Is the meta charset UTF-8 required for valid HTML5?

Question

My understanding is that it is not required for any version of HTML. But if you let it unspecified you let the browser find out in what charset the HTML file is written in and thus makes the load time slower.

It is recommended but it is not required.

Answer 1

UTF-8 is the default character codification in HTML5

Answer 2

UTF-8 is the default character codification in HTML 5. Is preferred over other codifications because permits chars codified in Unicode, that is supported by a wide range of web browsers and other applications like Database Managers. Load time is not affected. With a correct codification like utf8 yours chars look correct, in special with foreing languages