Do you have a browser preference when you’re mobile browsing the web? Do you use the default factory browsers that come preinstalled or do you personalize the experience with a third-party browser of your choice? If you’re the kind of user who likes to try different software packages from smaller developers, the folks who develop the Dolphin Browser–which has been very well received by Android users–have a released an update of their Dolphin HD Browser, called Dolphin Engine, and they are claiming that Dolphin Engine is the fastest HTML5-capable browser for Android devices.
As pointed out by MobileBurn, Dolphin Engine claims to be five to ten times faster than the default Android browser–Ugh–and about twice as fast as Google Chrome. The technical specifications reveal the reason for the power boost:
According to Dolphin, the new back-end includes improvements in canvas element, 2D context, and text rendering. There’s also enhanced browser features like GPU accelerated canvas rendering and optimized CPU / GPU parallel computing.
Pre-rendering content is clearly the way to go when you’re trying to improve browser speed.
Because its still in beta, Dolphin Engine is not available through the Google Play store, but you can download the installer here. A word of warning, however, the link goes to a direct download, so once it’s clicked, the download starts automatically. There’s no confirmation or landing page for the browser app, so navigate accordingly. MobileBurn also reveals the beta version of Dolphin Engine is compatible with Android 2.0.1 and higher.
A quick look at the stable release of the Dolphin Browser HD finds it’s one of the highest-rated browsers on Google Play. There have been over a half a million downloads of the third-party browser, and it’s received over 400,000 5 star ratings from Android users. That’s not a bad showing for a browser trying to find its way in a land ruled by Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer.
