Google cuts Chrome power consumption, but Microsoft still thinks you should use Edge

Over the past few months, Microsoft has taken potshots at Google for high power consumption under Chrome. As we’ve discussed, there’s truth to the company’s statements. 

Independent tests have regularly demonstrated that Chrome uses more power than Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Opera, though the exact ratios and scores depend on workload and use-case.


Google announced several changes to Chrome 52 for Android this week, with faster video load times, less buffering, and better overall power consumption management. A short demonstration video is embedded below:While these benefits are currently Android-specific, Google isn’t going to keep them there.

 “Since the beginning of the year, we’ve made a 33% improvement in video playback GPU/CPU power consumption on Windows 10,” a Google spokesperson told The Verge. “And by Chrome 53, we feel confident that we’ll be at parity with other browsers in terms of power consumption for the majority of video playback on the internet.”