great if i8910 was added to the list...
From what i've seen here and on other sites, the i8910 is becoming the "forgotten phone". Perhaps because it may prove better than either of Nokia's own 5th edition devices (some of us already think it is better).
AlmostAllAboutSymbian.Com?
Um, Apple does allow 3rd party browsers in the Appstore?
Good, well written article, but biased and unfair in my view, but I guess you achieved what you set out to do 😊
Well that confirms my entirely un-tested perception that the web seems to be faster on my N97 than it was on my E90.
Julie
Maybe you're just trying to justify your purchase of the 3GS! Its still a great GADGET but a very POOR phone!
UKJeeper, didn't Steve explain that he had not received a i8910 handset?
JohnnyN wrote:UKJeeper, didn't Steve explain that he had not received a i8910 handset?
:con? I just searched the article for 'i8910', '8910', and 'Samsung' (which BTW was written by Rafe, not Steve), and nothing. I also looked through all the posts in this thread and in the only post i found by Steve, there was no mention of the i8910.
So no, it doesn't look like Steve "explained that he had not received a i8910 handset"
Super Chimp wrote:Yeah right of course it's just as good.🙄By your logic the N97 & N86 shouldn't be in there either as they weren't out then either. To be a useful test you should always test against what's current. Otherwise you might as well test it against an N70 or whatever you wanted in fact from any time period of phones.
The intent is testing the newest version of the browser 7.1. All those phones are using the newer browser with improved rendering so take your pick whichever one you want. And the 5800 seems to be the older and has a slower cpu and it actually seemed slightly quicker so it really doesn't seen to matter anyway.
You have to wonder why AAS skews so many results in favor of Nokia, especially when Rafe is involved...
It wouldn't surprise me if they actually tested the iPhone 3GS but deliberately omitted the results. I'm no fan of Apple but this is another article which shows what AAS is about aka AAN (All About Nokia).
I've lost my respect for this site, which was once GREAT!
This message will probably be deleted like so many others I've posted.
To answer some of the questions asked tonight (heh midnight UK time here - I'll check again tomorrow):
bheetebrij and various:
S60 Web 7.1 on other devices - yes it is likely that this will become the new standard browser. For individual devices this is likely to depend on the development life cycle (i.e. because devices are not necessarily developed in the same order that they are released you may see some new devices with the older browser). However as a general rule the new devices will get the most recent version of the browser. For older devices - its certainly possible, but you would have to ask Nokia that.
bheetebrij, specifically to the E72, I'd be suprised if it did not feature the new browser, but having not seen the E72 in person, can't be sure.
Various:
Loading pages and scrolling half way through load - yes, as noted in the article, this is possible in 7.1. As a commenter noted this has implication for real world usage.I would add that scrolling can be a sluggish on larger pages (if the page is still loading).
argh:
Yes I'd say the browser is, in general, more stable. It is better able to cope with large sites too.
SuperChimp, junchao8 (and others):
With regards to the devices tested. I tested what I had on hand (as specifically noted in the article in the case if the iPhone 3GS). Obviously it would be good to include other devices such as the Palm Pre, iPhone 3GS, Samsung i8910, HTC Hero etc, but obviously I can't include a device if I don't have it.
I'm afraid it is just not practical to buy every device that comes along (I already buy more phones that I really should!). Also bear in mind that loans of non-Symbian devices, when available, tend to be shorter term (given the nature of the site).
I wasn't particularly looking to crown the fastest mobile browser. Rather the intention was to provide some useful information and highlight version 7.1 of the S60 browser (which seems to have arrived largely unnoticed).
See also the last bit of this post.
If there's interest I can update the results as review devices pass across the desk (with the caveat its not going to be possible to reproduce the exact conditions). The i8910 should arrive shortly (been expecting it for a while), I'll try and borrow an iPhone 3GS and get a loan HTC Hero.
Various:
Yes all the device were loading the same site (honestly what do you take me fore!). The desktop version (except bbc.mobi) was used. In some cases the mobile site loads by default (see how we tested section of the article), but the desktop version can then be loaded (and saved as a bookmark). And yes the cache was cleared before testing. As I noted in the article the results should be taken as indicative, although I did make every effort to ensure a level playing field.
You'll note a couple of commenters have compared the iPhone 3GS with the N86 themselves and found, as predicted in the article, that performance is broadly similar. But obviously you're free to run your own tests and draw your own conclusions.
Huschke2go:
I can't say I have noticed the behaviour you describe, but I do remember older phones use to sometimes benefit from a restart of the browser (and/or the phone). Might be an extension of this, I'll try and add something to this thread if I notice this or learn anything more.
UKJeeper: See device comment above to start with... (summary - don't have an i8910 to test) I am expecting a loan i8910 to arrive shortly, so you should see some more i8910 content then (it's been delayed quite a few times, as I think I've mentioned in other forum threads). It's also worth noting that there's generally more interest in the Nokia devices (maybe because there are more owners of these devices)... and to an extent AAS editorial is guided by what is popular (not always though).
Unreg:
3rd party browser in the App Store - sorry should have made this clearer. Apple does allow skinned versions of Safari (i.e. same browser engine), but not things like Skyfire or Opera Mini. I believe this is to do with some of the SDK restrictions.
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Finally I'd also note the original intention was to just demonstrates the difference between Nokia devices and highlight the appearance of version 7.1 of the browser on S60 3.2. The context comparison (other platforms) was added to provide an extra (interesting to see it driving most of the comments though).
Clearly, judging by the number of unregistered comments on this thread, it is a sensitive subject (can't say I'm entirely surprised). I'm more than happy for others to add links to their own test and add their own experience. I advise taking the time to register as you'll probably be seen as more credible by people reading this comment thread.
UserNotAgain wrote:You have to wonder why AAS skews so many results in favor of Nokia, especially when Rafe is involved...It wouldn't surprise me if they actually tested the iPhone 3GS but deliberately omitted the results. I'm no fan of Apple but this is another article which shows what AAS is about aka AAN (All About Nokia).
I've lost my respect for this site, which was once GREAT!
This message will probably be deleted like so many others I've posted.
but when i place my 5800 next to the iphone on the same wifi, both loads sites at the same speed. so if you say he is skewing the results, then why do i get the same results?
Ralf, I think its a very good idea you tested but we just want to all make sure we're looking at the right results.
Was the iphone using 3.0 firmware and were all phones loading the same website and not seperate mobile/full/iphon specific pages.
Unregistered wrote:Ralf, I think its a very good idea you tested but we just want to all make sure we're looking at the right results.Was the iphone using 3.0 firmware and were all phones loading the same website and not seperate mobile/full/iphon specific pages.
He just answered that above, yes they were all the full sites. Why don't you watch the video in the article. It shows the how much faster the new browser renders. With video proof i don't see what's so hard to believe when clearly the newer browser loads much much faster now. What's so hard to believe?
I have the i8910 and it's incredibly overrated. The only benefit of the fast cpu is when recording "hd" video. Thanks to samsungs worthless software it simply fails to deliver. It has beautifull hardware though. The screen is gorgeous. Even with it 600mhz cortex processor it can't beat the 5800. And the 3d acceleration?? The ONLY apps I know of that uses are quake1-3. And you can't even play them without a bluetooth keyboard which you can't connect because samsung hasn't written a driver for it,
Great Article
I have a question. How to check which browser version I have?
thanks
Excellent article.
How do you find out which Nokia is carrying which version of browser? What about my N79?? How do I find that?
Damn! the N95 8GB was the slowest? sigh..i guess it has to be..or there is no point in creating a new flagship device..
is there a way to make it faster? can u install the browser 7.1 on N95 8GB? lol..i still love this phone =)
i bet the only way to see the version is from the user agent string when you post to a mobile website and your browser info is displayed. I looked on my 5800 and couldn't find the version anywhere. But yes the n97 does have the new browser version 7.1.
Great article Rafe! Allthough it does not surprise me very much I think is is great that this fact gets some attention.
It is quite fun to see a lot of iPhone fanatics bitch about technicalities, they just wont admit that maybe the iPhone browsing speed is not that much faster than the S60 browser 😊
One thing I would like to point out is that the new S60 browser does load flash while the old one and both the iPhone and G1 does not. I think it therefore makes sense to try and disable flash content in the settings of the new S60 browser and if you do this the new S60 browser naturally get even faster!! I did a quick test and we are talking several seconds!
One thing I have noticed though and I don't know if it is what you experience "Huschke2go", but sometimes when I load very large pages, it loads part of the page then stops and waits for at very long time before it finishes loading the page. This is very annoying and the browser is absolutely non responsive in the meantime. I have noticed that it is dependent on the amount of free RAM and possibly also free space on the C drive. Has anyone else experienced that and knows how to prevent it?
UKJeeper wrote:From what i've seen here and on other sites, the i8910 is becoming the "forgotten phone". Perhaps because it may prove better than either of Nokia's own 5th edition devices (some of us already think it is better).AlmostAllAboutSymbian.Com?
Oh, for the UMPTEENTH time, we'd LOVE to give the i8910 HD HUGE coverage. If Samsung could ahem..... make some. Or at least some that aren't locked to an Italian network or crippled by Orange.
Two i8910 HD's are due to arrive this week, but we're not exactly holding our breath.
not a fair test. no 3GS which you know would win WITHOUT testing!!! so you left it out in order to glorify symbian which was the purpose of this test..it's allaboutsymbian of course
For all of you wondering why the 3GS version is not included: READ the article before posting. Rafe writes "Because I did not have one to hand, I was unable to include Apple's recently released iPhone 3GS in these tests (nor the Palm Pre for that matter)." If you want it to be included in the test, send Rafe a 3GS.
Also he already admitted that both the 3GS and Palm Pre would most likely be much faster compared to the "older" iPhone. So please stop complaining!
fully loading a page the quickest, does not necessarily mean that its the best browser.
on n97, you probably need to wait till most of the page has loaded before you can do anything.
iphone3g/3gs. you are free to scroll around any content that has been loaded. which is a much better experience than the dreaded n97. imagine waiting for 20seconds for the n97 to fully load a web page?
Rafe, please tell us what OS on the 3G? It�s really LAME not giving that info, what kind of test is that?
Probably you can add a time, after what timespan you can smoothly scroll around. My experience is, that altough the overall load time is comparable, the iphone and opera mobile on winmo devices are more responsive during the load process.
And when reading newssites, images are the least interesting thing - so, more interesting is the timespan from nothing to text shows up and you can scroll around... (because: while flickering around the images show up)
Would be interesting with some numbers for WinMobile based devices; eg Touch Diamond2 (HTC Topaz). Anyone with a wifi and a WiMo device?
Unregistered wrote:For all of you wondering why the 3GS version is not included: READ the article before posting. Rafe writes "Because I did not have one to hand, I was unable to include Apple's recently released iPhone 3GS in these tests (nor the Palm Pre for that matter)." If you want it to be included in the test, send Rafe a 3GS.Also he already admitted that both the 3GS and Palm Pre would most likely be much faster compared to the "older" iPhone. So please stop complaining!
other members of the AAS team have a 3GS. i believe steve does. tests could be done.
OS versions / firmware etc: Latest firmware on Nokia phones, and yes OS 3.0 on iPhone (sorry, should made this clear - just thought people would assume this).
How to check which browser version I have?
5800 has 7.0, N86 and N97 have 7.1. You can tell by looking at the user agent for7.1 or (much easier) looking at the about entry on the options menu.
The 7.x browser also has a different options menu layout (and lots of other differences too) - one of the easy ones to spot is that Go to is now a sub menu (with Web page and bookmarks in it). Basically if you don't have this you have the older version of the browser.
Jeran and others
Yes I agree this start scrolling time is important, but its difficult to judge objectively (i.e. how much needs to be there to count etc.). This is why I mentioned it briefly in the article. Based on my subjective observations I would say Android and iPhone are both good in this area. The older S60 browser was fairly poor as anyone who has used it will know (it does do it, but...). The new browser is better, but can be a bit jerky.
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Also check out this post by my friend Matt Miller who extends this test (including 3GS) and shows a Windows Mobile device (using Opera 9.3) coming out on top - http://blogs.zdnet.com/cell-phones/?p=1641
As Rafe says: "I advise taking the time to register as you'll probably be seen as more credible by people reading this comment thread."
So true. If you're unregistered I just assume you're a troll/fanboy/noob/idiot, and I'm sure many others do too.
Rafe: I'd like a forum option where posts from unregistered users aren't visible for me, is this possible?