Smartphone browser speed tests: Mango vs. Android

[SGosnell]

I'm getting widely varying results on my Asus Transformer Prime, depending on the browser.

Standard browser: 2099
Dolphin for Pad: 2227
Latest Aurora: 1626
Stable Firefox: 1551

I don't really perceive much difference in actual browsing, though. They all seem about the same. I do have to say that the only browser which works on sites that depend almost entirely on flash is the standard browser which comes on the Transformer, and the Dolphin browser also works better than Firefox, which just refuses to run the Flash stuff, even though the flash player is installed. Speed on benchmarks isn't everything.

[Drillbit]

On the SGS2 I can get 1400 to 1500 using Firefox 10, but only 3200 for the native browser on Sunspiider. That underlines how browsers of late has greatly overtaken the Froyo-Gingerbread native browser. The best I can get from the Galaxy Nexus is right about 1600 to 1700 with Firefox. This suggests to me the raw power of the Exynos processors and they're capable of. With the dual core Qualcomm 8660, the scores are way over 2000 the last I remember using Firefox.

Using my Acer tablets, the native Honeycomb browser would outscore Firefox on Browsermark however. I don't remember Firefox on the Acer Iconia A100 tablet reaching past 80,000 with Firefox, while the native browser scores around 83000 to 87000. On Sunspider, using Firefox, I would get scores ranging from 1900 to 2000.

The browser benchmarks are mainly single threaded or dual threaded so they don't give you that much of a benefit with quad core. In real life, the experience can be much faster if the browser is spawning multiple threads to handle more complex pages. That's one reason why dual core or multicore will produce a much smoother scrolling experience on a webpage with running multiple Flash objects. I stop keeping Flash "optional" on dual core devices, preferring to leave them "always on".

The Transformer Prime hits about 100,000 on Browsermark using the Honeycomb browser, which is about just slightly higher than the Galaxy Nexus with ICS. When the Transformer Prime is upgraded to ICS, I see reports on the web with claims up to over 116,000.

[SGosnell]

The ICS update came out weeks ago, and all the Primes should be updated by now, unless the owner just doesn't want to for some unknown reason, or doesn't know how. It's an OTA update, so it really doesn't take much expertise other than tapping OK. I would be surprised to see any Primes still running Honeycomb. I've also set flash to always load, I don't see a good reason not to. I have to use some company sites that are entirely flash, which means I can't use Firefox or Aurora on them. They refuse to recognize that flash is installed for some reason. The stock browser works fine on flash.

[Drillbit]

Hearing that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 has reached as low as the 1600-1700 range on Sunspider which is incredible. This tablet is powered by the Exynos at 1.4GHz.

ICS for Samsung Galaxy S2 has also spectacular results that beats even the Galaxy Nexus.

Android 4.0.3 on Samsung Galaxy SII Benchmarked - Best Smartphone

[Drillbit]

Scored 1897 on Sunspider using the new Chrome for Android. I usually get something between 1900-2000 with the native ICS browser so this isn't a big change.

Ripped a blistering 114k on Browsermark using Chrome for Android. That is incredible since I got the most with the native ICS browser is 99k.

HTML5 test has the Chrome for Android a soaring 343 with 10 bonus points. This totally soars above Firefox for Android with 315 points, iOS5 Safari with 305, native ICS browser at 256 and Windows Phone Mango at 141. The only browser that is higher than 343 on all platforms, is naturally, the desktop Chrome itself at 373.

I wonder how high Chrome for Android can score with Browsermark on the Transformer Prime.

http://browsermark.rightware.com/bro...k/index.action

[SGosnell]

OK, so I had to check. I installed the Chrome beta, and got 123,637 on Browsermark, with music player running and other stuff backgrounded.

On the whole, though, I'm not impressed with Chrome. It doesn't do flash, and it crashes a lot, at least in my short experience on the Prime. I don't think I'll be keeping it. Dolphin for Pad, while not the fastest browser on benchmarks, works with flash and is pretty stable.

[Drillbit]

Its still beta. But 123k on Browsermark, that's really way fast. Its still behind what desktop Chrome does on a single core Intel Atom netbook though --- ARM won't be getting an equivalent to the Atom core until Cortex A15 comes out.

[weegie]

Samsung Galaxy Note stock browser 1767.2ms sunspider
Seems pretty fast to use considering it's displaying what the average cheap notebook is resolution wise, haven't tried opera yet.

[Drillbit]

Got the new Chrome update on the Galaxy Nexus. Browsermark is now over 123k, compared to just under 115k before.

Also got the new Opera Mobile 12 for Android. HTML5 score is now 352, which is higher than Chrome for Android at 343. They literally leave the rest of the field behind. Go to htlml5test.com with your browser and get a quick result.

[Drillbit]

Samsung Galaxy Note stock browser 1767.2ms sunspider
Seems pretty fast to use considering it's displaying what the average cheap notebook is resolution wise, haven't tried opera yet.

Also try Firefox 11 beta for mobile. Firefox has the fastest JS execution speeds of any mobile browser I've seen.