Check out PC World’s Battle of the Android Browsers article. They did time and usability tests on six browsers — Skyfire 2.0, Dolphin HD, Opera Mini, and Mozilla Fennec, and the stock browsers from Android 2.1 and 2.2.
What did they find? Opera comes out pretty good due to server-side minimizing of web-pages. Fennec is still in alpha, and has LOUSY load times, but looks promising. The stock Android browser actually slowed down from 2.1 to 2.2 (by a fraction of a second, but, still!). And SkyFire 2.0 was the fastest.
All three of these third-party browsers have carved out their niche versus the stock Android browser, making them worth the download for some users. That’s the beauty of Android: You have options, and you’re not stuck with just one browser. But out of the three, we pick Skyfire as the best third-party browser overall, due to its fast page-load speeds, extensive features, and video support. In its current state, we can’t yet recommend Mozilla’s Fennec, but it has potential, and we’re interested in testing it again after it has had more updates.
Well blow me down!
(source)
I’m not too surprised at the poor Fennec (FireFox mobile, if you haven’t been paying attention) performance. It hasn’t been slimmed down, and has a lot of work to be done. I can’t even get it to install on my Incredible! But as a FireFox extension developer, I’m disappointed.
Okay, the Thunderdome metaphor is lousy. Because the test is for six different browsers, and all of them left alive. Bonus points for a catchy title?
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