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Home»BlackBerry News»News & Rumors, Editorial, BlackBerry OS

Comparison: New BlackBerry WebKit Browser vs. the Competition (iPhone 4 and Samsung Captivate)

by Kevin Michaluk on 4 Aug 2010 09:00 PM
116
 
[ youtube video link for mobile viewing ]

If there's one feature BlackBerry users have wanted to see improve on their devices more than anything else, it's the BlackBerry web browser. With BlackBerry 6 that wish can finally be crossed off the list, as the new web browser with WebKit rendering finally makes browsing the web on a BlackBerry an enjoyable experience. Compared to the old browser, it's a night and day difference.

But how does the new BlackBerry web browser stack up to the latest and greatest devices from the competition? I wanted to know the answer to that myself, so with some help from Dieter we cleared the cache on the BlackBerry Torch 9800, Apple iPhone 4 and new Android-based Samsung Captivate and put the devices head to head to head in a one take, no messing around web browser shootout. We tested the browsers both over 3G and WiFi (note - towards the end of the video where I jokingly say the BlackBerry browsing is being 3x more efficient, keep in mind that only applies to browsing over 3G - when browsing over WiFi the data is pulled straight in to the device vs. over 3G when it goes through RIM's servers which optimize and compress the data over the air). Read on for the results.

The results? Well... it's a good news bads new thing. The bad news: in our little test the BlackBerry Torch 9800 couldn't pull off even one victory against the iPhone 4 and Captivate. The good news is it held in there pretty darn well - close enough that I don't think you'll feel hard done. It's a matter of a few seconds, which is a massive step forward from our old native BlackBerry web browser. Reflecting on the results post shootout, Dieter and I both agreed this is probably an area where the Torch's 624MHz processor could be the culprit more than the web browser itself. If you put the same 624MHz into the iPhone 4 or Captivate the Torch would probably Torch them. Conversely, if you upped the processing power in the Torch it could probably match or better the competition as well. Final conclusion: it's a massive upgrade to the BlackBerry web browser and it paves the way for even more speed and performance as we see RIM move up to their next generation of hardware. In the meantime, as long as you're not doing head to head shootouts, you'll now enjoy browsing on your BlackBerry a lot.

Filed Under: News & Rumors, Editorial, BlackBerry OS; Tags: android, Apple iPhone 4, BlackBerry 6, BlackBerry Torch 9800, comparisons, head to head, iPhone 4, Samsung Captivate, webkit browser
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116 Comments

Posted by campos_jeremy Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Torch got TORCHED! hahaha i know that was lame BUT the scrolling smoothness or lack there of put me off. IP4 and Samsung have excellent browsers(especially the captivate). Good test, now we know where the Torch stands in terms of browsing. But the whole page load time is attributed to the OTA data compression thru RIM servers. I was really excited about this device but I think I will try to hold off until RIM's next offering because this was just a sacrificial lamb. and i'm the fannest of blackberry fan boys. We need/deserve more!!!

 
 
Posted by appsstore Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Just imagine the captivate with android 2.2 where it'll be significantly faster

 
 
Posted by devildrifterX Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

when you use old outdated hardware to try to keep up with the demands of todays technology. This thing would scream if it was running on an acceptable processor.

 
 
Posted by ReccaKun Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

just imagine if RIM actually placed 1GHZ and 1GB of ram.... wonder how fast our bb would have been....

 
 
Posted by Jonneh Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

No kidding. I'm so disappointed, although I shouldn't be because I told myself this would happen when the mysterious slider was announced. Why, oh why does RIM continue to think they can compete with Apple and Android when they push out specs that are years behind what the competition is putting out? It's basically mandatory now that when an Android phone comes out, it comes packed with a 1ghz Snapdragon or (now) OMAP processors. Some rumored devices for the future and we're looking at 2ghz. In Jan 2011 Rim will just now (MAYBE) be putting a 1ghz processor in a blackberry, while all the competition will slay RIM with their 2ghz and other equally-awesome specs.

 
 
Posted by Bavo78 Sunday, Sep 05, 2010 523 days ago

Why do people always complain about how good the competition is? Okay The BB has not a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor... So what??? Did you already browse 1 hour on a HTC Desire? The handheld reaches temperatures over 37 degrees Celsius!!! That's what those huge processors are about! Okay it goes smoother, but after one hour of intens usage; you can put the handheld aside to let it cool down! Is that so much better??? And the batterylife of a HTC Desire for example with a bit more usage than average (3,5 hours) is complete empty!

Don't think that the engineers of RIM are fools when they design a new handheld! A BlackBerry is for using all day long and that means they have to give up a few things that the competition don't want to.

I had a HTC Desire for 3 weeks and I wasn't satisfied. Okay it has a great display and it's fast. But I was spending more time refilling the battery than using the device. So no thank you!!!

And what about the iPhone? It's a great display, but it's so much batteryconsuming... And for the other specs... please! Multitasking they call it??? We have to pay 700 Dollars vor the iPhone4 32 Gb and it's simply not worth the money.

So think better before complaining about the handhelds of BlackBerry!

 
 
Posted by JRSCCivic98 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

1/3 less data. lol I'll take 3+ times the speed on the other handsets. ;)

 
 
Posted by Dnomyar220 Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 553 days ago

haha +1 for that comment. This is why I'm thinking of going to android, look at how smooth that scrolling is

 
 
Posted by bigwill5150 Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

It will be somewhat refreshing for the those unlucky enough to be stuck on a BES. I know I'd sure take it over the Tour. BUT... How was it so predictable that it would it fall sooo far below par in comparison to the market? And on the other side of the fence were looking at browsers that support real live flash. Too bad for us RIM fans. I was looking forward to this. Guess Droid X wasn't a bad choice.

 
 
Posted by 1magine Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

no excuse. Never even fully loaded the CB site. Ohh well, its almost as fast as the devices released a year or two ago that now cost 1/2 the price. OK.

And love that responsiveness. You think we didn't catch you unable to scroll or zoom in or out for a few seconds there? We saw it.

PS. - my son's Incredible was just as fast as the IP4.

 
 
Posted by bigcat96 Saturday, Aug 07, 2010 552 days ago

the blackberry bold 9780 os 6 beat the iphone and android in a acid3 test which means it is a lot faster so the torch is just not as fast as those phones not the blackberry browser

 
 
Posted by thefonedoc Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Hey guys. Thanks very much for the vid!
Nice to see that it's totally unbiased and not choosing sites that suit one phone more than the other.

Clearly, the Torch is not the winner here, BUT, it's restoring my faith in Blackberry. As a Berry user for 7 or 8 years now, and currently on my 9700, which was dumped too early from the vid :( , the Torch shows real promise and shows that Blackberry are now coming back into the game.

I have branched into Android this year and I also use a HTC Desire & Samsung Galaxy S, which is the same as the Captivate more or less, and both of these phones have impressive specs and the Torch is right up there beside them. Really looking forward to what RIM can bring out in the near future!

 
 
Posted by FARBES Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

@thefonedoc, I totally agree with part of your comments.. OS6 look like more promise and shows that BB OS6 is now coming back into the game with APPLE's iOS 4 and Google's AOS 2. But BB OS need some improve and some friendly for touchscreen like IP4 and ADroid do.. ;o)

 
 
Posted by bia9977 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I was doing the same test with my old Bpld 9000 and it wasnt too far behind Torch. Honestly...I think its pathetic.

 
 
Posted by poolguy Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Thanks for the video, very helpful info. I see RIM is coming up with a good idea, however, ITS WAY BEHIND! They should have had this OS6 last year. Now I have to really think about this when my contract comes up in 6 months.

 
 
Posted by rbracht Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

bye bye RIM, you were fun, but your still stuck back in time, time to move on, :)

 
 
Posted by Frank2029 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

you're gonna leave rim because of a few seconds of loading time for a website? LMAO...

 
 
Posted by eskimones Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

Hell yes. This was the nail in the coffin for me. In todays day and time no one likes to wait and people should not have to. You slow you blow and we all saw that was sloooooow. One of the pages didn't even load all the way.. [ahem] NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!

 
 
Posted by jlb21 Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

I am partially with eskimones.....

I am not ditching rim. I just have no real desire for this phone. I love my Bold 9650. I just am not a big fan of the slider form factor. Then, seeing the Torch get torched in the web comparison.....yup, no rush to even consider this phone.

 
 
Posted by nasmith7 Saturday, Aug 07, 2010 551 days ago

yes when considering rim's usually torrid pace in producing camparable hardware to the competition. so many things i love about my Storm2, obselete case in point, but i can't see spending my money on something all past owners chuckle at when i pull it out of my pocket...

 
 
Posted by DuezPaid Sunday, Aug 08, 2010 550 days ago

No point in staying with an outdated product. Blackberry is nice until you see what else is available.

 
 
Posted by tidebuzz Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I don't want to make excuses for the Blackberry but, in all all fairness, the hardware in the Torch is pretty inferior to the iPhone 4 and the Captivate. Not saying that it would push the Torch past the other 2, but it is worth noting.

 
 
Posted by dwaynewilliams Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

The purpose was for them to release a product that will compete with thee other smartphones. But they didn't focus on the hardware as much as they did on the software. OS 6 seems to be good software, but they released it on harvester that is under powered. The same problem Palm had with the Pre.

 
 
Posted by Breezy279 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I've been such a Blackberry fan and lover and got all my friends to switch to Blackberry's. I'll tell them go Android from here on out. I'm so sad Blackberry!!! Data compression or not, I think RIM is far behind. :(

 
 
Posted by GoldBerryRocker Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Kevin, your a fan boy...jk, 8900 was only 3 sec's behind the others on wifi, that's good enough for me("fan boy!" scream the BB hater)and like y'all said, it's a huge upgrade form the last browser, AND, it was a 600(not sure the exact number) vs two 1Ghz phones, but still held it's own imo. Besides, the only people who are abandoning BB are Verizon user with Storms anyway(and they only bought that cause they couldn't get an iPhone...sad but true)(and if you say I'm full of it, look around and count how many "I'm leaving RIM for Droid/Droid X/Droid2/Droid Incredible vs Iphone and I bet Droid would be times more) That is all :)

 
 
Posted by jeffydude Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I agree it got beat but its a huge improvement over the old browser. The few seconds aren't that huge of a deal to me but, RIM not updating the processor or resolution I dont get. I'm not saying we need 1 ghz but 800 mhz would be more than enough.

 
 
Posted by GoldBerryRocker Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I agree, or 999 mhz(jk), but I really think they're testing to see how the OS will do, and if it's a succuess, THEN I think Rim will improve on the hardware, I'll give it a year. We can at least call it "The Palm Pre Killer",lol. Since these hardware are "outdated", it shouldn't coast RIM much to build these phone, so they'll have more money to make more improvement on the hardware next time, . I think that's the same ideal Palm had, but they already knew it was a 50/50 chance, but we all know RIM isn't going anywere, so test OS first, and if success, then deck out the hardware.imo

 
 
Posted by jeffydude Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I agree it got beat but its a huge improvement over the old browser. The few seconds aren't that huge of a deal to me but, RIM not updating the processor or resolution I dont get. I'm not saying we need 1 ghz but 800 mhz would be more than enough.

 
 
Posted by jlb21 Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

Sure, it's a better browser than what we have had. But at this point, we should be "far exceeding" what we have had in the past.

I mean, even when Kevin said as the Torch was getting totally torched trying to load the Shop Crackberry site "..it's just a better overall browsing experience..."

..he sounded so defeated about it.

I read his tone as "Oh man, this sucks that the Torch is so slow compared to what I was hoping for, but OH WELL, it still is a new and improved browsing experience".

It's like having a certain model car which you wish had better performance and instead of upgrading to a car that really performs well, you put a fresh coat of paint on it and say, it looks really nice.

I honestly think the combination of what we all seem to say is an underpowered device (by today's standards) combined with the new OS....I think that is killing this. I would really have liked to see this comparison with the Torch having more horsepower.

And you can't really blame AT&T's network as all the phones in the comparison were AT&T phones.

 
 
Posted by nasmith7 Saturday, Aug 07, 2010 551 days ago

why is it behind on hardware when it came out after these phones. Ghz processors have been out for a while now.

 
 
Posted by HTC_Droid_EvO Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

That was wayyy to easy...they should have just called it the BB burn...LOL

Droiiiddddd

 
 
Posted by HTC_Droid_EvO Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

That was wayyy to easy...they should have just called it the BB burn...LOL

Droiiiddddd

 
 
Posted by HTC_Droid_EvO Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Hey from the mouth of kings...to the servants ears.

Sorry about the double post...btw.

 
 
Posted by sk8er_tor Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

It's okay, we know your Android caused the double post to happen.

 
 
Posted by ron87 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Capitvate and iPhone put that Torch out. Releasing slow hardware isn't good for RIM. And did you hear Kevin? He was happy to be coming in last. Lol....not a good look. If RIM is happy with finishing last then cool.

 
 
Posted by CBPilu Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I heavily considered returning my captivate this week to wait for the torch. This is making me rethink that decision

 
 
Posted by L_Boogie820 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Yea, RIM didn't invent the wheel here by no stretch of the imagination but they've incorporated up-to-date features and functions. Not for nothing but Apple and the iPhone JUST came out with MMS for the iPhone, what? last year? and the 3GS added video when my gold 8320 on TMo was doing it like 3 years ago. OS6 is very promising. Yea, I would LOVE to see HD on a BB but is it make a break? No. Oh and lets not talk about iPhone 4's reception issue....yes, it DOES exist and I have a fanboy at work b*tch about it all the time ("waaahhh i want my 3Gs back wwaaahhhh")....I contemplated going Droid but after spending time in verizon, BB just pulled through on top. I'll take my 9650 before I take an iPhone or Droid X personally and Im sure there are many people who would as well.

 
 
Posted by agrumpy1122 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Huge blackberry fan, have to say I was a little disappointed to see the sites load up slow. I tried my BOLT browser(9700) compared to the Torch on wifi(Nationalgeographic.com). To my surprise BOLT beat out the Webkit browser. Hope there are some updates.

 
 
Posted by jonkjon Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

I did the same thing on my S2 and Bolt browser beat the Torch on both nationalgeographic.com and amazon.com

 
 
Posted by darkmanx2g Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I am also a huge blackberry fan and I'm loving the torch. Even though it was last place in all the tests its a huge improvement over their old browser. I'll take that. I'm rooting for blackberry to get back in the game. Rim is like Nintendo they just want to maximize profits and use old cheap hardware.
For a communication device that's a damn good browser. If only the torch would've come to T-Mobile before the Samsung vibrant came out I would've probably stayed with Blackberry.

 
 
Posted by tttc24 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I know it didn't win out of the three but as a long time BlackBerry user the browser is a huge improvement and I've used the iPhone and android and the winner for ME personally is BB.

 
 
Posted by Oilersboy Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

BB torch is no longer iphone killer as they publicly say that because processor is still too low to competition with iphone and android.

 
 
Posted by eve6er69 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

you have to remember this is a first version of the os and browser. put it up against a 3G iphone and the os and browser weren't polished like the IP4.

a few seconds isn't going to make me switch a phone that not even the government can crack my encrypted data, lol

 
 
Posted by kirkk Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

You have to be kidding… put a phone that hasn't even been released yet up against a phone that was released over 2 years ago? Why not just go ahead and put it up against a Motorola Razr or a Palm Treo… the Torch might actually win something then.

Don't get me wrong… I love my Bold 9000 and am a fan of many aspects of the BB OS but releasing your showcase phone in the middle of 2010 with a 624mhz processor and a screen resolution of 480x360 is inexcusable.

BTW… don't even get me started on the quality of apps available for the BB vs. those available for the iPhone/Android… the BB apps are just pathetic from both a UI and functionality standpoint.

 
 
Posted by sk8er_tor Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Would you please tell us what OS is running on the device next time you do tests like these. It would be nice to know if you're using the current build or an earlier build that might have been improved. Thanks!

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

using 6.0.0.141

 

it was the latest build supplied to me by rim

 
 
Posted by sk8er_tor Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

THANKS Kevin. I guess we'll have to wait and see what OS ships.

 
 
Posted by Jehu Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

I can't believe RIM did this...they knew the browser on the BBs was the biggest complaint and now it will still be the biggest complaint. They show all the BS about Acid test how they scored the highest but the browser is still slow. RIM talk big about the new webkit browser and it is still slow you would have think they would test it against the competition. RIM wake up this is a joke.

 
 
Posted by Toddboy71 Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010 554 days ago

Let's not forget we're comparing the hardly polished first launch of a new browser, in development a short time, versus one of the signature features of the Jesus phone. That and the screen res are 80% of the reasons for purchase, whereas the BB browser I'd say is 4th or 5th on the list for BB. Not saying it doesn't need improvement. It does, and will get it. Based on what I've heard, there is a quick ramping up over the next 12-18 mos that will be impressive.

 
 
Posted by scalemaster34 Thursday, Aug 05, 2010 554 days ago

As a STORM1 owner, I've heard that before. Waited and waited and waited, STORM really didn't improve until OS5 dropped. But by then we all learned that the STORM was just underpowered and if we wanted a better experience we needed to upgrade to the soon to be released STORM2.

So now we have the Torch, and even Kevin said he hoped a "refresh" was coming early that would up the CPU and Display.

I'm really tired of waiting on RIM to "get it right". If they do "ramping up over the next 12-18 mos that will be impressive", then maybe that will work good for my next NE2 upgrade an I'll give RIM another chance... but for now it looks like my Nov upgrade will be something that "doesn't need improvement"

 
 
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