Microsoft this week claimed its Edge browser is the most energy efficient when it comes to battery consumption – a claim which has now been disputed.
The team behind the Opera browser responded by performing its own tests which show Opera itself as the best browser for conserving battery.
In a blog post, the company explained how it simulated browsing popular websites on Chrome, Edge, and Opera on a Lenovo Yoga 500 laptop running Windows 10 64-bit.
Błażej Kaźmierczak, Opera’s director of software development, writes “Like most other engineering teams, we love it when someone picks a fight. If we get beaten in a test like this, we consider it a bug.”
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The team was careful to be very specific when it came to the type of tests conducted, something which they accuse Microsoft of overlooking:
“As Microsoft hasn’t revealed its full methodology, we were unable to run the same tests,” Kaźmierczak continues.
“If Microsoft really wants to prove that its browser performs better than others (in any regard), the company should be transparent about its methodology so that others can replicate it.”
Opera’s own tests showed its browser runs 22% longer than Edge and 35% longer than Chrome with ad blocking and power save features turned on.
But Kyle Pflug, a program manager for the Microsoft Edge team, hit back at the company with the following tweet:
(Tweet:745623372839608320)
Microsoft’s own test was performed using a Surface Book, video of which showed the PC running the Edge browser running 70% longer than Chrome, 43% longer than Firefox, and 17% longer than Opera.
You can read an in-depth description of Opera’s own test in the blog post, where it seems Kaźmierczak is convinced this battle has been won, writing: “Better luck next time, Microsoft”.
One thing’s for sure, Chrome certainly hasn’t come out of this whole thing looking particularly good. If nothing else, perhaps this spat will prompt Google to improve Chrome’s well-known battery drain issues.
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Will you be switching to Opera? Let us know what you think of the whole debacle in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
