Mobile browser showdown: Archos 5 vs. iPhone 3G vs. Nokia N810

Browser bakeoffs are never without a certain amount of controversy, but we're sort of into Pocketable's latest comparison since the devices on the bench represent three very different points on the spectrum of touchscreen devices. Having used them all, we'll say upfront that the results are surprising: the Archos 5 smokes both the iPhone and the N810, and not always by small margins -- the 5 loaded Engadget 18 seconds faster than the N810. (We did the same test with our 5 and iPhone 3G and the results were basically similar.) Now, that's not to say that makes the 5's Opera-powered browser the best or even the most usable, since in our experience scrolling is painfully choppy and hard to do with the resistive touchscreen, but it's interesting that the hotrodded PMP managed to load pages consistently faster than either the smartphone or the Linux-powered tablet. Take a peek at the full results at the read link.

[Jack H @ Oct 18th 2008 10:11AM]

thats at least a little surprising...........
18 seconds faster?
hmmmm

[CT A @ Oct 18th 2008 10:28AM]

What's so surprising? It's Opera!

[Surur @ Oct 18th 2008 11:10AM]

It just shows how overblown this webkit mania is when Opera Mobile 9.5 renders better than the Safari Mobile, scrolls and zooms just as well, has multiple tabs that actually stay open instead of going "white", supports flash and finally allows you to upload and download stuff (unlike Safari), not to mention supports cut and paste of course.

Yet all we hear is that Safari Mobile is the best browser experience - what crap.

[John @ Oct 18th 2008 11:35AM]

You dont understand. Safari will always be the best browser because Apple made it. It doesnt matter that it will probably never support flash, or java, or silverlight or downloads. Yes, Apple will NOT allow downloads on their browser. The only way they want anything going to the iphone is through itunes or the app store. To me, no downloads= automatic fail.

[Sergio @ Oct 18th 2008 11:50AM]

Whattttt??? No downloads on that rotten apple this is new for me, it just makes it suck more.

[Ryan @ Oct 18th 2008 12:24PM]

Surprising? Hardly. The Archos 5 is toting an OMAP3 SoC. That's a Cortex A8 at 600MHz that's at least 2-3x faster than the OMAP2420 (ARM11 @ 400MHz), and at least 2x faster than whatever the ARM11 in the iPhone is clocked at today.

[Ryan @ Oct 18th 2008 12:28PM]

@Surur

No, what it really shows is that CPU speed has more to do with browser performance than any single other factor. ;)

[JohnTitor @ Oct 18th 2008 12:30PM]

the differences can be for a few reasons, the Archos has the faster ARM Cortex CPU, and an Opera engine, the iphone has webkit and the current n810 OS uses MicroB which is based on Mozilla I believe, the n800s used to use Opera but switched because it adds more compatibility including AJAX and Flash 9 (at the time of the switch Opera could only do 7 but the Archos 5 can also do 9 now). Hardder time scrolling might be because Archos uses a non-capacitive touchscreen and because engadget is heftier than the average size, this why engadget has a mobile and iphone site version, the iphone version would also work well on the n810 and Archos 5, despite both having superior resolutions

[gozer @ Oct 18th 2008 12:32PM]

"t just shows how overblown this webkit mania is when Opera Mobile 9.5 renders better than the Safari Mobile, scrolls and zooms just as well,... "

except that the entry states "Now, that's not to say that makes the 5's Opera-powered browser the best or even the most useable, since in our experience scrolling is painfully choppy and hard to do with the resistive touchscreen,"

[Surur @ Oct 18th 2008 1:47PM]

I am referring to my own experience with Opera 9.5 on the HTC Touch Diamond and Pro.

One can compare apples to apples by looking at videos of the new HTC Touch HD vs the iPhone 3G, which demonstrates the same.

http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=1105

Look at the above video for example, where Safari completely mis-renders the page, while Opera Mobile renders it perfectly.

[JohnTitor @ Oct 18th 2008 5:16PM]

Opera Mobile (for WinMo and Symbian) and Opera for Devices (for Archos, Wii, etc) are quite different, in fact they've only recently overhauled Opera Mobile to work more like Opera for Devices but it is still missing key features like Flash 9 and isn't yet fully stable, non-the-less it looks quite good on the Touch HD

[loosely_coupled @ Oct 18th 2008 9:11PM]

1) The iPhone Safari is still much smoother and more fluid when scrolling and zooming, not to mention offers a much more functional method of doing so with multitouch and the intelligent double-tap zoom.

2) The superior load time of the Archos 5 is obvious - It uses a 600mhz Cortex-A8 processor which is more than twice as fast clock-for-clock than the ARM11 that the iPhone (and every other smartphone) uses...

[Mikeweezer @ Oct 19th 2008 11:13PM]

@surur - That's awesome! Can't wait to buy my HTC Touch HD.... wait... what? they aren't selling it here... wtf?

ugh. HTC is killing me :(

[Mike C @ Oct 18th 2008 10:13AM]

I blame it on the wireless router! ;)

[OCEAN 'CLAK' 20th @ Oct 18th 2008 12:25PM]

i agree, they must have cheated this test with a crappy internet connection cause everyone knows apple safari is the best mobile browser experience, theres virtualy nothing mobile safari cant do

[Esat Dedezade @ Oct 18th 2008 12:32PM]

Apart from flash, right?

[JohnTitor @ Oct 18th 2008 1:02PM]

AJAX?

[OCEAN 'CLAK' 20th @ Oct 18th 2008 6:52PM]

NOBODY USES AJAX OR ADOBE FLASH BLOTEWARE thats why safari the best browser, nobody likes flash ad banners

[Esat Dedezade @ Oct 18th 2008 7:21PM]

Ocean, I truly hope your just a bad comedian, but sadly I think I'm mistaken.

[JohnTitor @ Oct 18th 2008 7:42PM]

ocean it's funny you talk about ads, cause they're still there
and it's also funny how you say it's all bloatware cause you'd think without it, it would actually be faster not slower

[JohnTitor @ Oct 18th 2008 7:43PM]

ocean it's funny you talk about ads, cause they're still there
and it's also funny how you say it's all bloatware cause you'd think without it, it would actually be faster not slower

[OCEAN 'CLAK' 20th @ Oct 18th 2008 8:53PM]

well safari's made by apple there for its the best mobile browser available, plus john how can u judge mobile safari without using it, ive only ever used safari mobile and i think its the best brower, also easy to type with, easy to use and no restrictions when using it

APPLES SAFARI RULES

[JohnTitor @ Oct 19th 2008 12:23AM]

who says I never used it? What's good about browsing on the iPhone isn't so much safari invotion as much as "os x for iphone", which runs very stably (partly because it uses the gpu core and party because of its inability to multitask), as well as the fact that safari is missing things like flash, which allow it to run more fluidly than other devices, doesn't make safari perfect as you imply

[Phoenix @ Oct 19th 2008 9:46AM]

"how can you judge it without using it, I've only used it and know it's the best"

Am i the only one who sees the hypocrisy there? You can't judge it without using it, yet you can judge every alternative without using them...

[JohnM @ Oct 18th 2008 10:18AM]

iphone all the way for me, I've used all of these products in the past but none have been as reliable and fun as the iphone.

[Fernando @ Oct 18th 2008 11:28AM]

What are you talking about, the iphone has no flash. The archos 5 wins hands down, the resolution blows the iphone away.

[Dave Chappelle @ Oct 18th 2008 10:35PM]

to be honest i am not a fan of the iPhone but i do not understand why these companies cant get it through their head to make THINNER products. look @ the Nano, best selling ipod i wonder why?.

Please M$, Sony, Archos etc make your products thinner lets get some real competition.

[CJ @ Oct 19th 2008 5:17AM]

@ Dave Chapplle

Er... D'you think mabye because it's also the cheapest (screened) iPod in existance?

As far as I can see, the first iPod Nano also had the highest device-destroying damage rate of any iPod in existance.

[al @ Oct 18th 2008 10:24AM]

Archos has lead the way since 2002 but they really need to fix their touch screens

[Juxterium @ Oct 18th 2008 10:36AM]

Advertising in posts is bad mkay?

[Paul Evans @ Oct 18th 2008 10:39AM]

The iPhone is far from perfect, but when it comes to the all-round web browsing experience, it blows everything else out of the water.

[avester @ Oct 18th 2008 10:51AM]

So, in other words, iPhone isn't the best in anything, but it's pretty medicore at everything, and it's quite popular, so it's the best?

[PCIV @ Oct 18th 2008 10:57AM]

Oops? No flash? Even my WM6 has flash...
And don't flame me, I use my iTouch alot for browsing.

[Aaron @ Oct 18th 2008 11:28AM]

Nokia N810 has Flash too.

[Paul Evans @ Oct 18th 2008 11:48AM]

@ avester: Not in 'other words' at all. It's better for my needs than every other handset I've ever used (liberally spread across every major brand of manufacturer and operating system), so I'm happy to overlook it's short-comings on that basis.

If it doesn't do it for you, and/or it doesn't support the functionality you need, that's fine by me. But please don't knock the iPhone, just because it's an iPhone. Recognise it for the breakthrough that it is. We'd never have seen the likes of the G1, the Touch diamond or the Bold without it.

@ the world in general: See, I think the no-Flash issue is a bit of a red-herring. The way I look at it - and let me preface this by saying I'm a digital creative, Flash is my life - if I'm out and about, I'm generally using my phone to draw information, not for entertainment; and now that I've got , the last place I need to go is online for the latter. Even if the iPhone had Flash capabilities, I wouldn't access the majority of Flash content anyway as it tends to be bandwidth intensive, and'll therefore take forever to pull it down, plus will suck battery. If I'm at home, or otherwise within reach of an open wifi node, I've generally got my MacBook Pro on me, so I'd prefer to revert to that in any case, at which point Flash accessibility isn't an issue.

I don't miss Flash on my iPhone *at all*.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't - and routinely don't - recommend the iPhone to everyone. it's just not suited to a good portion of users. There's far too many people who've bought the hype - and I include people on both side's of the fence in that ;)

[Paul Evans @ Oct 18th 2008 12:22PM]

A-ha, once more the rational pro-iPhone corner gets voted down for no actual, logical reason other than personal preference.

[Surur @ Oct 18th 2008 3:13PM]

Quite appropriate, because your statement that the iPhone "blows everything else out of the water" seems to be based all on nothing but personal preference.

Or don't you realize most of us are not flash developers sick of flash sitting next to our macbook at home.

[bjsguess @ Oct 20th 2008 1:55AM]

@ Paul Evans

Please tell me why Safari is better? It's slower and doesn't support Flash/AJAX. I'll tell you what - I think most people can live without slow load times and multi-touch.

[Ian @ Oct 18th 2008 10:41AM]

18 seconds to load Engadget is bad.

18 seconds LONGER to load Engadget is embarrassing.


I don't think I'll even bother with 3G connectivity until acceptable speeds are standard. WiFi and WiMax will be fine for now.

[avester @ Oct 18th 2008 10:48AM]

I own unlimited 3G data plan (384k/384k, 80ms latency), and I don't see almost any difference between 3G and landline on PC, it's the mobile devices that are slow to handle that data.

[Ross @ Oct 18th 2008 10:45AM]

I like my iPhone, but the fact that the browser can't stay open longer than 5 minutes of browsing is something Apple should be embarrassed about.

[tomn @ Oct 18th 2008 1:45PM]

@Ross - I completely agree. I like my iPhone for a lot of reasons, but on it Safari is crash-happy and quite often frustrating to use. In particular, in my experience it has a nasty habit of crashing with most types of form entry. I would love Apple to focus on the stability of Safari in one of the next iPhone firmware updates.

[siddharth s @ Oct 18th 2008 2:38PM]

16GB 3g Iphone user speaking here. You know, safari crashes are a LOT less frequent if you don't jailbreak the iphone. I jailbroke mine the day I got it (yeah, for "fun"). I was bitching about the latency of opening apps and stability of safari. Ultimately I screwed up some file permissions when I SSH'd into the phone so I restored it. I didn't jailbreak for a few days and the difference was *astonishing*. Apps load MUCH faster and while it sucks not being able to SSH/SFTP into the filesystem, with the App store, I can live without the jailbreaking "fun".

About the browser topic: I think and I'm happy to see some competition to Mobile Safari ... its about time too. More competition = good. Safari's been out for 1.5 years and I'm a little surprised Apple hasn't bumped it up to the next level. Personally, I dislike NOT having flash content. Apple, youtube isn't the only flash site you know. My WM6 phone had that a year ago; of course Opera (back then, not now) couldn't really use it too well (rendering issues with older versions in 2006). Like I said, I don't care about Apple or MS ... may the best product win - lets see WM7. FYI, I was inclined to buy the Touch HD but the inconsistent "curtains on top of Windows Mobile UI" killed it ... several apps revert to the 'regular' WM6 interface. At the same time, I can see the buggy Exchange integration on the iPhone a deal breaker for other users.

[Ross @ Oct 18th 2008 9:12PM]

@siddharth s

I haven't Jailbroken my iPhone, just to let you know, I'm sure everybody that hasn't jailbroken it will agree that it's still crashes every time you want to fill out a UPS pickup form to send back my USB power adapter (no joke intended)

But thanks for the heads up about Jailbreaking making the apps go slower :)

[KRIS_C_123 @ Oct 18th 2008 10:48AM]

ha ha ha silly humans dont they know the iphone is just a figment of thier imagination

[Tim @ Oct 18th 2008 1:21PM]

ha ha ha silly pandas are too awkward to mate so they're dieing off . . .

[Fusion Fuzo @ Oct 18th 2008 7:05PM]

Silly pander bear, panda bears dont use internet or iphones

[Félix @ Oct 18th 2008 10:50AM]

I think Archos has a very much smarter name for his devices than PMP ...

It's a MIT it is design to browse the internet as much as to use the PMP's function and it's a shame engadget can't realize this..

The result's seem understandable to me : The archos 5 is optimised to use wifi and has a better CPU.

(not to mention the 4,8 inch screen just KICK the lama's ass.)

[dreambrother808 @ Oct 18th 2008 4:52PM]

Too bad the Archos is comparatively heavy, ugly, and has an amateur GUI, otherwise I would be interested in switching.

[uwaga dude @ Oct 19th 2008 12:05AM]

she has the 250gb drive version. the 60gb version is a lot thinner and smaller