Mobile web speed: AT&T Tilt 3G vs. iPhone EDGE

We all know that web browsing is supposed to be significantly faster on a 3G mobile device than on an EDGE one. But by how much exactly?

To find out in real-world terms, I timed the website load times of Internet Explorer Mobile and Opera Mobile 8.65 on the AT&T Tilt/HTC TyTN II (3G) and Safari on the iPhone (EDGE). Unlike my previous mobile browser and load times tests, which focused on performance when page rendering was only set to desktop mode, I also tested load times using the fit-to-screen viewing mode when applicable.

The results, given in minutes and seconds (not megabits and kilobits), may surprise you.

Parameters

As before, this was not a scientific study or professional lab test. I eliminated as many variables as I could (see testing parameters below), but it's important to remember that your own results will vary depending on location, wireless broadband network, and possibly even time of day.

For my tests:

• Load times were measured from the same location in one sitting (my living room in Honolulu this afternoon) from the click of the enter key or "Go" button in the browser's address bar to the complete page load according to the progress bar and/or loading icon.
• Only full versions (not mobile versions) of websites with images were accessed.
• Each browser's cache was cleared before testing.
• The same SIM card was used to connect the iPhone to AT&T's EDGE network and the Tilt to AT&T's 3G network.
• Network signal strength was at its max (5 bars) and consistent throughout the testing period.

Results

Fit-to-screen viewing mode results are listed under the "Optimized" column. Automatic redirects to mobile versions of websites were not timed and are indicated by "redirect."

Times are in minute:second format. 

	AT&T Tilt (3G) Opera Mobile 8.65		AT&T Tilt (3G) IE Mobile		iPhone (EDGE)
	Desktop	Optimized	Desktop	Optimized	N/A
Amazon	0:19	0:22	0:40	0:34	1:06
CNET	0:54	0:55	redirect	redirect	2:07
Digg	0:28	0:23	0:48	0:31	0:48
Engadget	0:45	0:36	redirect	redirect	1:30
Google News	0:10	0:15	redirect	redirect	0:23
Micro PC Talk	0:28	0:25	0:36	0:27	1:29
MySpace	0:14	0:12	0:35	0:30	0:37
NY Times	0:31	0:31	redirect	redirect	0:44
Pocketables	0:32	0:28	0:54	0:36	0:58
YouTube	0:28	0:23	0:42	0:28	0:38

Conclusion

Opera Mobile 8.65 came out on top in my wifi-based Windows Mobile browser comparison review, so I'm not surprised that it was typically twice and sometimes four times as fast on 3G as Safari on EDGE. What I didn't expect was that IE Mobile on 3G sometimes loaded pages at the same speed as  Safari on EDGE. It was generally faster, yes, but it didn't blow Safari out of the water as much as a standard browser that's included on just about every single Windows Mobile device around should (not everyone will want to spend $24 for Opera Mobile).

In other words, the average consumer comparing the standard web experience on a 3G Tilt and an EDGE iPhone side-by-side in an AT&T shop will probably go home to fire up iTunes.

Comments

[Pose2]

Useful set of results. Thanks!

[Jamie Poster]

This is brilliant, Jenn. The final remark is a true shocker -- I'm tempted to put it to the test tomorrow in my local ATT store.
Very nicely done, as always. :)

[ac]

I'd like to see opera mobile vs safari on iphone over wifi? Could we look forward to that in the near future?

[turn_self_off]

yet again we see that cnet and engadget are some very very heavy pages...

[Jenn]

@ Jamie: Thanks. If you do get a chance to test it out, I'd be interested to know if you get similar results. I wonder if the display models would even be working (let alone connected to EDGE or 3G).

@ ac: Are you interested particularly in Opera on the Tilt or just Opera in general? If it's the latter, you can see how it performs via wifi on the more powerful HTC Advantage here. iPhone wifi results are here as well. The tests were taken at different times (so the front page of all the websites had new content), but the results are generally still accurate.

@ turn_self_off: Yes, CNET in particular goes a little overboard with their use of flash. With Engadget, it's usually the ads that slow everything down.

[Richyhu]

I was very interested to read these results. I am a recent convert to Opera Mobile myself after recently upgrading on my HTC Touch Dual and am impressed with the page rendering and overall repsonse (on 3G networks) when loading sites comapared with IE Mobile.

[Jenn]

Even though some people seem perfectly happy with it, I've always disliked IE Mobile. Opera makes QVGA browsing almost bearable. It's my WM browser of choice, but I'm still crossing my fingers (perhaps in vain) for a public release of Deepfish.

[gary Beamon]

I am in my 30-day trial time with the tilt. My biggest problem is synching up with my mac calendar (Entourage). I have Missing Synch, but wonder if I should just bag it all, return the tilt and get an Iphone instead. The things I really need are email access and calendar synch. All other features are extra after those. Any suggestions.

[Jenn]

What kinds of issues are you having with Missing Sync? My iBook died nearly a year ago, so I don't have any personal experience with the way Macs work (or don't work!) with Windows Mobile. Missing Sync is the main program I hear about, but if you haven't already, SyncMate and PocketMac may also be worth looking into. Have you checked any forums for a solution?

[al]

I had the tilt for 5 days befor the screen crack and got screwed our of $300. Went back and got sold the iPhone which I have had for 5 days. Tilt interface is not as good be much better if you use MS app attachments for work and have bigger fingers. Clearly screen is weak!!! IPhone interface is cool but if you have MSN email DON'T buy it. I'm taking it back.