Database Users

Nexus One vs HD2: Web Browsing Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmKyti2XEgY
Wow.....!!!
Results aside, that was a really great video, showing off what these phones can do.

Rematch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unrhua1stOg
Skyfire vs N1
Hmmm.....

I love how ill informed these reviewers are and the peons making comments. Android 2.1 supports multi touch, and there are browsers that take advantage of multi touch, even on 1.5/6 ROMs on my G1.
I do think the HD2 is one heck of a sexy phone! Too bad it is running WM, but maybe it will be nice and snappy with the dragon under the skin! I hope I get to test it for work, at the least.
Back on track, I think this matchup is pretty pointless, in the end, though. Both phones are going to surf at about the same speed, and comparing a proxy based browser to a phone based is flawed, to say the least. As well, Skyfire supports flash, which makes it even more flawed of a comparison. Come back in a month or two when Android has Opera Mobile 10, and flash support, then compare! Until then, it is flawed to make any sort of comparison.
Personally, as someone that was on a WM device before Android, both have pros and cons with their web browsing. Personally, the big thing with flash is youtube, and I think the Android youtube app trumps WM's. As well, I would say the overall browsing experience with the Android browser is better, especially when on a mobile network. But I was able to do a little bit more with WM, but it was a result of having 4 browsers to chose from.

Hehe, I guess we saw it differently. To me, the Nexus One absolutely hands down just slaughtered the HD2: Brighter screen, first to load content, first to finish, faster rotating. Hands down won in every category.
To be objective, plusses for the HD2: bigger screen (obviously) and more screen real estate (100% full screen once wepage fully loads), whereas the notification bar stays on screen permanently for Android. What I don't understand is that in Android 2.0, the address bar disappears once you scroll down the page. I wish there was an option to do the same thing with the Notification Bar. So you scroll down, and both the address bar AND the notification bar go away. Perhaps someone will hack this in?
(The skyfire test was kind of useless, since it "finishes" first, but the Nexus One loads content first, so you can actually, like... read stuff. But to be fair again, Skyfire does do flash, so plus for that.)

I agree that the Android browser was better overall in the side by side. But that doesn't change the fact it wasn't a fair comparison, and that with WM you can do more stuff on the internet(not much, but you can do more).

I don't even know why skyfire is even being used as a browser for comparison, since any web page is loaded server side with flash and all.
They should use Opera, with real load times, since its actually being loaded from the phones own power.

~~Tito~~ said:
I don't even know why skyfire is even being used as a browser for comparison, since any web page is loaded server side with flash and all.
They should use Opera, with real load times, since its actually being loaded from the phones own power.
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This. Server-side processing should always always always be faster at the cost of rendering integrity. Also, "winning" in my opinion is how fast content becomes accessible to the user, I can interact with pages while they're loading on the N1 but Skyfire doesn't display until loading is complete.

Nexus one is miles better due to WM on the hd2.. i sold mine

~~Tito~~ said:
They should use Opera, with real load times, since its actually being loaded from the phones own power.
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The first video is using Opera on the HD2. The second (the "rematch") is Skyfire.

On Android you can start reading the page within 2-3secs while on both WinMo browsers you'll have to wait till the page is almost fully loaded. Advantage Android for me

Can the N1 browser play internet videos? I get a message like 'can't play on my handset' when I try to in msn, yahoo, etc. Do I need a plugin or something?

galaxys said:
Can the N1 browser play internet videos? I get a message like 'can't play on my handset' when I try to in msn, yahoo, etc. Do I need a plugin or something?
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It does not have flash support at this time.

opera mini 5 b2

Now available on the market for free.... its pretty decent, worth having imo....
If this has already been posted I apologize and mods please delete...

i just saw that on cnet. i was wondering if anyone has used it yet, and what the verdict was, in comparison to dolphin

timothydonohue said:
i just saw that on cnet. i was wondering if anyone has used it yet, and what the verdict was, in comparison to dolphin
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Very, very, very fast server side processing browser... not as rich of an experience as the stock or dolphin, but much faster and does a pretty darn good job. Lots of extra stuff, like good bookmarks and cached browsing.

Great option.
FAST browsing. Great homepage/bookmarks , great tabs.
I always like having a secondary browser. Opera IMO is the best secondary browser and if you can deal with jpg compression and alot of "mobile" looking pages its a fanstastic primary browser.
I just wouldnt use it to show off the beauty of the phone.

Its about the same as the windows version and yes Hella fast... and has the option to upload pics or files unlike the stock or dolphin, and download files that are not supported on the device....

Is there a way to zoom in/out in sites? (maybe it's just too late and I can't figure it out).
Anyway, the hebrew is all messed up unlike the stock / Dolphin / HTC Desire browsers - so I'll have to skip that one.

It is a very nice browser i must admit. For the next few days I will be using it to replace Dolphin. Just as a test drive.

I don't like it.
Reasons:
A) When you scroll down a page (that's already "fully" loaded), the pictures show really nasty puke-colored placeholder boxes.
B) The full-screen mode still shows the notification bar. It's not really "full screen" then is it?... (That is by far my favorite feature about the Desire Rom.)
C) There's no way to fine-grained zoom in to how you want. Double tap is either zoomed FAR out, or zoomed to 1 specific point. Why can't I choose my own zoom level?

Very fast browser & lite on memory. Will be playing more with it next few days...

Not bad for a first release.. I'm impressed.
Looking forward to future updates.. multi touch etc.

Pretty good, especially when you are getting weak signal.

getting a bit sick of.........

having to flick between 4 different browsers on my phone as not one of thems really any good....
opera 10: looks nice and sharp, quick but is well and truely let down with the default screen image size and zoom options, no pinch to zoom and vids wont play.....useless
opera 9.7: looks good with nice default screen size. has pinch to zoom but is pretty dreadfull to use, you do the finger motion and you end up nowhere near where you need to be. again, vids wont play.....useless
skyfire: looks ok but its pretty jittery and nowhere near as fast as opera. no pinch to zoom and the zooming options are nothing to write about but at least it plays vids.
ie: hardly ever use this one as its so slow.
appart from browsing i think the phone is pretty sweet, its just a real shame using the internet is (for me) becoming a pain. whats your thoughts guys....?

I think Opera Mobile is amazing. I couldn't fault it in any way. Why does everyone complain about no pinch to zoom when a swift double tap works better.

with Opera 10 you only have to tap once to zoom in!
its so smooth, the scrolling is as smooth as butter and its so fast.
sure not playing flash is a pain, but its not essential, especially if youre complaning that you cant watch youtube on your browser when youve got an app for just that

Opera is gorgeous, fast, so fast... and completely flawless.
I'm using the 9.7 build that comes standard on the T-Mobile USA model. I also tweaked tons of the Opera cache settings, page loading, thumbnail, and zooming functions as well.

I think your alone on this one bud.
opera is badass by its self. opera 10 is freakin sweet.
btw ... why so many complaints about a sweet ass phone?

each to their own bud. its just a useful feature. on opera 10, when i tap to zoom its still sometimes hard to hit links or page numbers as it still too small. altering the zoom is hit an miss as if you make the zoom bigger it ends up too large for the screen. if i had pinch to zoom could make links and what not just a bit bigger.
i dont like the fact i cant play youtube vids on opera either, my phone from 3 years ago could do it........
opera 10 runs very slick but has major flaws, just my opinion.

Reignzone said:
Opera is gorgeous, fast, so fast... and completely flawless.
I'm using the 9.7 build that comes standard on the T-Mobile USA model. I also tweaked tons of the Opera cache settings, page loading, thumbnail, and zooming functions as well.
Click to expand...
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can you say what you have done tweak wise? i never seem to get a browsing experience to match my mates iphone...which im sure you can understand is annoying

IE seems pretty damn fast to me. I accidentally made it default and was shocked at how usable it was.
Opera 9.7 - not jittery, but i never use the pinch to zoom...ever. but I do use it because it launches and runs more snappily for a quick browse. it's lighter in resources.
Mobile 10 - my default. it takes longer to load than 9.7 and no pinch, but flash plugin works, double tap to zoom with reflow usually works. rendering good. fast, speedy. and page rendering without checkered boxes as in 9.7 or IE. Fab. Not perfect, but pretty damn good.
Never even needed to install skyfire after mobile10.
Why not try iphone instead? Or Android? I hear their browsers are even better
Just remember, technology is always work in progress. No browser, even on the desktop, is perfect. And I'm surprised they ALL work as well as they do on winmo - browsing is better on winmo than iphone and android. That was one reason that swayed me to winmo.

What do you suppose the better alternative is?
The iPhone browser?
I have an iPhone and its browser has nothing on Opera 10...even with pinch to zoom.
At least you have options. Flash isn't even an option on the iPhone!

I guess that I'm in the minority but I like IE best. The zoom on the Opera just isn't as easy to use as IE's slider control but maybe I just havn't used Opera enough. I also have an iPhone 3GS and while I like the browser and touchscreen response better, in every other category the HD2 wins hands down.

donwhann said:
having to flick between 4 different browsers on my phone as not one of thems really any good....
opera 10: looks nice and sharp, quick but is well and truely let down with the default screen image size and zoom options, no pinch to zoom and vids wont play.....useless
opera 9.7: looks good with nice default screen size. has pinch to zoom but is pretty dreadfull to use, you do the finger motion and you end up nowhere near where you need to be. again, vids wont play.....useless
skyfire: looks ok but its pretty jittery and nowhere near as fast as opera. no pinch to zoom and the zooming options are nothing to write about but at least it plays vids.
ie: hardly ever use this one as its so slow.
appart from browsing i think the phone is pretty sweet, its just a real shame using the internet is (for me) becoming a pain. whats your thoughts guys....?
Click to expand...
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are you using the Latest Stock WWE 1.66 ROM
Opera Browsing here is second to none!

Maybe Opera Mini 5 is a good choice for you. Blazing fast, though no flash.
BTW: Opera Mobile 10 does support flash: settings - enable plugins - ready and IE also, to a certain extent, supports flash.

jigners said:
are you using the Latest Stock WWE 1.66 ROM
Opera Browsing here is second to none!
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yeah im using the latest rom bud. dont get me wrong, opera 10 is very fast and slick but just seems set up wrong for the screen size.if there was a zoom slider like in ie that would be sound enough. as it is, opera10 seems unfinished. also, not been able to view embedded videos on most sites is just complete madness. I know some people are saying "well hd2 already has a decent youtube app, use that", but what goods that when the video I might wanna watch is embedded in a page that wont allow me to view it....?. it all just seems like such a wasted opportunity on such a quality device. its the phones biggest downfall which is mad given this screen was made for viewing the internet on.......

IE is the only one (other than skyfire but that looks rubbish) that plays flash videos on site like bbc news, so I'm always switching between using Opera 10 for speed and IE for video.
Count yourself lucky that you can install whatever browser you want on WM, Apple still hasnt approved Opera mini on the ****phone

DMAND said:
IE is the only one (other than skyfire but that looks rubbish) that plays flash videos on site like bbc news, so I'm always switching between using Opera 10 for speed and IE for video.
Count yourself lucky that you can install whatever browser you want on WM, Apple still hasnt approved Opera mini on the ****phone
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yeah its pretty good that you can install other browsers, its just a pity the fastest and best looking one doesn't function that well. hey, these are just my opinions guys and im happy your happy with it lol.......

What's your favorite web browser?

I don't like the sluggishness and jerkiness of the stock browser. Is there a better third party browser that you particularly like? Is there anything that uses multitouch gestures?

eaglesteve said:
I don't like the sluggishness and jerkiness of the stock browser. Is there a better third party browser that you particularly like? Is there anything that uses multitouch gestures?
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I've settled on Skyfire. It's not perfect, but it's the best I've found.

MacGuy2006 said:
I've settled on Skyfire. It's not perfect, but it's the best I've found.
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Will try out everyone that you guys recommend.

Skyfire has at least one advantage over the ****ty native browser - it supports file download other than apk file, whereas the ****ty native browser can't even support file download. I can't believe how crippled it is, and wonder if that **** is from Google or Samsung.

With Astro filemanager the native (google!) Browser is able to do that too.

bayerischbeer said:
With Astro filemanager the native (google!) Browser is able to do that too.
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Thanks for this info bayerishbeer. Will get Astro filemanager right away.

How's opera mobile on the Galaxy S?

drleospaceman said:
How's opera mobile on the Galaxy S?
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Is Opera mobile available for Android? I can't find it in the Market Place.

theres no mobile, only mini, and its not that great, dolphin is pretty good tho

soraxd said:
theres no mobile, only mini, and its not that great, dolphin is pretty good tho
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Have used Opera mini on iPhone. It's really really lousy.
Will try out dolphin. Thanks!
edit: is it Dolphin Browser HD? or Dolphin Browser? What's the difference? I see.... HD is for Froyo.

The browser is bad? I'd always thought the Android browser was one of the best mobile browsers.
I never liked Skyfire on Windows Mobile - it's actually sending you screen grabs from rendering happening on their servers, so it was always laggy and slow to pan and zoom for me. Opera Mini is good if you don't have 3G data, since it's preprocessed and sent in a compressed form, but because the phone is rendering this custom preprocessed data and not the original HTML it doesn't support dynamic features.

Mithent said:
The browser is bad? I'd always thought the Android browser was one of the best mobile browsers.
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By iPhone standard, it is.
Mithent, are you using the stock browser? You've explored most of them I presume?

The stock browser works best for me. I've tried Dolphin, Opera and Skyfire and they all seem sluggish... Steel is good too.

Skyfire is sluggish, stock browser works great, no need to change it and it download all you want just learn how.

No problems with the stock browser here. It flies compared to Skyfire and works just as well as Dolphin.

Opera Mini 5.1 along with "Make it Default Browser"
Why?
- Opera is clearly the fastest in loading/displaying pages. Absolutely no contest
- 90% of the time I'm no under HSDPA coverage or Wifi, so moved megabytes matter
If only Opera Mini would get pinch zoom, then it would be perfect for me.
I don't need Flash or in-browser JS, which Opera Mini lacks.
For those occasions when in-browser JS is required, I use the built-in browser. Much better than Dolphin HD, which is very sluggish.

Try xScope. It works for me and somewhat better than Dophine.

I'll try all of them. So, the new ones that just cropped up are:
- Steel
- xScope
- Opera Mini (I hope it is not like the one on iPhone).
Thank you guys.

eaglesteve said:
I'll try all of them. So, the new ones that just cropped up are:
- Steel
- xScope
- Opera Mini (I hope it is not like the one on iPhone).
Thank you guys.
Click to expand...
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I've taken a look at all these, and the one that I like the most is xScope. It is very similar to the Atomic Browser that I use on iPhone. The things I like about this browser are:
- I think it is faster than the stock browser and smoother too.
- One quick gesture to reveal the web address bar, and autotically hide it when page is loaded to give as much real estate as possible to the user
- One stroke gesture to move from tab to tab, exactly like what I was having in iPhone.
- Multitouch zooming, one finger zooming, as well as double tab to zoom in and out.
- Able to download more file types, although still not covering as comprehensively as what the Atomic browser for iPhone could.
- Able to open link in the background by long press. This usually is the way I consistently beat Opera Mini in terms of loading speed. In a forum like this, I open all the links that want to visit first, and buy the time I finish reading the first tab, the others are already fully loaded waiting for me to read. That means zero loading time effectlvely for all the links. Opera Mini can't do that.
- I wish there is a gesture (such as double finger swipe down) to close the current tab like what Atomic browser could do.
- Coupled with the higher resolution and bigger screen size, I feel that it is even more enjoyable surfing on Samsung Galaxy S than my 3GS.
I'm pretty happy with it for now, and would make it my main browser, until better one comes along.
One question: What is the difference between the free and paid version? What additionally benefits are there going to the paid version?

eaglesteve said:
Mithent, are you using the stock browser? You've explored most of them I presume?
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I've not had much personal experience with it - I still have a Windows Mobile phone at the moment, but will be getting a Galaxy S soon (will be as a carrier upgrade next month). The opinion I had of the stock browser was what I've seen of it when compared to the iPhone's Safari and Opera Mobile on WM (IE isn't worth thinking about), so was just a little surprised and wondered if it wasn't so great in real-life use. I didn't know you had to go through hoops to download things with it.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with other options for Android, but I've tried Opera Mini and Skyfire on Windows Mobile. Given the nature of those applications, I doubt they're very different on Android.

browsers for ics/jb

Hi, I have installed elites 4.1.2 ROM, which so far is great.
What I have noticed, however, is that the Chrome browser that comes standard on JB is laggy - when I scroll around a large page such as a long list of forum posts, it becomes unresponsive and twitchy and its very annoying.
I tried Dolphin browser, and its scrolling is much smoother, although a little flickery when filling in unrendered parts of the screen as you scroll - perhaps that is the price of smooth scrolling - if so, Ill gladly pay it.
But dolphin browser uses up a ridiculously large screen area for the search bar and tab area, particualrly when the phone is held sideways. Its a bit ridiculous.
So Any tips out there for the smoothest, best browser to use?
cheers

Opera Mobile
Cheers

stefoid said:
So Any tips out there for the smoothest, best browser to use?
cheers
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i use maxthon, when i am on wifi (btw i use desktop mode)
and when i am on 3g i use opera mini (its saves u some tarific)