Blaze Software conducted a ridiculously comprehensive browser speed test between Android and iPhone to determine which platform has the faster browser. After 45,000 tests, they found that in terms of straight line browser speed, the Android browser smokes the iPhone.
The Android browser was on average 52 per cent faster than the iPhone, which meant an average time of 2.1 seconds per site load vs 3.2 seconds for the iPhone. That’s a pretty big difference! And Android was consistently faster than the iPhone too, in Blaze’s tests, Android bested the iPhone in 84 per cent of the tested websites with the iPhone only winning 16 per cent of the time.
Also interesting: the much ballyhooed JavaScript speed improvements in iOS 4.3 and Android 2.3 don’t actually make their browser load websites any faster. There was actually a slight dip in load times between iOS 4.3 and 4.2 (3.25 seconds vs 3.18 seconds on iPhone 4.2) and only a modest gain in Android 2.3 vs 2.2 (2.14 seconds vs 2.37 seconds in Android 2.2), it seems that the JavaScript improvements shine more in benchmarks than actual application.
Blaze Software conducted their test with an iPhone 4 running iOS 4.3 and a Google Nexus S running Android 2.3. Tests were performed over Wi-Fi. Learn more about their methodology at Blaze. [Blaze]