Edge takes top spot in Microsoft browser battery life test (again)

Microsoft Edge may still be behind in the race when it comes to its share of the browser market, but Microsoft's latest ad attempts to show it can go the distance against Chrome and Firefox. Using Surface Books powered by the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Microsoft once again placed Edge head-to-head with Chrome and Firefox to see which would come out on top in its battery life test (spoiler: it's Edge).

The test was conducted by streaming one video across all three browsers on identical devices until the battery died. According to Microsoft's results, Edge lasted 63 percent longer than Firefox and 19 percent longer than Chrome. In terms of time, Edge managed to go 16 hours and 8 minutes, while Firefox came in at 9 hours and 52 minutes. Chrome, meanwhile, hit 13 hours and 31 minutes.

It's worth noting that there are some caveats to these tests that will probably make them hard to replicate in real-world use. According to Microsoft's methodology, the test was conducted on Windows 10 build 16299, and a number of settings were tweaked to reflect a setup that it's doubtful you'll see actually in use. These include enabling quiet hours, disabling Bluetooth and the ambient light sensor, and, perplexingly, setting the volume to mute. Still, the settings were applied to each device, so the test should reflect a level playing field for each browser.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has released a battery life test like this; it released a similar video just after the release of the Creators Update in April 2017. And both of these most recent tests largely echo the results of yet another battery test released in 2016. It's always healthy to remain skeptical of first-party battery tests like these, but battery life isn't the whole story when it comes to browsers. Ultimately, picking a browser involves weighing the pros and cons related to a range of personal preferences. And if you're on Windows 10 S, well, you have no choice in the matter, anyhow.