Gizmodo have just completed a browsing speed and accuracy test with three high-end windows mobile devices using Pocket IE and Opera 9.5. The results should hardly be a surprise. There isn’t a single reasonable result among them with page load times well over a minute in many cases and very few of the devices rendering the pages well.
In the test, Gizmodo used the Sony Xperia, HTC Fuze, Samsung Omnia and Samsung Epix. Some of the newest WM-based phones you can buy.
Opera 9.5 appears to have turned in a better level of quality and speed than Pocket IE but there’s still a bunch of ‘fails’ in there which would turn off anyone thinking of relying on the given combo.
We’ve done similar tests here in the past which have proven that, on average, with some of the best ARM-based devices you can find and under good conditions, average page load times are twice as long when compared to on low-end ultra mobile PCs. We’ve even done some extensive Opera Mobile 9.5 testing and can confirm that while it does render well, it needs a lot more horsepower underneath it than the average smartphone can provide. Nothing in the smartphone world, including the iPhone, comes close to the speed and accuracy of even the lowest-level ultra mobile PC or Intel-based MID so once again I hear myself saying; If you or your business relies on fast, accurate access to Web-based resources through a browser, don’t risk problems or waste time by using a sub-standard solution. Don’t try and push everything onto one device. Buy a dedicated device. If not for the speed and quality, do it to preserve battery life for your important voice calls!
Take a read of the article and the HUGE bashing that WM gets from author, Matt Buchanan. Its a fun read!
Source: Gizmodo Via Friendfeed
I think once we see the next generation of ARMv7 chips in smartphones (like a 600 MHz OMAP3), load/rendering times should start to be on-par with UMPCs.
But a significant problem here is Opera 9.5. It is SLOW. I’m running Opera 9.5 on a 624 MHz WM6 device and it is SO SLOW compared to my iPod Touch with its 524 MHz CPU.
Mobile Safari is the fastest smartphone browser and the 2.2 software update made it even faster and more stable. Microsoft and Opera really need to optimise their browsers for speed.
Please don’t mention Opera, Microsoft and browser speed optimizations in one sentence… Opera 9.6 for the PC is the fastest browser in the world in several respects, as well as one of the most usable, especially for power users.
Granted, on Windows Mobile the Opera browser still needs speed optimization but it’s still in a completely different league compared to the utter trash that is Mobile IE, as Gizmodos tests bear out.
Like I said in the comment thread over there… many of the issues they have are due to the hardware they’re running. Fuze, or the HTC Touch Pro most people know it as, does a good job, but is let down by its tiny little screen.
The Touch HD however, with 3.8 inches of 800×480 screen gives you a pretty darn good browsing experience. Yes, I own it and am very happy with it so this is hardly entirely objective, but neither is Gizmodos little bitch-fest… Opera renders very well and the screen is large enough you don’t even have to zoom in many cases, or just zoom somewhat using the zoom bar control.
I would submit that the surfing experience on just about anything that has a 2.8 inch screen is going to be sub-par, regardless of software. You’ll note that the iPhone comes with a big 3.5 inch screen too.
Yes, Windows Mobile has many shortcomings, but for the power user it’s still a very usable OS. My phone is a 3g-to-wifi router, an e-book reader, a full-on navigation GPS device, a great surfing platform, integrates beautifully with the office Echange installation… all in all, a fantastic device. Yes, I would wish for many interface improvements, but if someone gave me both this and an iPhone and made me pick again, I’d still pick this.
Somewhat of a testament to the flourishing third party market for Windows Mobile considering that the OS is indeed both ugly and dated, underneath the very nice TouchFlo layer that is.
i agree with cr0ft
besides they don t talk about the damn fast Opera Mini which surely doesn’t render as well as opera 9.5; but it s faaast :)
nor they talk about Skyfire which is unbelievable when rendering flash web pages like youtube for example
but they are true when saying that there is no perfect browser yet on windows mobile…and it s a pity…
Opera mini and Skyfire are both server-based web browsers. Their servers download the content you want, render and compress it before sending it down to your phone. It certainly wouldn’t be a fair comparison.
Croft.
You said: “Opera 9.6 for the PC is the fastest browser in the world in several respects.”
Which ‘respects’?
I always regard Opera’s javascript intepreter to be very slow indeed.
My last test is here: http://www.umpcportal.com/2008/05/speedtest-firefox-3-recommended-for-umpcs-and-netbooks
Steve
on my fujitsu u1010 under XP Tablet, Opera 9.62 (usb key version) is definitely MY browser :) it is the only one with which i can open several tabs without any slowdowns…. besides my bookmarks are automaticaly synchronised with my Operamini on windows mobile pocket :)
however i use Chrome too for its dedicated web apps like gMail and GoogleReader :)
I began to use HTC MAX 4G (same as TOUCH HD, but with WiMAX instead of 3G) and the first impressions about the browser (not screen) are – safari is faster and easier. Sometimes opera start but doesn’t load the first page. Sometimes hypelinks in yandex.ru (“russian yahoo”) doesn’t work. Favorities are awful. Turning off Touch FLO makes device work faster.
Later I’ll write smth more detailed