One of the ways to speed up web browsing on your smartphone is by using a snappy browser. On Android, you have many choices. Recently, both MakeUseOf and PC Magazine put several Android browsers through the paces, to see which one was fastest. The browsers tested by MakeUseOf included Firefox, Dolphin Mini, Dolphin HD, Opera Mobile, xScope, Skyfire, and the stock browser. PC Magazine tested Dolphin HD, Dolphin Mini, Firefox, Opera Mobile, and Opera Mini.
The conclusion? According to MakeUseOf, Firefox was the fastest. It beat the competition in the synthetic benchmarks, and edged the other browsers in the page loading test. The losers were Skyfire, and the stock Android browser. My browser of choice, xScope, fell in the middle of the pack.
PC Magazine didn’t rate the browsers just based on speed, but if you click through to the individual browser reviews, you will see the speed results. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the article appears to have a typo and shows the same chart for two of the tests. Still, reading the text of the reviews, it appears that Firefox comes out on top, with the other browsers displaying mixed results. As the Firefox review notes, though, Firefox’s mobile offering has other issues, such as video handling and how it displays pages.
My take? Speed isn’t the only consideration. See which browser feels most comfortable to you, so long as the speed is acceptable. My browser of choice, xScope, sports a user interface that I love, and respectable speed. Once you get into the middle of the browser speed results, the differences among browsers was negligible, making other considerations more important.
What is your favorite Android browser? What do you like about it?
The Best Browsers for Android [PC Magazine]
What’s The Fastest Android Browser? [MakeUseOf]
Anthony Russo says:
Dolphin HD for me.
I can live with a few seconds longer wait here and there if I like the experience better.
Anthony
April 26, 2011 — 10:10 am
Evan Kline says:
I hear you, Anthony. That’s why I use xScope. Although it seems reasonably fast, I just really like the interface. I do wish it had a LastPass plugin, though, like Dolphin HD.
April 26, 2011 — 5:04 pm
Gouthaman Karunakaran says:
I’ve been using Android for the past 2 months and the stock browser has been my choice. It’s simple and I don’t really use the browser a lot. Twitter for Android, Gmail and Google Reader is all I am into.
April 26, 2011 — 1:06 pm
Evan Kline says:
I don’t use the browser too excessively, either (apps cut down my browser usage), although lately I am finding more stuff that I visit in the browser.
April 26, 2011 — 5:05 pm
RandyN says:
Miren is very nice, fast, stable, etc.
April 26, 2011 — 3:01 pm
Evan Kline says:
Mirin did seem pretty cool, Randy. It scare me briefly, though, when I found a couple of images with Chineese characters in my gallery, which I traced back to Miren.
April 26, 2011 — 5:06 pm
James@Chainsaw reviews says:
I would go with Dolphin. Nothing can compare to its experience on my xperia play. The browser is fast, less reponse time, quick streaming, optimised in the best way it could have been providing you the ultimate hand held browsing experience.
April 27, 2011 — 2:48 am
Martin says:
I’ve been using Dolphin HD as it has a few more user features than the stock browser. It seems fast enough to me and there are plenty of add-ons available, including Last Pass and Xmarks. xScope does look very nice but I’m not quite tempted enough to switch.
I’m a Firefox fan on the desktop and would like to give it a go on my phone but its huge size means it won’t fit onto my HTC Desire. They need to cut it down a bit.
April 27, 2011 — 7:33 am
randy says:
for my mobile and in my view i love opera :D
it rockzz my mobile browsing
April 27, 2011 — 11:26 am
priya says:
firefox run better in my sony experia x10 mini mobile faster
April 27, 2011 — 11:27 am
sudin says:
i prefer boat browser.. its faster than any browser on galaxy ace
October 1, 2011 — 10:41 am
Evan Kline says:
Some great reviews for that one, sudin. I’ve just downloaded it, along with the mini version, and will be trying it out.
October 4, 2011 — 11:51 am
Quick says:
Dolphin HD and Boat browser works for me. The default browser of android always crashes on my Moto xoom.
January 31, 2012 — 12:34 am
Evan Kline says:
I started using Boat pretty regularly until I switched ROMS. Lately I’ve been using the built in browser for my ROM, which is pretty good. The browser itself is unique to the ROM.
February 3, 2012 — 4:34 pm
D.R. Ellenberger says:
Well this article is so old its practically irrelevant however still useful but the latest stock browser seems fastest but with google and adobe seeming to no longer support it or any other you almost have to go with chrome or firefox at least for certain things anyway you really need at least 2 browsers in my opinion that is stock and firefox
July 1, 2012 — 10:50 pm