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BlackBerry Bold vs iPhone 3G Web Browser Showdown

by Kevin Michaluk on 21 Aug 2008 10:41 AM
47
 

Video showdown courtesy of Mobile Computing via Gizmodo. In this particular instance, it doesn't bode to well for the Bold. But the video isn't completely convincing (see first comment to this post). Kinda strange to see the 3G signal indicator on the Bold bounce around so much too. I still have faith though. We'll do up our own comparison video soon (need to get my Hands on this new Rogers Bold), but in the meantime you can check this comparison out. Update after the jump.

UPDATE: One of our Loyal Readers (Thank you to Treatz for sending in!!) just put together the following video, re-testing the Bold's download speeds over WiFi of the same website used in the comparison video above. Looks like the comparison video above might not be the best one to base your opinions on - seems the Bold dropped it's WiFi connection as shown by icons displayed. Checking out the video creator's review, it also seems it's a pre-release Bold as well (evaluation unit). Pre-release versions of the Bold OS we're still addressing these kinds of bugs. Full release models should be much better to go. Seems much of the blogs reporting on this story are now updating to address the lack of fair test. We'll do up a test of our own in the days ahead. Have a Rogers iPhone 3G here, just waiting on a Rogers Bold, and we'll put them at it and see what happens. Results may be the same, but maybe (and hopefully!) not.

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47 Comments

Posted by Treatz Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

Here's the problem...

you can clearly HEAR that the bold on the left, for some reason, kicked out of wifi and dropped down to EDGE..

You hear the ee.e.ee.e E. e. e./ .e ein the speakers....]

ALSO,

where's the Wifi Icon...

when I'm browsing on Wifi, it's clearly shown.. Wifi stays lit.

this phone is not on wifi, it's on 3G and has dropped down to edge

I'm gonna try and throw up a video in a bit

 
 
Posted by nothin2seehere Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

I don't believe it. Sorry, but just how can it be THAT much slower? Also, listen carefully to the noise of the Bold switching from 3G to EDGE and all the network connectivity - I wonder if it wasn't using WiFi in the first place...

 
 
Posted by Zocks Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

This is NOT good news for me who is torn between the two and is not-so-patiently awaiting the arrival of the Bold to be 100% it is the right choice.

Or, do you suppose this is in part a cause for the AT&T release delay? Something AT&T is trying to correct before putting them on sale? Or is that not possible?

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

You CAN have the mobile network off and still use wi-fi on the bold. I did test the bold browser vs. my ipod touch, and I have the opposite conclusions.

It's definitely on the mobile network, that's for sure.

This video just lost its credibility for me.

 
 
Posted by brandonb6274 Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

I'm getting faster page loads on my CDMA 8330, what gives?

 
 
Posted by pmd Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

You can clearly see in the video that the Bold is not on Wi-Fi, it starts out on 3G, then drops down to EDGE. The Bold shows a Wi-Fi icon in the browser title bar normally. If the reviewer had used the Wi-Fi Browser on the BlackBerry he would have had dramatically different results. Someone should contact the reviewer and clarify.

 
 
Posted by nicoburp Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

I'm not even sure that the Wi-fi logo is pure Black & white at the beggining of the video... So Wi-Fi might be on, but never connected...

I may be wrong, but for sure the video has no credibility to me as soon as we all can hear the ttt-ttt-ttt bip of the edge network...

But for sure the iPhone screen and browser looks good, even better than any other phone, but come on, the bold should be just in second position, nothing to do with the performance on this vid

 
 
Posted by chrismartintx Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

sorry but my 8110 was loading faster than the bold... why must fanboys lie about the iphone.

 
 
Posted by Haydendillon Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

I hate to say it but it looks like the 1ST gen iPhone is faster then the BOLD..even if the WI-FI is on....sorry folks..I will always stay loyal to RIM but jees...Apple is making us look bad

 
 
Posted by Haydendillon Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

Im sorry to say it but it does look like the 1ST gen iPhone is faster then the BOLD..I hate to say it becasue I will always be loyal to RIM, Apple has done a good job...Sorry to say it

 
 
Posted by Snipes Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

How bout a FAIR rematch now? This video jut made me dislike EDGE even more now.

 
 
Posted by WickedRabbit Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

It's the same guy that same that "RIM IS DEAD DEAD DEAD" because Apple has MobileME (which we all know failed on an epic scale) and even said similar when the first iPhone was released. He's a professed iPhone fanboy. I'm sure this video is purposely manipulated because most people that see it will not have spotted that he isn't even actually connected to Wi-Fi.

 
 
Posted by ReggieS Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

The newly uploaded page loading test (thank you!) still shows the Bold lagging way behind the iPhone.

The original test was more than 1 minute on the Bold. The iPhone is roughly 37 seconds. The newly uploaded test still shows about 50 something seconds.

This makes me sad, but the Bold needs its web features worked on some more before I'll upgrade to it.

 
 
Posted by danm94 Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

My curve 8310 using opera mini loaded up the slashdot.org page just about as quickly as the iphone. it showed the main content of the page faster than the iphone but took a bit longer overall to get all the images finalized, etc. either way, i think it's a bit stupid people care so much about a few extra seconds of browser speed. HSBC was testing iphones to replace 200,000 execs BBs and came back with a terse "no way in hell," last week. goes to show there's more important features to a smartphone than just browser speed.

 
 
Posted by Crackafied Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

iphone still seems faster after watching the second video.

 
 
Posted by derekdevine Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

The BOLD was never connected to a WiFi spot, the WiFi was only turned on.
The 3G icon is seen since the video starts showing that 3G is active and was the mode of connectivity.

 
 
Posted by derekdevine Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

Also we don't know which software version was used on the BOLD, it could of been an old release that RIM could have fixed or not. You just gotta think about all the other possibilities.

 
 
Posted by Jackon Hewitt Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

The second video is pointless. Ok, yes the BB BOLD is loading the video quicker but who knows what kind of WiFi connections we are talking about. The first guy could be on lets say a 1.5MB pipe while the second video the guy could be running off of a 6MB pipe. Unless the second video has another iphone to compare it to its the most scientifically asinine comparison ever. I am just upset that they decided to get rid of the leather trimmings from my BOLD. BB please don't release the BOLD until everything is perfect. You don't want another retarded lady suing you since your WiFi won't connect underwater.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

Did you not read the posts before you? Did you not see the video? You can tell in the first video that the Bold dropped the wifi signal few seconds into it. He was running on EDGE the entire time.

 
 
Posted by smaug Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1370 days ago

Yikes, the Bold clearly wasn't on WiFi in that first video. Sucks that this bad information is being spread around now.

 
 
Posted by Amir Saad Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

This comparison is not fair...use Mini Opera on the Bold and compare that to the iPhone...that's fair, because the requesting scripts and loading scripts take forever...and I don't think the iPhone loads any of that.

Oh and BTW, disabling "Suppor JavaScript" in the Browser configuration under Options in the browser eliminates that issue, that would be fair then...

 
 
Posted by winston.sih Saturday, Aug 23, 2008 1367 days ago

I COMPLETLY AGREE! They should compare Opera Mini on the Bold vs. the iPhone...

 
 
Posted by Bold T-Mobile Germany Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

Hello,

i got a Bold from T-Mobile Germany and the Browser is really slow my Girlfriend has an iPhone and almost every Website loads faster. Even my Curve on Edge loads Websites faster than the Bold on WiFi. The worst thing is that the Bold needs about two to three minutes to load the Crackberry Website!

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

I love how this website will never admit defeat without having some excuse. i love BBs! but when it's out performed by another phone then so be it. Don't be such fanboys!

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

No issue there. I have an iPhone 3G sitting here, just waiting to get a Rogers BlackBerry Bold (should have had one already), and will do up another test.

Over WiFi, Over Rogers 3G (where I'm located).

iPhone may win, Bold may hold it's own. We'll see. But it will be a fair/even-handed test with full release devices on the same carrier. And if you're gonna knock, don't be so anonymous! :)

 
 
Posted by JRSCCivic98 Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

It's not a network speed issue. It's the stupid BBBrowser technology. It blows and everyone knows it. Hopefully if the Thunder releases with a webkit engined browser this won't be a problem anymore. Everyone knows the iPhone browser puts all other mobile browsers to shame. No surprise there... anyone who thinks otherwise is dreaming.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

Please try this

I cleaned my all of my cache. I tried the first website on my 8310 curve using the EDGE network of AT&T. My phone showed the text faster that the bold shown in Mobile Computing via Gizmodo. By the time bold in the video starts showing something I see the loading images indication on the botton of my screen and only about 2 seconds later it was done. I can not believe that a bold on WIFI would take longer than my ATT curve on EDGE. Whatever this is, it's not a bold on WIFI.

 
 
Posted by robotaholic Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

i averaged 16 seconds to load the same exact page no problem and that is on sprint cdma reva in oklahoma city - pfft, stupid test,stupid video, and stupid conclusion - i guess i don't need an iphone, or wifi -

 
 
Posted by robotaholic Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

i'm gonna video it tonight on youtube and put up the link - and you can time it with my casio watch right next to it- :D

 
 
Posted by robotaholic Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

i meant 26 seconds which is a clean 10 seconds faster than crapple

 
 
Posted by CrackBerryHarry Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

My ancient 7520 loads pages faster than the bold does in that demonstration. He clearly has no idea what he's doing when setting up the Bold on WiFi, or, more likely, he's pandering to the iPhonites.

 
 
Posted by frouz Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/21/debunk-blackberry-bolds-browser-on-wi...

check it out

 
 
Posted by oleon311 Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

on engadget.com they posted how the Bold was using EDGE and 3G in the video,...which if you think about it...actually blows the Iphone out of the water...since the Bold's EDGE load time is almost the same as the Iphone wifi load time...Geez, Iphone sucks!

 
 
Posted by morty11 Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

i got the bold and my budy came over with a curve.

tested the browser on wifi vs edge

the curve was faster!

try it

 
 
Posted by curveman Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

im on both ends of the spectrum now.. i had a 8320 curve for a good few months, last month or so of having it i updated to the 4.5.52 software. i must say the browser looks to be the same as the bolds and it just lacks.. i picked up an iphone and the browser on it blows anything out of the water that the blackberry has.. dont get me wrong though, i actually miss my curve, a lot. thats why i kept it in the family lol.. my little sister has it.. but as a multimedia phone the iphone is awesome, better browser and media player, two of the main things i needed.

 
 
Posted by curveman Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 1369 days ago

im on both ends of the spectrum now.. i had a 8320 curve for a good few months, last month or so of having it i updated to the 4.5.52 software. i must say the browser looks to be the same as the bolds and it just lacks.. i picked up an iphone and the browser on it blows anything out of the water that the blackberry has.. dont get me wrong though, i actually miss my curve, a lot. thats why i kept it in the family lol.. my little sister has it.. but as a multimedia phone the iphone is awesome, better browser and media player, two of the main things i needed.

 
 
Posted by Johnny_Qwest Friday, Aug 22, 2008 1369 days ago

I just have to ask how can you compare the communications of both devices without consideration of reception. If you look at the top right of the bold theres barely two bars up where the reception on the Iphone is much stronger (top left bars). Were these tested on that same carrier?

 
 
Posted by nothin2seehere Friday, Aug 22, 2008 1369 days ago

Just tested it on my Curve 8310. Full EDGE in the middle of London on O2. For mobilecomputermag.co.uk the first text appeared in 21 seconds and the page was fully loaded within 30 seconds. It looked crap mind you, the Curve's browser isn't going to break any records in the accurate rendering department :)

 
 
Posted by Mike Dent Friday, Aug 22, 2008 1369 days ago

They should not be compared side by side on the same wireless network either.
The test should be done by timing each device on its own, with the other powered off.
Ideally nothing else should be using that wireless access point that the phones are connected to either.
As others have pointed out its a pre-release bold on edge most of the time, no comparison.

 
 
Posted by xwarhammerx Friday, Aug 22, 2008 1369 days ago

Engadget posted a story about this on there website, siting the video from the crackberry member as well.

 
 
Posted by bmcclure937 Friday, Aug 22, 2008 1369 days ago

I honestly did not have time to read through the entire Engadget article, as I am heading out the door to run some errands.

But here is the link : http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/21/debunk-blackberry-bolds-browser-on-wi...

 
 
Posted by bmcclure937 Friday, Aug 22, 2008 1369 days ago

I honestly did not have time to read through the entire Engadget article, as I am heading out the door to run some errands.

But here is the link : http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/21/debunk-blackberry-bolds-browser-on-wi...

 
 
Posted by Bad Ash Friday, Aug 22, 2008 1369 days ago

Here is a comparison done with a iPhone 3g running on EDGE vs Treatz video here on Crackberry.

http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2008/08/22/iphone-vs-blackberry-bold-browse...

 
 
Posted by jab0321 Sunday, Aug 24, 2008 1367 days ago

I have an 8330 curve with Verizon as a carrier and I just ran the same test and my phone beat the bold connected to wi-fi. How is that possible since wi-fi is suppose to be so much faster? My phone doesn't even have wi-fi capability.

 
 
Posted by jab0321 Sunday, Aug 24, 2008 1367 days ago

double post

 
 
Posted by leafs_fan17 Monday, Aug 25, 2008 1366 days ago

The iPhone has is the way you browse the web. Using the trackball is too time consuming and it takes more thumb strikes compared to the touchscreen. Still love my Bold though!

 
 
Posted by Cheeky Grapefruit Tuesday, Sep 02, 2008 1357 days ago

As a Mac user, I was rather ambivalent at first about the "buttonless" factor of the iPhone. As time went on and the nonsense of standing in line (Pt. 1) faded into obscurity, I was gifted an iPhone by an alcoholic family member. Children, here is what we call FORESHADOWING in the story.
I am 7 months into my iPhone usage and I have had it replaced once so far, by Apple-no questions asked. The snazzy UI is soon overshadowed by lagging touch-reaction time, over 89 missed calls (yes I am keeping a tally) that are not recorded as missed calls but as the iPhone sits patiently next to me while I am __________ (fill in blank), all of a sudden the voicemail notifier notifies me of new voicemail. Phone is on full ring and it has not made a peep in over 6 hours.
This leads me to the only logical solution...back to blackberry. I was so satisfied with the 8700c. It was such a good little machine. Don't get me wrong, I've had wet dreams about the Bold just as you have, but I just reconnected with the 8700c through at&t's 50.00 upgrade program (and although the 8700c is way older than the iPhone, I do consider this to be an upgrade). I will wait out all the pre-post release non-sense that is being hashed out and once the hoopla dies down, I may just sell the 8700c, which will have a higher resale value in a year than my iPhone has 7 months after launch date. Speaking of launch, I will free my iPhone into the briny depths of the East River at some point this week simply because the sheer joy of chucking it is worth more to me than the measly 100.00 I might get for it on ebay. Just my 2 cents.