WFE or Windows File Explorer is the stock bit of Windows for looking around at files. There are many alternatives for those that want something else.

Why the cracker jack box units are fast is they are likely free of all the apps we use at home and that may confuse some but here goes. When you open a folder in WFE it may call the ASSOCIATED APPLICATION to have it render a thumbnail or get additional details about the file. THIS is a lot of overhead.

Using other file browsers avoid that.