Opera and Microsoft locked horns this week, each claiming to be the best browser for battery life savings on laptops running Windows 10.
It all started on June 20, when Microsoft posted a boastful blog post bragging that its Edge browser is the most power-efficient — more than doubling the battery life of a Windows 10-powered device.
In fact, Microsoft claimed that its Edge browser delivers between 36 and 53 percent more battery life compared with rival browsers Chrome, Firefox and Opera, when running on Windows 10.
Microsoft boasted how it designed Edge with power efficiency in mind, making it a priority to deliver more battery life without any changes to default settings or any special battery saving mode.
"Our testing and data show that you can simply browse longer with Microsoft Edge than with Chrome, Firefox, or Opera on Windows 10 devices," said Microsoft.
Opera, of course, took this as a challenge and conducted its own tests, posting its own boastful blog post in response to Microsoft's claims, peppered with delicious sarcasm and not-so-thinly-veiled jabs.
At first, Opera highlights that its tests showed that its battery saving feature boosted battery performance by as much as 50 percent when compared with rival browsers such as Google Chrome. However, Opera reckons that it didn't even pay attention to Microsoft Edge when conducting its comparisons.
However, when Microsoft released its new video that showed Edge on top and bragged in "an extensive blog post and obviously a huge PR effort" that it outperformed Opera, Chrome and Firefox, Opera decided to fire back.
"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," Opera notes.
Opera's own tests showed that compared with Microsoft Edge, its browser squeezed 22 percent more battery life out of a Windows 10-powered laptop with the Opera native ad blocker and power saver enabled. Compared with the latest version of Google Chrome, Opera scored a 35 percent longer battery life.
To be fair, Opera admits that it may be an apples-to-oranges comparison to Microsoft's tests, considering that Microsoft did not disclose what methodology it used to test its browser.
With this in mind, did Microsoft brag about having the most power-efficient browser for Windows 10 laptops? Did Opera burn Microsoft without going over the Edge? If you've used both Opera and Microsoft Edge on Windows 10, drop by our comment section below and let us know which browser feels like it's getting the most out of your laptop's battery.
