iOS/Android browser benchmark

runawayprisoner

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2008
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Just grabbed this off the net:

Xoom-Ipad-Iphone-Sunspider-results.png


Source: http://jeftek.com/1942/motorola-xoom-sunspider-results/

Well, looks like some major enhancements in iOS 4.3. Android 2.3 lags behind quite far. Even the Nexus S with its 1GHz CPU was outclassed by the iPhone 4 with its 800MHz CPU.

iPad 2 is only a bit faster than iPad 1, suggesting there are some headroom.

iPad 2 and XOOM scores are close to each other, suggesting that iOS 4.3 and Honeycomb performance in terms of javascript is about the same. Also suggesting similar CPU performance (at least when browsing).
 
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Feb 19, 2001
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does this explain why browsing on an iphone feels so smooth?

today i tried selecting text as a link and my android browser crashed. i said f-that and turned on tethering and whipped the ipod out.

today was one of the better days where i played my game for a solid 20 minutes on my Android phone before it failed me.
 

runawayprisoner

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2008
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Nope. iPhone has always fallen behind in Javascript benchmark. This is the first time in history when an iPhone is faster than a comparable Android phone in this benchmark. Quite literally.

iPhone browsing is smoother because Apple employs GPU-acceleration, or deferred-rendering, and it'll only render what you need to see, meaning it doesn't use as much memory or processing power as Android, which tries to render everything and does it over and over again.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
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The browsing experiance on the iPhone is better due to GPU GUI acceleration (composite). Android lacked this until Honeycomb, and that is why the Xoom has a much better browsing experiance than other Android devices. All Android devices will get this when Honeycomb is merged back into the main branch (I hope).

Honestly though after an adjustment period speed isn't everything. Firefox isn't the fastest mobile browser, but its interface is wonderful on my large screened Nook Color.
 

Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
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This isn't a browser showdown at all, it doesn't reference browsers anywhere. It is also cross-platform so chances are they are comparing 2 different browsers on 2 different OS's... that doesn't make sense.
 

runawayprisoner

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2008
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Each version of Android and iOS uses a different browser build, and since they don't have a concrete build number or version number for those browsers, it's easier to reference the OS version or build.
 

Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
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Each version of Android and iOS uses a different browser build, and since they don't have a concrete build number or version number for those browsers, it's easier to reference the OS version or build.

But that isn't a browser comparison. There are more than 2 browsers out there and you would compare them on the same platform, not different platforms.
 

cardiac

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
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does this explain why browsing on an iphone feels so smooth?

today i tried selecting text as a link and my android browser crashed. i said f-that and turned on tethering and whipped the ipod out.

today was one of the better days where i played my game for a solid 20 minutes on my Android phone before it failed me.

You've got problems. I go for a week without having any issues on my Incredible, running CM 6.1. Then it just takes a shutdown and re-start. Is there a hardware problem with it?
 

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
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But that isn't a browser comparison. There are more than 2 browsers out there and you would compare them on the same platform, not different platforms.

Yeah this was my expectation clicking on this thread as well. I was hoping for an actual 'browser' showdown, but no such thing was found.

The truth is though it's almost always shown like this. When they said they're comparing browser performances between different devices/platforms, they're usually just comparing the stock browsers between the platforms.
 

JD50

Lifer
Sep 4, 2005
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But that isn't a browser comparison. There are more than 2 browsers out there and you would compare them on the same platform, not different platforms.

+1

I use Dolphin HD on my Nook Color, I was curious to see how it compared to the other browsers.
 

bucwylde23

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2005
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I just ran that test on my Droid Incredible and got 4307ms.

Just wonder why the nexus s is so high
 
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Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
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Am I the only one that has found Sunspider to be in no way indicative of real world performance? Across platforms, not just mobile.
 

runawayprisoner

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2008
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But that isn't a browser comparison. There are more than 2 browsers out there and you would compare them on the same platform, not different platforms.

Truth is there is no browser on any mobile platform that is on uniform level.

The closest of Android and iOS are the stock browsers, which use WebKit for sure. But the rest is hard to say.
 

dougp

Diamond Member
May 3, 2002
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Truth is there is no browser on any mobile platform that is on uniform level.

The closest of Android and iOS are the stock browsers, which use WebKit for sure. But the rest is hard to say.

Doesn't matter - you're still missing BBOS, WebOS and WP7. You should change your title from "Mobile browser performance showdown..." to "iOS/Android Web Showdown ..."
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
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People with a BB Torch, Pre/Pre2, and WP7 should run sunspider and see what they get.

Edit: Stock Droid X on stock browser gets 6760ms, between the Nexus S and Galaxy Tab.
 
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Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
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People with a BB Torch, Pre/Pre2, and WP7 should run sunspider and see what they get.

Edit: Stock Droid X on stock browser gets 6760ms, between the Nexus S and Galaxy Tab.

I've done it. The mobile IE browsers are notoriously bad at Sunspider - but it doesn't really indicate real performance. I have a Dell Venue Pro and my girlfriend has a G2 - despite her G2 crushing my DVP in sunspider, I've done side-by-side browser tests and they're quite comperable. The G2 tends to load mobile sites faster, the DVP loads full sites faster.
 
Feb 19, 2001
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+1

I use Dolphin HD on my Nook Color, I was curious to see how it compared to the other browsers.

I saw benches showing the stock browser faster than Dolphin HD. Dolphin no doubt adds a lot of features to the table, but the stock seems faster.

I agree with my personal experience on my phone. xScope was slightly faster than Dolphin HD, but stock browser felt the best in the end.
 

JD50

Lifer
Sep 4, 2005
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I saw benches showing the stock browser faster than Dolphin HD. Dolphin no doubt adds a lot of features to the table, but the stock seems faster.

I agree with my personal experience on my phone. xScope was slightly faster than Dolphin HD, but stock browser felt the best in the end.

I haven't really compared the speed of Dolphin HD with the stock browser, but it's fast enough for me and the extra features make up for whatever it lacks in speed, IMO of course.

Edit - Oops, I guess I should mention that I'm talking about using Dolphin HD over the stock browser on my Nook Color.