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Microsoft Says Edge Browser Is More Power-Efficient Than Chrome (windows.com)

An anonymous reader writes: It's no secret that Google's Chrome browser eats up a considerable amount of memory (and by extension, battery). On Monday, Microsoft announced that its Edge browser has succeeded on that front. Citing several tests, Microsoft claims Edge browser is a better choice for portable device owners. The company took four identical laptops running Windows 10 to see which of the four most popular browsers would be most efficient when it comes to battery life. Interestingly, Chrome was the first to kill the laptop in the video streaming test at 4 hours and 19 minutes. Firefox closely followed its rival at 5 hours and 9 minutes, while Opera (running on the same tech as Chrome) managed to hit 6 hours and 18 minutes. In Microsoft's tests, it was found that Edge was best of the bunch when it came to enjoying a video online, lasting for 7 hours and 22 minutes. That's worked out to be 70% longer than Chrome.In a blog post, Microsoft wrote: "We designed Microsoft Edge from the ground up to prioritize power efficiency and deliver more battery life, without any special battery saving mode or changes to the default settings. Our testing and data show that you can simply browse longer with Microsoft Edge than with Chrome, Firefox, or Opera on Windows 10 devices."

8 of 260 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe when comparing to stock Chrome... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Maybe it's faster when comparing to stock Chrome, but I'd bet that you throw an Adblocker on Chrome and it blows Edge's socks off in real-world usage. Since there are no add-ons for Edge, it's dead in the water.

  2. And with room for improvement! by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just think how much more efficient it could be if it didn't have to drag all that telemetry baggage with it all the time!

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  3. Edge lost at browsing, this is the video player by raymorris · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They weren't even browsing. They were playing a video. They tested the power consumption of the -video player- and claimed it was great test of the -browser-. Why did they release this test? Probably because the ones that involved browsing showed Edge to be a major loser.

  4. So telemetry reports per-app mW? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    The article says that in addition to the lab tests, they computed average power consumption in mW for Edge, Chrome, Firefox using telemetry from millions of Windows 10 devices around the world.

  5. Interesting but... by evolutionary · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In my experience, functionality trumps cpu cycle efficiency. Also, MS's test are likely rigged in favor of their browser. (like in most other industries to be fair). It's curious how notice the Vivaldi browser wasn't included in these benchmarks, which is the fastest browser I've tried to date. MS seems so desperate to be relevant in a tech sector they have been consistently losing ground on for YEARS, first to Firefox, then to chrome. Even with a rigged OS favoring Edge/Bing, MS can't seem to shake the shadow of Google or Mozilla. Their investors should be demanding that they shop in this futile battle, and try something that is actually groundbreaking where they MIGHT have a chance to dominate if they get in before some smart 3rd university student get's in on the action. :D

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  6. Re:How could it not be? by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And then, when there's a major update, all of a sudden your defaulted back to Edge.

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  7. Compare w/Opera's New Power-Saving Mode? by wile_e_wonka · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Personally, I am wondering how the results would stack up with Opera thrown in with the power saving mode turned on.

    The article points out that Edge does pretty darn well without the need for any power saving mode. Like, ok, but perhaps it makes sense to have a full featured, powerful browser (which Opera is becoming again, though for a long time that was really questionable) with the ability to flip a switch that reduces the "power" (reducing activity of background tabs, wake CPU less often, pause unused extensions, etc) and increases battery life. Also there's the built in ad-blocker, which I'd think would substantially reduce power consumption.

    Please re-run the test.

  8. Re:Pretty much by jellomizer · · Score: 1, Interesting

    But more importantly how well does it support web standards. Even from going from I.E. To edge you are still 5 years behind the time in compatibility.

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