Opera Mobile 9.5 proven as the better browser
When reading blogs, I often come across statements saying Opera Mobile, as on the HTC Touch Diamond for example, is good, but will never be as good as Safari Mobile on the iPhone. Of course some brave commentators have come out and have said, frankly, Opera Mobile 9.5 is much better than Safari Mobile. Unfortunately this is often taken as a matter of opinion, rather than the fact it is. Despite sporting obvious advantages such as being able to set a home page, open a link in a new tab, cut and paste and download files to local storage, many still maintain objectively the iPhone browser is better, with a better renderer and better ease of use.
Fortunately there are a few objective tests on the net for browser performance, and the Acid suite of tests is one of them. What happens when we run these two Web 2.0 browsers through this test suite?
From the above video it should be clear that Opera Mobile 9.5 is both easier to use (better zooming with less effort) and objectively is more standards compliant that the iPhone browser.
While Opera Mobile 9.5 is only currently available on a few devices, such as the HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Advantage II and Samsung Omnia, many versions are available freely on the internet, and we can only hope Opera will soon make this available as a stand alone purchase.
In the mean time, when an iPhone user say they have the best mobile browser, you can confidently tell them they are very very wrong.
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[...] WMpoweruser.com have produced a great video which compares the Opera 9.5 Browser and the Iphone Safari Browser. Opera 9.5 is available on devices such as the HTC Touch Diamond along with many future devices such as the HTC Advantage II and the Samsung i900. [...]
[...] WMpoweruser.com have produced a great video which compares the Opera 9.5 Browser and the Iphone Safari Browser. Opera 9.5 is available on devices such as the HTC Touch Diamond along with many future devices such as the HTC Advantage II and the Samsung i900. [...]
[...] WMpoweruser.com ha capturado en video una prueba que compara el navegador Opera 9.5 y Safari, el navegador que trae el Iphone. Opera 9.5 esta viniendo en los equipos mas recientes de HTC como el Touch Diamond y estara presente en varios de los proximos dispostivos anunciados como el HTC Advantage II y el Samsung i900. [...]
I’ve had an iPhone for a while, and can’t comment on the Diamond as I haven’t used one myself yet, but I’ve never come across a website that the iPhone doesn’t render properly, (apart from flash obviously…) so this doesn’t appear on the surface to make any real world difference.
I’ll reserve judgement until I get to fiddle with a Diamond though, initially the non-capacitive screen puts me off, but i’ll wait and see what it’s like in the “flesh”
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It may be true that the differences picked up by the test are not significant, but what this test clearly demonstrates is that full page accurate rendering is no longer the reserve of the Mobile Safari on the iPhone, and if this is a concern in deciding, on a device with Opera Mobile this need not be an issue anymore.
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Double tap only works if you double tap on an object to zoom in on, no wonder it didn’t work..
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So I have recently gathered. Seeing how I had to be told this, I find it unintuitive. How do I prevent accidentally clicking on a link while doing this? Isn’t the whole point of zooming a table of links so it can be large enough not to accidentally activate a link?
[Reply]
[...] seems the best mobile browser in the world is finally getting ready to spread its wings beyond its select few partners. Frode Hauge, product [...]
[...] you are using the best, most standard compliant and most useful mobile web browser around, and you are laughing at your iPhone totting friends who [...]
[...] very latest version of the world-beating Opera Mobile browser has popped up on XDA-Developers. Build 1409 bring better landscape mode support allowing they [...]
[...] Opera Mobile 9.5 proven as the better browser [...]
[...] Opera Mobile 9.5 proven as the better browser [...]
[...] Opera Mobile 9.5 proven as the better browser [...]
I am no Iphone fanboy, but it would probably help if you used the latest firmware on the Iphone. According to wikipedia, firmware 2.0.2 scores a 72/100 for Acid3.
Also, just because double-clicking isn’t the zoom method for web pages with Safari, doesn’t make it a less-able browser. The finger-zoom is quite simple and powerful.
That all being said – I’m really excited about the HTC Touch Diamond/Pro, and will be picking one of them up when it is released in the USA.
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Oh, didn’t realize the date on this post… never mind – the new firmware for the Iphone hadn’t even been released yet.
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Actually while it scores 72 it doesnt draw any of the boxes, so it still fails. Try it yourself at acidtest.org
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Opera browser is the best, it works on all sites that I’ve gone to. I’ve been using opera mobile from the first edition released years ago. Am running opera 9.5 mobile on a HTC P3600 & HTC Touch Diamond. Using Opera 9.5 on P3600 to send this comment.
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Tabbed browsing, Quick Find, fraud protection, saved sessions, Speed Dial, notes and the trash make from Opera Browser, a browser more better than it was. Significant speed allow you to spend more time online. I installed it, it works very well and i got it from here: Opera Browser
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[...] WMpoweruser.com have produced a great video which compares the Opera 9.5 Browser and the Iphone Safari Browser. Opera 9.5 is available on devices such as the HTC Touch Diamond along with many future devices such as the HTC Advantage II and the Samsung i900. [...]