Mobile Computer Compares Web Browsing Speed Between BlackBerry Bold and iPhone

Julian Prokaza:

Unfortunately, as excellent as it is in delivering a desktop-like web browsing experience on a small screen, the BlackBerry Bold’s web browser is just far too slow to be a serious alternative to the iPhone. The Bold is the first BlackBerry with 3G support, but even over a more reliable Wi-Fi connection, our iPhone 2G repeatedly finished downloading a web page several seconds before the Bold had even got past a blank screen and a “Requesting…” message. Even with just its 3G connection active, the Bold still lagged behind the iPhone 2G with its EDGE connection. Either Apple is doing something right or RIM is doing something wrong with their respective web browsers, but whatever the case, it’s a pretty poor show for the Bold.

Scroll down and watch the side-by-side video shootout. It’s painful.

Update: Prokaza has updated the article, stating that the comparison was flawed because the BlackBerry was using the cellular network rather than Wi-Fi. The bottom line remains that web browsing performance on the Bold seems poor.

★ Thursday, 21 August 2008