Autoplay vs CSS Animation: Which Orbit Slider Strategy Yields Lower Reflow Overhead?

The goal is to quantify the reflow and JavaScript overhead introduced by the Orbit slider’s autoplay feature before applying any code or CSS tweaks.

Heavy slide content can trigger layout thrashing during CSS transition, and pause‑on‑hover relies on mouseenter/mouseleave listeners that are unreliable on touch devices.

Disabling autoplay removes the timer loop but may lower engagement; replacing the timer with a CSS keyframe animation eliminates JavaScript but sacrifices fine‑grained pause control.

Which strategy yields a lower total reflow cost while maintaining acceptable user experience, and how can we reliably capture these metrics across major browsers?

Should the Orbit slider disable autoplay to reduce JavaScript overhead? Does a CSS keyframe animation provide comparable transition smoothness without the need for timers? What is the best way to measure reflow counts consistently?