If you’re torn between choosing an iPhone or Android device, here’s yet another metric to take into account. According to findings released today, Android’s browser averages a 52% speed advantage in loading pages over the iPhone.
Website speed optimisation firmBlazeconducted the tests which also found that Android finished loading a Web page faster on 84% ofFortune 1000company websites.
Meanwhile, despite Steve Jobs recentlytrumpetingiOS 4.3’s greatly improved Javascript processing speed and similar enhancements in Android 2.3, Blaze’s report claims that Javascript speed makes no measurable improvement on the actual page load times of the sites tested.
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Ontario-based Blaze says that it ran 43,000 test to reach its conclusions. Real phones were used, connecting to real websites and measured usingcustom-built agentsdesigned to measure page load speed. “Past studies have often used fabricated benchmark sites or manual measurements on a small number of sites,” the company said.
Blaze’s CTO and co-founder Guy Podjarny tells us that it appears as if Android is smarter at handling network connections, while its browser loads page elements in an order that optimises load speed. iOS, on the other hand, appeared to load pages in a straightforward but suboptimal fashion. Podjarny said that the company would be investigating the reasons behind Android’s advantage in greater depth soon.
We’re only talking about a second or so’s difference in average loading times, so it’s not like iOS drags its heels significantly. However, iOS and Android tablets use the same browsers as their mobile counterparts and users expect them to deliver a full desktop Web experience. If the speed difference reflected in this report carries through to Android’s tablet-optimised Honeycomb version, it could be worth keeping this report in mind when you weigh up the choice between an iPad 2 or one of its Android rivals.
UPDATE:For an alternative take,The Loophas called Blaze’s methodology for this study into question.
Story byMartin SFP Bryant
Martin SFP Bryant is the founder of UK startup newsletter PreSeed Now and technology and media consultancy Big Revolution. He was previously(show all)Martin SFP Bryant is the founder of UK startup newsletterPreSeed Nowand technology and media consultancyBig Revolution. He was previously Editor-in-Chief at TNW.
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