Browser:Iris 1.0.16 (1.1.0 b3)Opera Mobile 9.5b2 / Samsung Omnia b15233Opera Mini 4.2.13337 + VGA-hacked Jbed 5.1SkyFire 0.85.0.8184PIE + Spb Pocket Plus 4.0.2IEM6 (tested on HTC Universal)NF 3.5.009 b729iPhone FW v2.2
Formatting: href.hu/x/7pt3 Default: charsize is very low (L / P); acceptably large chars after switching to Column Mode only (P / L)Autozoom: with Large chars: L: Excellent; P: fair. With Medium chars, P: excellent; L: fair. That is, you’ll need to fine-tune your charsize depending on the orientation and the actual contents – unless, of course, you use the free zoom. With the latest (15233) build available, manual (free) zooming also uses adaptive text wrapping, allowing for any kind of charsize. Examples: the DPreview article autozoomed in (start) - after some manual zooming in: 1, 2Extra Large charsize: Excellent L P; with Large chars Excellent in both orientations: P L Everything default, Larger : Good P; Largest: Excellent. Disabling Use High Resolution results in even larger chars – with still good rendition in Fit to screen (non-One column!) mode: P Everything default, Largest: poor The (non-default) [View / Display Mode/] Smart-fit rendering, largest text size, full browsing, 100% zoom: P L; the same with Normal (non-Smart Fit) rendering: L: excellent P: useless. The latter, however, can be easily fixed by Menu / View / Virtual CanvasBest of all (P L)
pocketpcthoughts.com+ (P L; default view and 100% zoom)By default, Thoughts Media sites don’t recognize the User-Agent of Opera Mobile 9.5; explicitly going to pocketpcthoughts.com/mobile helps; then, the page rendering is excellent Excellent: Desktop version (default); mobile version (explicitly requested by adding /mobile): L; P Excellent: L P (so is the desktop version) Default layout; Larger Text Size: Fair; disabled Use High Resolution and with Largest charset: Excellent (but, of course, the pics will be low-res, as can also be seen in the image)Mobile View: completely messed up and unreadable (this can’t be helped as there’s no One Column view any more in IEM6); Desktop View: poor Good (P) with default settings and Largest charsize; it’s only by raising the zoom level (from 100% to 125%) that you can get larger chars (P)- (pretty bad, particularly in Portrait; Landscape is also on the verge of readability). Too bad there’s no “non-mobile” link for mobile users at ThoughtsMedia sites…
TP: long links: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=70904- In Mobile Mode: can’t auto-zoom properly (P / L); Column Mode greatly helps (P / L), but the charsize is still too lowMedium charsize: L; P useless; Large size: L fair, P great Extra large chars: P: Excellent; L: ExcellentExcellent: P, LLargest, disabled Use High Res: P: Excellent, L Good; enabled High Res: L: ExcellentUseless; other threads equally badDefault settings (Normal (non-fitting) rendering, full browsing, 100% zoom), largest charsize: excellent (P, L)Really bad. (Other threads in the same forum are, of course, excellent.)
DPReview main page rendering with most optimal zoom; getting to itExcellent: P (also shows minimap in this case) / L; View / Mobile mode; double-tap Large chars, P: Excellent; L: Acceptable. Unfortunately, setting the charsize to Medium doesn’t help the Landscape mode at all (on the contrary); and switching to One Column (“Mobile View”) mode makes things even worseExtra large chars: P: Excellent; L: Could be better (but, at least, the chars are sufficiently large)Excellent: L, P Largest, Use High Resolution, L: Good; P: Excellent; disabling high resolution: HUGE chars Everything default, Largest charsize: poor (L) Everything default, Largest charsize: Fair (L). Raising Zoom to 125% really helps this; then, the text fills in the entire screen in both screen orientations: L, P Just excellent (P, L)
… and the same with the forum Mobile: Really bad (P); Column Mode far better (P, L), albeit the charsize is still equally small in both(!) modesMedium charsize, L: Excellent; P: useless. Excellent: L; PExcellent: L, P Largest, Use High Res, L: Excellent; P: useless (the vertical scrollbar hides the rightmost part of text); switching back to Larger cures this, while still remaining well-readable Poor Excellent at 125% zoom level and Large charsize (everything else default): PExcellent (P, L)
SummaryIn some cases (like the DPReviews forum), you must use the pretty restrictive (it completely messes up the original layout) Column Mode in order to have readable character sizes. In other cases, the default zoom-in works just great.With the combination of Large characters and manual zoom (in most cases, the autozoom doesn’t take advantage of the entire screen estate), you can have the same reading experience as on the iPhone. All this in the default non-one column mode; that is, without any kind of layout deteriorationDefault (non-“Mobile view”) Excellent in all cases.With SmartFit enabled (Menu / Settings / Smartfit), just excellent. Apart from not using VGA, it behaved the best of the entire WM group when it comes to dynamic zooming: as good as iPhone. (Note that with disabled SmartFit the results will be way worse; a DPReview forum screenshot HERE)Behaves incomparably better than (the current) IEM6 (hacks / ports) when it comes to making use of the screen and displaying text with large(r) chars.On VGA devices, IEM6 is plain poor: it not only uses small charsets, but also lacks the Menu / View / Use High Resolution switch of previous IEM versions (though, this may be a result by the unofficial rips & ports to VGA devices as, to my knowledge, no VGA device has been shipped with IEM6 officially. For the time being, however, just don’t use the “hacked” IEM6 versions on VGA devices). Microsoft shouldn’t have removed the One Column mode either, which would make it possible to read some of the layouts currently unreadable (Thinkpads.com, PPCT mobile version etc.)Excellent if you explicitly use zooming and charsize setting.As there’re no settable char sizes (unlike in Opera Mini) or display modes (see for example One Column), you can only use what you already have. Nevertheless, it’s just great in most cases – only pages with very long text / links will cause major problems to it.
Browser:Iris 1.0.16 (1.1.0 b3)Opera Mobile 9.5b2 / Samsung Omnia b15233Opera Mini 4.2.13337 + VGA-hacked Jbed 5.1SkyFire 0.85.0.8184PIE + Spb Pocket Plus 4.0.2IEM6 (tested on HTC Universal)NF 3.5.009 b729iPhone FW v2.2
Scrolling: Scrolling speedGoodVery goodGoodAverageSlowFast: much-much faster than the Spb Pocket Plus + PIE combo on the 210Very goodBest
Real rubberband & inertia Partial: much less so than on the iPhone or Opera+--++++
Does it try to keep the same horizontal position while scrolling?-: scrolls to the side very easily. As expected, two times double-tapping the text fixes this without manually having to drag the text into the right position+; excellent+, excellent--+; not as good as that of the two Operas or iPhone-: scrolls to the side very easily. The situation is further worsened by dragging being very sensitive: scrolling the same amount requires far less finger dragging than with the iPhone / Opera Mobile+; excellent
Minimap? Quick positioning possible on it?+ / +, very quick and useful, excellent in finger use- in official b2; + in latest (15233) build. With the latter, no quick positioning, unlike with Iris.- (only a page overview mode accessible via Back – right softkey – when zoomed in a page)---+; but it can’t be navigated, unlike Iris’ excellent solution-
Other scrolling issues--No problems with scrolling; however, if you don’t have a dialpad and can’t redefine hardware buttons, you’ll have a harder time accessing Reload, History (the list of currently open tabs), Bookmarks and Enter Address than via alternative browsers – these can only be accessed via the main menu. Zoom out / back, fortunately, is tied to the right softkey.---Tap-and-hold very frequently brings up context menu, which is really a pain in the back. Other browsers also using context menus (for example, Opera Mobile) wait much more to display it; that is, they don’t suffer from this problem.-
Manual (free) zooming?- (albeit not really needed - dynamic zooming is pretty OK)+; on the official b2, it takes more taps than pinching on the iPhone: tap-and-hold the screen and select Zoom; use the slider at the bottom to zoom. The latest (15233) build is far better in this respect: all you need to do is swipe the screen upside down (or in the other direction) next to the right border. THIS screenshot shows the zoom slider. Note that the text is automatically reflown in the latets build, unlike in the official b2 build. You can switch this off in Settings / Display / Wrap text to screen width.- (not that it’d be needed)+ by clicking the +- icon in the upper right corner; then, a + and a – icon will be displayed. Zooming uses about 25% steps (in five steps total); example: completely zoomed out DPReview; next step; next; next; next (final). It’s not really needed though: SmartFit and dynamic zooming works just great.-There’s free zoom but it’s slow and you can’t zoom into a layout element much. In this regard, it’s way inferior to Opera Mobile, iPhone etc. (Starting zoom level; ending level)Not as free as that of Opera Mobile or iPhone: you can only zoom with 25% steps. However, it’s still much superior to, say, IEM6’s implementation and lets for filling in the entire screen in most situations, even in normal (non-fitting) mode+ (excellent, - as opposed to all the comparable WinMo solutions - really quick multitouch pinching)
Input: Finger-friendly drop-down lists- Better than the other WM browsers (not so large as that of iPhone, though: Medium charsize; Large charsize)Better than some of the alternatives – except iPhone. The default provided by MIDlet manager. Not very small – but still isn’t as big as that of iPhome. D-pad can be used to navigate it.-(OS)-(OS) Tolerable at 125% zoom level and Largest charsize. Note that it’s buggy: only the currently (here, with the D-pad) selected item (and the default one) is visible + (the best)
How does it work together with third party full screen keyboards?+ (no probs)Acceptable (because of a bug(?), it always switches back to using the default one, unlike all the other titles)+ + ++Excellentn/a
Browser:Iris 1.0.16 (1.1.0 b3)Opera Mobile 9.5b2 / Samsung Omnia b15233Opera Mini 4.2.13337 + VGA-hacked Jbed 5.1SkyFire 0.85.0.8184PIE + Spb Pocket Plus 4.0.2IEM6 (tested on HTC Universal)NF 3.5.009 b729iPhone FW v2.2
Misc: Copy / paste-, all you can do is page saving the entire page and copy with an external tool from there. Options / Mouse Cursor just displays a mouse cursor just like in Opera Mini+ (Tap-and-hold to bring up context menu; "Text Selection On"; finally, select from the new context menu). --+ +: accessible in both the context menu and the main menu +; you can switch back and forth between dragging and text selection (Tools / Scroll Mode).-
Other goodiesIn-page search with previous/next but not highlighting of all visible occurrences (screenshot showing searching for ‘v’)Find in page (accessible via the Tap-and-hold context menu); only forward search possible; however, all occurrences are highlighted, unlike with Iris Opera Link (still missing from the current versions of Opera Mobile); find in page (Menu / Tools / Find in Page)Save image--In-page search: View / Toolbars / Page Search: up/down supported, but not highlighting all occurrences at the same time (unlike Opera Mobile) -
DPReview top left menus-: the submenu is only displayed when you actively activate (tap and hold) a main menu item; that is, it’s too late; it zooms into it very nicely, though. Other threads from the same forum are suffering from the same problem. With touchscreen: -(tapping them invokes them at once; in addition, the main titles are printed on top of another even when using medium [let alone large] characters); with D-pad: OK – if you do have D-pad, that is…The links themselves work but no submenus are displayed-: While they’re recognized as links by the D-pad, you can’t activate them at all, let alone make it display the submenus -: doesn’t work at all-: submenus are displayed, but immediately take you to the main category-: just like with pre-IEM6 Internet Explorers, nothing happens when you click them – scripting support has never been a strong point of NetFront+ (the best: tapping the menu brings up the submenu; only double-tapping the main menu items results in invoking them)
Page saving+: Page / Tools / Save Page+ (Main menu / Saved Pages / +; full HTML’s are saved with all resources; under \Application Data\Opera 9.5 Beta\saved pages)+ (uses its own stripped-HTML format)+ (added by Spb)--+: File / Page Memo / Menu / Add Page Memo; uses MHT (compatible with desktop browsers) and stores everything-
CPU usage~0% when not actively panning / scrolling; then, around 60%.0 while not actively scrolling (that is, no bugs)~15% in Jbed~75% when actively reading / watching animations, incl. YouTube & very often scrolling ; ~40% idling and ~15% minimized in background0%0%~0% if in the foreground; ~12-14% when in the background with one tab open (with more tabs, even more – 17% with 5 tabs and winmobiletech.com), independent of whether there’re animations on the page or any knd of JavaScript. For example, http://www.winmobiletech.com/ , which contains absolutely no scripts or animations, also results in some CPU usage when minimized.?
Browser:Iris 1.0.16 (1.1.0 b3)Opera Mobile 9.5b2 / Samsung Omnia b15233Opera Mini 4.2.13337 + VGA-hacked Jbed 5.1SkyFire 0.85.0.8184PIE + Spb Pocket Plus 4.0.2IEM6 (tested on HTC Universal)NF 3.5.009 b729iPhone FW v2.2
Dynamic zoom, only zooming into a given column+ (partial – not as good as that of iPhone or Opera Mobile – see the problems above)+ (you may still need to manually zoom though – unlike on iPhone)+ works just great+ (needs to be explicitly enabled)-- (no iPhone / Opera / Iris-like zoom at all)Not very good – you must manually zoom, then, it’ll work great+
Clicks vs zoomingNeed to continuously tap and hold a link to activateIn general, short taps are sufficient to invoke a linkSimple tap. Zooming in (from zoomed-out view) also uses a single tap; zooming (back) out can only be done via the right softkey+ (works pretty reliable; sometimes link taps aren’t registered)There’s no touch-based zooming – that is, single clicks work to invoke linksThere’s no touch-based zooming – that is, single clicks work to invoke linksOK, clicks are registered almost immediately+; excellent
Makes use of VGA?+ In the 50% zoom level (settable in Page / Zoom); In the default 100% page zoom level: partial (high-res chars – as opposed to SkyFire –, but no low charsize option and images are pixel doubled). Note that the images still remain a bit pixelizated at 50% zoom level (not as bad as at 100%, though)9.51b2: +; b15233: pixel doubled images / videos+- (everything is low-res – prolly in order to conserve bandwidth, which would be four-time with VGA)+ (switchable)++n/a
Quick(!) navigation to beginning of page+ (on the minimap)- (no scrollbar at all, unlike in 8.6x)Via both dialpad (or redefined keys: #3) and the vertical scrollbar- (a tip: finger-based scrolling is faster if you temporarily zoom out [left softkey] and scroll then)+ (using either the scrollbar or overridden hardware buttons)+ (use the scrollbar)-+ (just tap once the top of the screen)
…end of page+ (on the minimap)-See aboveSee aboveSee above+ (see above)--
Multitab/page+; tabs aren't displayed on-screen and it takes at least 3 taps (Page / Tags / <select>) to switch to another one. Note that there is a very nice tab selector at Page / Tags / See All. No goodies like forcing the links to open in a new tab.By default, three tabs at most (dunno why: as with previous versions, it doesn’t allocate much memory for in-memory parsed pages; that is, much more tabs could be used). Fortunatel, this can be incremented in opera:config. Enter opera:config in the adddress bar; navigate down to User Prefs and, then, tap it so that its size increments, scroll down to Maximum Allowed Tabs and edit the field; HERE, I've entered 12 there to allow 12 tabs. Compared to iPhone, it has link context menus (Open in new tab / Copy Link Address / Send Link), fortunately.+; very easy to switch if you have a numeric keypad (#5); all links open in a new tab by default - excellent-+; tabs on-screen (with Spb Pocket Plus)- : still no built-in support – MS, please fix this ASAP! Unfotunately, the current versions of Spb Pocket Plus (4.0.2), PIEPlus (2.2) or MultiIE (4.0-d72) doesn’t support IEM6 either. It’s only PIEPlus that displays the “Can not find PIE Object" error message upon installing; the other plug-ins don’t tell the user they’re incompatible.Excellent: link context menu contains “Open in new window”, just like with Opera Mobile and unlike the, in this regard, inferior Safari. Five tabs are allowed at most +; No goodies like forcing the links to open in a new tab.
Making use of memory Pretty bad: even reloads upon tapping BackExcellentBestBestAcceptable (much worse than Opera Mobile though, let alone Opera Mini)Not the best; albeit, in one-document mode, it won’t cause problemsGoodPretty bad: "back" always results in a reload; multitabs only with really small current pages / images
StabilityPretty nice for so new and beta-stage appExcellentExcellentExcellentExcellentExcellentExcellentCrashes about once an hour; continues with last page after restart; so, not that big a problem
Flash support?-+ b15233 works just fine (QVGA screenshot) with the XDA-Devs version of Flash Lite 3.1 (direct download HERE; note that Dvha79 AdobeFlash3.1 plugin.cab may also work - I haven't tested it). According to THIS post, it should also work on the HTC Universal - at least on a previous, 8.2 Tomal ROM. It didn't work with the latest Tomal's ROM version 8.5. The official Opera Mobile b2, as expected, didn't work either. The VGA HP iPAQ 210, using the factory WM6.0 ROM, worked flawlessly with b15233, without any VGA skins.-+: full, desktop-level Flash support. Animation speed, however, greatly depends on network congestion and is, generally, slower than playing back the same YouTube etc. video in Opera Mobile b15233 + Flash Lite 3.1 hack"Full" PPC version of flash 6/7 (also meaning it's slow like hell)Didn't work on Universal Tomal 8.5 ROM at all. However, Touch HD users reported success!!!!Needs built-in Flash support (can't depend on external Flash [Lite] plug-ins), which is painfully missing from Technical Previews like this. Not that I'd expect much from the commercial version either: previous versions all had a really inferior Flash engine, even less capable than the official full Flash 6/7 plug-ins, let alone Flash Lite 3.1.really restricted: only YouTube is supported, nothing else. However, YouTube playback rocks, compared to even the Opera Mobile b15233 + Flash Lite 3.1 combo, let alone the far less efficient, Full Flash 6/7-based ones: much more CPU-efficient, also meaning it won't chew through the batteries, unlike on Windows Mobile.
Full screen?(Pretty awkward: Can be only initiated via Page / View / Full Screen); Partial: the bottom-most command bar is always visibleExcellent (default; always switches to this automatically)Excellent+, the upper bar can also be hidden by clicking the arrow icon in the upper left cornerExcellentExcellentExcellent: you can easily hide the top bar by View / Toolbars / LocationNo real full-screen; however, the command and taskbars don’t take up much screen estate