Discussion on:

Which browser is best optimized for the Android tablet?

I understand your reasoning to omit the Chrome browser, but I completely disagree. ICS has over 20% of the share of Android, and that number will only continue to grow. It is disheartening that Gingerbread has the lions share, and can not run the Chrome browser, but to leave it out of a review that attempts to name the best Android tablet browser is a large omission to say the least. I have to call this review incomplete and the author failed at their attempt to crown the best browser for Android tablets.

Should have included Chrome.
Two Android tablets and 4 Android phones at home all run 4.x making this article about the past, not the current.

I used Skyfire in its very infancy on an old Windows phone (maybe 6 or more years ago-I forget exactly when). I stopped using it when I moved to BlackBerry for a few years, and checked it out again when I came to Android. It's a good browser, and their tech is good for saving money with compression, but I'm not a huge fan of it anymore.

My top browser of choice on Android is Boat Browser. It opens faster than any other browser I have, it renders pages at least as fast as the default and Firefox, the ease of use for me is fine, though I would say the toolbar functions are a bit more techie than an average user might enjoy, the interface is very simple and clear and the overall experience is the best of any browser I've used on Android (and I've used all of the ones discussed in the column).

Like Dolphin, Boat also has a mini version, but I don't use it even on my phone since it only opens a limited number of tabs at once. My top-5 order of Android browsers is as follows:

1) Boat
2) Default
3) Firefox
4) Opera
5) Dolphin

And you didn't even include it in the test? Strange.

I saw you left out Chrome and stopped reading.

I thimk You are missing the whole point and not being accurate and beimg imcomplete.
First You havent taken into accoumt the Android versin. Honny Comb (HC), ICS or JB. Browsers perform differently in each one. As a matter of fact, the Android browser ( there are 2 ) does not perform in JB, that is why Chrome ( which is not mentioned by you ) it is shipped in JB. Don't mention one of the best : Boat Browser, and evaluate a couple that has the least ranking among users: Sky fire and heavy Firefox

I just tried to download Skyfire on my Nexus 7 and Play said it isn't compatible! Of course, Chrome is already on there and works wonderfully.

I would suggest you try Puffin Web Browser ($2.99 on the Play Store). I use it on my iPhone 4S and Toshiba Thrive running ICS 4.0. It plays Flash and is the fastest I have found since it cache's and compresses a web page before sending. Absolutely the best!!!

Installed it and immediately knew how to use it. Very Fast. I don't use the social networking (yet), but for me this one is exactly what I want. I removed the Android and Chrome browsers from my Droid. Happy.

I see some really odd renderings of web pages at times (with regular PC browsers, too, like Seamonkey and Firefox), so that is an issue in my usage on any platform.

Stuff that "bugs" me includes misaligned sections of pages, including overlapping text and graphics, text that does not flow/wrap to fit window widths (even when full-screen'ed at 1920 pixels wide), color schemes that obscure parts of pages, and fonts that can be unreadably small or overwhelmingly big (and even bizarre mixtures on the same page). Various browsers on various platforms can exhibit these issues to various degrees.

Of course, poorly designed web sites that assume Windows/IE 6/ActiveX, or other such silliness can be part of the problem from the server side, too, but there are plenty of examples I have seen where the browser makes a difference.

YMMV

Skyfire?

Opera is the best for me.

I downloaded SF based on this article. Not being a Facebooker or Twitterer, I was disappointed. Paying for video capability is not for me. I just want a browser that loads quickly, doesn't waste my time on the social stuff and is easy to navigate. At this stage I'll stick with Dolphin (4.0.3 ICS)

I just bought my mother a nexus 7. She likes it but scrolling through web pages is tough because of all the ad's. And ad block would be nice.

Split Browser? in Play Store lets you browse two web pages at the same time, watch videos, take notes... etc

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appestry.split_browser_trial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRUdDPm0VFs

Weird that nobody has mentioned UC Browser, it works very very well for me on Android ICS on Prestigion 5197 Ultra

"Skyfire also offers the easiest means for switching between mobile and desktop modes."
This isn't true, as Skyfire hides the bars per default, you have to press a menu button to display them again and then press the switch, same amount of presses as for example stock and firefox... dropdown menu > switch to desktop and switching between tabs becomes even more annoying in Skyfire, press menu at bottom > press tabs button at top and then select tab near middle. Where as Firefox f.ex lets you use lefthand thumb (easiest when holding tablet in two hands) to open tabs bar in left side of screen and then just select which tab to select with same finger (almost in same movement) and in stock browser on Note 10.1 it is even easier... simply press the tab you want at the top of the browser as in chrome on your desktop.

Another thing that really annoys me in Skyfire is when I surf a site and see a link I think is interresting I like to open it in a new tab and then continue to browse the page I'm already on. Skyfire then opens a new tab, goes to that site and if I'm not quick I have to go through the annoying 3 presses mentioned above, just to go back and continue reading. Stock does the sam, but here I just press the tab and I'm back... easy peasy

Oh and I think Skyfire looks clunky and have an amateurish look.

My list would look like this:
1: Stock
2: Chrome
3: Firefox
4: Dolphin
5: Others

Firefox, so bad you can't even set the home page. And it insists on showing you the mobile pages, you can keep clicking request desktop site, but like Chrome browser, it forget this on the very next website you visit. Making it extremely unfriendly.

Opera, annoyingly slow, but has the best interface of the group so far. Only big issue is it's a pain to use the tabs. and its a chore to close tabs that sites create. Enabling the exit button provides a work around for this issue.

Chrome has several of the same problems as firefox, but at least Chrome has a useful starting page that can be customized.


Right now, I recommend Opera, its a bit slow but at least you don't want to throw your tablet across the room after 5 minutes of using it. (But then again that's only two webpages loaded after 5 minutes of browsing).

Skyfire has a low rating on the google app store right now so I haven't tried it.

You don't even get a friggen back button anymore, no way to mass close tabs. It doesn't zoom in when you fat finger several links (not as well as it did before anyways).
It also won't auto launch the youtube app.

And it's still slow.

In short, don't use it now, its terrible.