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Real World iPhone 3G vs. Storm Browser Speed Test!

by Kevin Michaluk on 20 Nov 2008 12:01 AM
67
 
iPhone 3G vs. BlackBerry Storm Browser Speed Test

After I cleared security at LaGuardia and made my way to the gate, I realized, WOW...if I want to put the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Storm head to head for a browser speed comparison I had better do it RIGHT NOW while I have each running on their native networks. I threw down my laptop bag on the floor as an adhock table, yanked out my video camera and got it done. See the video, details and results after the jump!

Real World iPhone 3G vs. BlackBerry Storm Web Browser Speed Test

You'll want to take this video for what it's worth. If you think back to my BlackBerry Bold vs. Iphone 3G Web Browser Speed Comparison you'll remember I was all about the scientific process. Not the case here. I had less than twenty minutes to get this done before I had to board the plane, so it was quick and dirty. Consider it a Real World test.

I had time to visit four sites: NYtimes.com, WSJ.com, CrackBerry.com and ArsTechnica.com. It turned out the guy sitting next to me works for Ars Technica and was flying home, so suffice to say he was pretty interested in this little smartphone battle that was being recorded for all to see.

Default Settings: It is important to note that the iPhone 3G by default has JavaScript Support enabled, while the BlackBerry Storm ships with Javascript support disabled (you can go into your browser options and choose to enable it). RIM is still working on optimizing their web browser Javascript support and isn't quite with where they want to be just yet, hence why this setting is disabled for the time being. For day to day normal website browsing, leaving JS support disabled doesn't seem to negatively impact web browsing (the sites I tend to visit anyways).

Test Testings: In the first site visited in the video, NYTimes.com, I have JavaScript support enabled on BOTH phones. For the next three sites visited, I disabled JS on the BlackBerry Storm, back to the default setting. Most people don't even monkey around with their settings, so I figured the best Real World test would be use those default settings.

The Results: 

  • NYTimes.com - iPhone 3G wins, Storm does not bad... but definitely chokes on the Javascript a bit
  • WSJ.com - BlackBerry Storm wins, iPhone 3G loads slower then crashes
  • CrackBerry.com - BlackBerry Storm wins, iPhone 3G loads slower then crashes
  • ArsTechnica - BlackBerry Storm wins 

Conclusions: It's hard to conclude much in 20 minutes, but there are some takeaways here:

1. With default settings, the BlackBerry Storm browser is a bit quicker than the iPhone 3G.

2. If you put the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Storm head-to-head with the identical settings (either Javascript Support on or off on both), then the iPhone 3G will likely be a bit quicker...

3. that is assuming the iPhone 3G's browser doesn't crash and burn! Seriously, I don't get what was up with the iPhone 3G's browser in this test, but after it crashed on WSJ.com I restarted the device, and it crashed again on CrackBerry.com. Not sure if this was an AT&T network thing, or 2.1 software thing or what, but the Storm's browser proved to be much more reliable during this head-to-head test.

I'm sure we'll see a lot more of these tests in the days and weeks ahead... so stay tuned for Round 2!

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67 Comments

Posted by MuDvAyNe Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Looks like the Storm is a proven winner ;)

 
 
Posted by streetrsx Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Per the picture above the iPhone looks to be running iPhone OS 2.0.2 or LOWER (THE 3G ICON LOOKS DIFFERENT ON 2.1)

 
 
Posted by Achronas Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

You have a good point... but really, the software isn't going to make THAT big of a difference.

I mean the largest difference here is the loading/not loading of Java Script.

The iPhone is a clear winner in a 100% same, and fair test.

 
 
Posted by NamelessLiar Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

someone call a waaambulance?

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

ur an idiot... the iphone sucks!

 
 
Posted by mm4l Friday, Nov 21, 2008 1169 days ago

I did the same test with my friends.. both had iPhones and BOTH of their machines crashed repeatedly. My Storm never crashed once out of 3 sites. One of the iPhones crashed 4x in 6 tries. The other crashed 3x in 8 tries. Both were running the newest iPhone app.. one was updated an hour earlier. All phones were working from a fresh boot. When they didn't crash, the 3G was a bit faster.. most sites loaded 2 to 3 seconds faster. But, the crashing took away any possible advantage the 3G speed could provide.

The iPhone does truly suck.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 1165 days ago

Get a life, and a real phone. This demo doesn't even have up-to-date iPhone software. I picked up the Storm on Friday just to compare it to the iPhone. There is no comparison, the iPhone still trumps all, period. The Storm was returned quickly.

 
 
Posted by iPhoneBB Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 1074 days ago

I was sitting in a clinic waiting area surfing on my old, reliable and trusted BB when this guy sat down next to me, leaned back, pulled out his iPhone then crossed his legs. He did it in a way "ha! I have an iPhone and you don't!". Then he proceed to surf. First try, his iPhone froze (I was looking at the corner of my eye). He fumbles around trying to reboot it. I almost chuckle. Second try it crashes. Then, my name was called. I think I told my doctor I'm better now. =)

But the irony of it is that I'm still considering both, the Storm and the iPhone. What does that tell ya? I guess I am still not better.

 
 
Posted by blacktoothberry Sunday, Dec 07, 2008 1153 days ago

You see the test in real time.The crappy iphone crashes twice.This test is with The buggy storm software two .When the bugs are all worked out this will no doubt be the iphone killer

 
 
Posted by Romble1 Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

excellent!! i like i like.. its good to see its right there with the Iphone.. with all the other advantages over the Iphone this is good to see. BB has made some great strides in the browser area!

 
 
Posted by ryrycalguy Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

I just tried all those sites that crashed on you on my iPhone. Seemed to load fine for me at its normal load time.

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Yeah. It's strange. On Rogers my Safari browser handles those sites just fine. I don't know if it was stage fright or AT&T or what, but it became a crashing machine.

 
 
Posted by Jeeverz Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

There is definitely something strange about the AT&T network. Not just their 3G but their network in general. I took my Bold (rogers) when i was down in Michigan and Chicago. MY DEAR GAWD the Bold choked on everything and just kept restarting.

oh and Storm .. Rogers .. Q2 2009 ?

 
 
Posted by Bla1ze Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

lmao@ Safari crashing!!

 
 
Posted by aalen56 Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

good little comparison. how come you didn't have both of them in landscape or portrait? it's kind of hard to gauge the layout like that. i think at the end of the day, the speeds will be a wash. some sites will load faster on the storm, while others faster on the iphone. what's really troubling is the crashing of the iphone. i knew it did this on a friend of mine's iphone alot, but this is becoming widespread, like EVERY other time you use safari and it takes more than 20 seconds to load, it will just crash!

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

good question - i was in such a rush i wanted the storm in full qwerty so i could more quickly type in the urls of the sites i was visiting..then as soon as i typed i was just putting it down... and i thought it looked pretty :)

more vids like this will surely come in the days ahead - you can look at this as just a first look

 
 
Posted by AllyH Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Ah, if you disable JS on the Storm, shouldn't you disable it in Mobile Safari as well? I certainly do on my iPhone 3G and it loads pages a ton faster.

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Agreed. If you see my Bold vs. iPhone 3G test you'll see how anal I get about comparing like settings.

Because I had so little time to get this done, I compared native/default settings... since probably 80% of users don't even monkey with their settings (if you're reading this site and leaving a comment though you're probably in the 20%).

So that's why I say take this for what it's worth... just one real life test. I'm sure more will come down the road. But all in all, out of the box the Storm did well.

 
 
Posted by tech42er Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Kevin, what did you think of the Storm's browser quality? Disregarding the speed, is it truly iPhone quality, or at least very close? I love my Curve but it would be hard to pass up TRUE desktop-quality (minus flash) web browsing for only $100 more (I'm within the 30 day return policy for Verizon).

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Browser seems to be identical to the Bold's in terms of how it renders and displays pages. So a helluva lot better than any other BlackBerry prior to the Bold. Not quite as good as the iPhone, but very usable and pretty close. There's just the odd thing it doesn't like to render quite right on certain sites.

 
 
Posted by rOnIn19 Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Kevin,

Would you recommend the Opera mini browser as a better alternative? How does Opera compares to safari?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer ....

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1169 days ago

These folks make money off blackberry and its products, and who knows maybe some under the table funds as well, thus they aren't going to promote opera mini or dignify your question with comment.

 
 
Posted by rynechaloux Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

i've been dying to see this!! now i can't sleep even more in wait for the storm!!!

 
 
Posted by sily12 Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

First off... I love Crackberries! But lets be honest... The iPhone's browser is gonna be better than the Storm's. Not to mention, NO WiFi for the Storm! I'd love to see that test with an iPhone on a fast WiFi connection, Ha! RIM really screwed us leaving out WiFi (even it VZW made them do it)!! But like I said, I'm an addict, and will probably buy one anyway....

 
 
Posted by cigardj Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

RIM is not at fault for VZW not adding the WIFI feature. VZW stands by their ED-VO and see WIFI as its version of WIFI. If you notice its in all advertisements!

Imagine if the Storm was on TMO! It would have WIFI, but no 3G. From company to company its a gain or lose situation.

 
 
Posted by Linc Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

What software version is on YOUR Storm Kevin?

 
 
Posted by Duvi Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Yeah, the iPhone 3g doesn't load Crackberry.com good. On wap, it rocks.

Did you try cb with or without wap?

 
 
Posted by seanp666 Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Is it me or did both phones seem really slow....is there a bad signal in the airport??

 
 
Posted by daddy nug Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

I use to have an iphone, loved verizon's service more so i came back...but still both phones take AT LEAST 25-30 seconds to load a site. Horrible unless you have wifi of coarse.

but i dont know...probably going to end up with a storm anyway I need a new toy

 
 
Posted by MichaelBrandonW Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Coming or going? I'd buy you and your team a round of beers if you're nyc jammin.

 
 
Posted by cap10mark Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Great test! Watching the iphone crash back to main screen blows my mind.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Guys I love Blackberry as much as the next guy (my love dates back to the 7510 through Nextel) but the iPhone's browser is leaps and bounds above that which is included on the Blackberry Bold. And if the Storm has the same browser then I will take this review with a grain of salt.

I own a Blackberry Bold and an iPod touch. I'm all for hyping up the Storm but let's be real...there is no comparison.

 
 
Posted by hagosrush Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

I agree with you on the matter. I have had both the iPhone 2G and 3G. The iPhone browser is second to NONE including the Storm and Bold. What makes the big difference is reliability. I can guarantee that my BB will work 95% of the time, while with the iPhone I would gauge it at a mere 70%. I have had both worlds and will stick to the reliability of the VZ network along with the speed that comes with it.

 
 
Posted by spektakle Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

They were both painfully slow... like waiting for water to boil.

 
 
Posted by JohnnyDop Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

I know you were just testing the network/browser speed, but why wouldnt you have them both oriented the same way?

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1169 days ago

My hunch is RIM got mad at him for his bold vs iphone speed test, and with the down economy RIM needs all the pumping it can get. True fairness and capitalism will reign if he did a test using opera mini on both phones. Only then, using the exact same software on both phones, can the hardware be truly scientifically tested. We already know RIM is years behind in browser development. Lol, so he compares the two giving the iphone a handicap, what a freaking canadian socialist communist. =D all in good fun...

 
 
Posted by moog Friday, Nov 21, 2008 1169 days ago

short and sweet

 
 
Posted by Achronas Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

May have been slow, but these phones are not computers.... the browsers are not going to load anywhere near as fast as what we are used to...

I think that Safari is going to render faster, just as Kevin said, with the phones in identical settings.

I mean in the comparison above the Storm doesn't have to try and load java script, but still only beats the iPhone by a couple of seconds (which is loading Java), not counting the shitty crashes.

All around Apple knows what the Hell they are doing with Safari, and though the Storm and Bold browsers are 4 steps forward for RIM it's still not going to be BETTER than the iPhone.

And before anyone starts cutting into me, I own a BlackBerry 8830, tomorrow this will change to the Storm, and I have no interest in an iPhone, but my roommate owns one, and I am able to appreciate the greatness that the iPhone is, and that it's great at what it does, but also realize that it is SERIOUSLY laking in what it doesn't do.

 
 
Posted by jlii Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Thanks Kevin, that was a good test regardless of the orientation.

 
 
Posted by fcortese Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

In the portion of the Mountain West where I live, Verizon is the only reliable and available service. Without AT&T the iPhone is not an option. So, when I learned that the Storm was on the horizon (sorry, no pun intended), I have been anxiously awaiting its release and reading every article/news item about it. The bottom line is that anything is better than what is available and from what I can see Storm is pretty darn good!! I'll take it.

 
 
Posted by Dimietriev Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

We can only hope for a wifi gsm version in the works...

 
 
Posted by Gaget Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

The Storm looks like the Iphones little brother.. look at it so cute and tiny.

 
 
Posted by sh0N11111 Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

That seems rather one sided.. Usually a fair reviewer, but this is rather comical.

Now do the test of, talking on the phone and browsing the web or sending emails... *waits* Oh that’s right, its on Verizon, you cant! doh!!!!

 
 
Posted by Kevin Michaluk Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

read the blog post. i said this wasnt really a fair/scientific test. only had 20 minutes and had to get it done before i left the usa and would be off at&t and verizon's networks.

using the phone with the default settings seemed to be the best bet for a quick test.

more tests will be done..

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

oh let me copy and paste this and send it to all my friends, oh wait DOH! iphone can't do that. Oh! let me put it in my microSD and put it on my laptop, oh wait doh! iphone don't have that either, dammit iphone. I guess I'll have to call my friends and tell him. Oh wait, my iphone is still searching, oh yeah that's right, I'm on att.

 
 
Posted by kcken Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

They understand that this phone blows away just about everything that the iPhoney can do. Otherwise they wouldn't be on here making their snide little untruths.....

Pity for them. Maybe in a year or two when they get PUSH mail working, or copy and paste or MMS, or a stable NON-Crashing OS, they can come back and talk with us, and we can then compare

 
 
Posted by Rene Ritchie Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Very nice, Kevin!

TheiPhoneblog.com will, of course, run our own tests, using a cardboard cut out of the iPhone #G vs. your video of the Storm. We predict Safari will crash less!

What's up with the lack of WiFi, though? Is RIM going all Battlestar Galactica on wireless? I know WiFi on the iPhone leaves me open to the frakken Cylons, but with warp speed, exchanging files via Zero Config, sweet, sweet remote desktop over 802.11g, and otherwise integrating with home automation and virtually every other WiFi equipped device on the planet... at least I'll have fun before I'm nuked.

Any chance the GSM Storm will get WiFi?

Waiting on your review. Be kinder than Time. Please :)

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Just visited WSJ.com. I used goto and hit enter at the same time you did and my curve loaded the page WAY before either of those phones. The storm screen was still white once mine finished loading.

 
 
Posted by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Iphone 3G browser sucks. I gave up the Iphone to get a blackberry bold because I was sick and tired of the browser crashing all the time as well as the crappy battery life with 3G enabled. I couldn't surf the full myspace website without it crashing. It would work fine with the mobile version but its limited.

 
 
Posted by amirnabilkamelsaad Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 1170 days ago

Nice one Kevin.

 
 
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