[Lewisham]

I had the same feeling. It's not just in the browser, it's throughout the whole experience, so the raster trick for zooming that's mentioned doesn't explain it completely.

Google really needs to sort it out. It's a shonky user experience that really doesn't need it to be. I was certain that it was hardware acceleration that was missing, but obviously not. There was that bug ticket which indicated that Google thought it was garbage-collector related, but then that was supposed to have been modified in 2.3.

It's really pretty poor, and is certainly not helping to sell devices. Put an iPad 2 next to a Xoom, or a Nexus One next to an iPhone 4, and you really do see the difference. In stores like Best Buy, that's how they're setting up displays, of the two "flagship products". And I'm sure customers are going to go with the Apple product after trying them both.

[Pewpewarrows]

Yep. That's exactly why everyone I've ever talked to or come in contact with has an iPhone: the slightly more responsive scrolling behavior in browsers. Total deal-breaker.

(Don't get me wrong, it's a valid criticism. But it's not even remotely close to the reason people choose an iPhone over an Android-based phone, or vis-versa).

[thingie]

It's much more like slightly more responsive behavior everywhere, not just browsers. I have bought cheap low-end Android handset, as I really didn't want to pay a hefty price for the iPhone (Europe, it's very expensive even with subscription, which is expensive as well), it was my first smartphone and I wasn't entirely convinced that I need or even want such a thing. I do, but overal sluggishness of the Android handset (even high-end models that I was able to try for a while did have some lags and weren't really what I expected) is very annoying. In fact, it's the primary reason why I'm now seriously thinking about getting the iPhone.

[SeveredCross]

This matches my experience almost exactly. I wasn't sure that I needed a smartphone, so I got a low-end Android handset on Verizon (Droid Eris), and it's been an absolute piece of garbage, even with custom ROM (currently running a Gingerbread ROM based off CM7). The higher-end Android models I've played with have been better, but even my girlfriend's HTC Desire has boatloads of issues, and some of them are the same as the issues on my Eris (scroll lag, menu lag, poor input responsiveness across the board).

Google really needs to focus on Android's user experience if they want to be a serious competitor to Apple across all market segments[1]. That said, I doubt that Google is going to place a strong focus on fixing Android's UX issues, because it seems to me that Android is yet another platform to get more ads in front of more eyeballs, and if shoveling OS updates and cheap handsets out is the way to do it, then that's what they'll do.

[1]: While it's true that Android has the #1 market share right now, I doubt that it's because of Android's UX attracting the masses--I have a feeling that it's due to Android's low price and availability at said low prices in emerging markets with many fresh-faced consumers (China, India come to mind). I strongly suspect Apple still kicks Google's ass in the all-important sector of consumers with money to spend on phones and apps.

[ZeroGravitas]

Apple should really work on having its products displayed closer to the competition then, because this apparently glaring flaw hasn't stopped Android phones gaining popularity to thei point that they're outselling iPhones 4 to 1 in the US so perhaps Google's priorities aren't as messed up as you might think.

[listic]

Citation needed. Please share the link to information indicating that Android phones are outselling iPhones 4 to 1 in the US.

[ZeroGravitas]

NPD smartphone sales stats for the US:

Quarter-Year: Android%/Apple% = ratio

Q2-2010: 33/22 = 1.5

Q3-2010: 44/23 = 1.91

Q4-2010: 53/19 = 2.8

You can find graphs from various sources that show a consistent trend for Android (i.e. the sales in the last month of Q4 are higher than the average and much higher than the sales in the first month) if that wasn't already obvious from the quarterly numbers.

My prediction for sales right now i.e. the month of March is about 60/15 but I guess we'll hear the Q1 numbers in a month or so and it'll be something like 3.5 overall.

edit: a final note, this isn't a prediction that Apple sales will fall, they'll certainly grow (though I think their U.S. marketshare just peaked) it's simply that Android's massive growth will expand the smartphone market and shrink their sales share.