17 August 2008

Skyfire browser for S60 phones
beta version reviewed

I am just your average joe, and this is your average review so don't expect anything too technical or in depth.

I woke up this morning (around 1 pm) to a text message that had a link to download the limited Skyfire browser beta.

I'm sure there's plenty of reviews already on here, but to keep this review as bias free as possible, I have decided to write my review before reading the other reviews. Here are my first initial impressions.

I will be doing a few comparisons to Opera Mini (most downloaded 3rd party mobile browser) and the already great default safari browser.

Start-up - Skyfire started off the least impressive. Start up time was significantly longer then the other browsers. (I'm talking about the time it takes just to see the home page). I strongly do not remember Opera or the default browser taking so long to start. I strongly believe it lies because of the authenticating time since this is a private beta application. Once this part is removed, start up will be just as fast as other mobile browsers.

Home page - Skyfire's homepage is pretty standard. Nothing too crazy here but good sections that are somewhat customizable (bookmarks only). There's only like two banners. I'm assuming this is to load the page more quickly?

Bookmarks - Speaking of which. Opera mini has too many shortcut buttons. It's great once you get used to it, but in the beginning it was kind of frustrating. I'll probably get dogged for that. Skyfire's bookmarks take a little longer to get too but the process is much more simple. However, I would like to see more.

Finding a perfect balance seems...impossible. Here is one of my first disappointments of the mobile browser. You can't edit the bookmarks. Only delete. So you are stuck w/ the default title (which can be very unclear), and the order or the bookmarks are stuck in process (which is not good if you would like to divide bookmarks into categories like I do).

History - Skyfire only lets you delete the cookies and the history. You can't visit the last viewed pages. I hate history. Such a waste of space for me. I would like to see Skyfire add a section in the settings where I can remove history automatically. Would be much more convenient for me.

Viewing pages - Wow. Skyfire is fast. Really fast. We all know that Opera loads pages much faster then the default browser, and I believe Skyfire is even faster. Some pages seem to load around the same time, but overall, Skyfire seems even faster then the fast Opera.

Viewing videos - Even more impressive. In fact, the most impressive I have ever seen in a mobile browser. I can not restate how impressive it is. I have never seen flash sites and videos load so quickly, using EDGE! Imagine if I was using wi-fi! I know the default browser can now support flash, but trust me Skyfire destroys it. Skyfire loads the videos lightning quick and zoom level is perfect.

Options - Skyfire has very limited in options. For example, let's say you want to change connections from your phone provider's internet (like Edge or 3g) to wi-fi. I don't see how you can do it w/o exiting the browser, restarting it, and choosing from the beginning. I would like to see just a few more options like that, which would prove to be very useful. The default browser probably still has one of the most options in a mobile browser.

Cons - For every app, game, browser, etc. there are always cons and Skyfire still has some. It is definitely not as stable as the default browser and Opera mini. Crashes and failures to connect (even though I had fine connection) kind of bothered me. But it is still in beta mode, so I figure this is one of the first areas that will get significantly improved. More options would be nice like being able to edit bookmarks after saving them. And here is my most annoying part of the browser. The zoom.

Skyfire has one of the worst zoom's I've seen. Yes, there are multiple levels of zoom that you can reach which is great, unlike Opera. The problem is trying to view the rest of the page in that same level. It literally has to move frame by frame, and you have to wait for it to become clear. I can't share w/ you how bothersome it is. Please fix the damn zoom Skyfire. They tried to do a mini-map like the default browser but it's not as good either. I'd rather turn it off for Skyfire.

Overall: I give Skyfire beta a 9.0 out of 10. Even though it had some stability issues, zoom issues, and lack of options it's high speeds and superhero ability to load flash videos and sites so quickly (even at edge speeds) made Skyfire just jump out of the page for me. And at wi-fi, it is unbelievable. I even see widgets. Now I know my impressions might easily be very different from other reviewers, but I don't care. I'm just sharing my first initial impressions. Who knows, maybe they'll change. But for now, this is my new favorite mobile browser.

Enjoy, All testing has been using T-mobile's Edge network on my Nokia n95-3 after around 30-45 minutes of playing around. If you guys have any questions, I can try to answer them. I hope Skyfire read's my average joe review. lol.