HTTP was enough for most of my basic browser tests because I was only opening normal websites. I switched to SOCKS5 when I wanted a more general connection method and fewer assumptions about the kind of traffic being sent through the proxy. Before changing anything, I reviewed the protocol examples at simplynode.io/post/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-proxy-in-firefox so I could set the Firefox fields correctly. The main benefit for me was flexibility rather than speed. I still use HTTP for simple web-only checks because it is easy to understand and configure. SOCKS5 becomes more useful when I want the proxy layer to be less tied to ordinary HTTP browsing and need broader protocol support.