Flawed Android vs. iOS web benchmark sparks flame war

Blaze Software has created a benchmark that measures the web page loading speed on Android and iOS. The initial test results concluded that Android 2.3 (tested with the Nexus S) was 53% faster at loading web pages than the iPhone 4. Android won 84% of the tests. After looking at the results, Apple commented that the test was flawed because the benchmark was not using Safari for iOS, but a less-optimized web browser that is designed to be used within applications. Most platforms have such a component to allow apps to display websites.

Blaze software agrees that Apple is right, and that this information invalidates their benchmark. The company will take a new look at the problem. Interestingly, this is creating a new drama: developers have to use the slower web component in their apps… Anyway, I’m surprised that nobody raised an eyebrow when looking at a 53% performance boost of the Nexus S over the iPhone 4. Surely, this is something that would have been spotted before… That said, Blaze got some buzz out of it, although probably not the one they wanted. In the meantime, Android and Apple “fanboys” are sparring in many forums – using flawed data… This is a busy day.

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Apple, Cellphones, Top Stories