Microsoft Edge Edges Out Other Browsers In Battery Test – Again

Microsoft claims Edge browser lasts longer and uses less power than the latest versions of Chrome and Firefox; beating Chrome by three hours andd Firefox by almost five!

Microsoft says that a device running its Edge browser will last almost 80% longer than Firefox, and 35% longer than Chrome. Microsoft puts the energy efficiency of Edge over other browsers down to improvements in the latest Window 10 ‘Creators Edition’ update and by “encouraging HTML5 content over Flash, improving the efficiency of iframes, and optimizing hit testing.”

Firefox 53 users could see a significant boost in performance and 17% less crashes than before.

Google and Opera refute results

The results are fairly similar to test results carried out by Microsoft in June of last year, when Microsoft claimed then as well, that using the Edge browser prolonged users battery lives. Those results were quickly jumped on and criticised by Google and Opera, with both claiming that the test environment used by Microsoft didn’t accurately reflect real word web usage.  

Scientific proof

The latest Microsoft Edge test however seem to have been carried out in far more scientific manner, with Microsoft openly publishing the methodology it followed for the test. That said, the test was still carried out on Surface Books, Microsoft’s own hardware.

Still the results are compelling. Edge really does seem to be able make batteries last longer than any other browser.

Chrome still king

Chrome however, still dominates the browser market, with most other users using either Firefox or Opera to access the web. Microsoft are still pushing Edge as the most efficient browser, eager to try and pick up market share in the increasing mobile dominant browser arena.

The Surface running Edge lasted 12 hours and 31 minutes, while Chrome died after 9 hours and 17 minutes, with Firefox lasting 7 hours and 4 minutes.

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