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Chrome Beats Edge and Firefox in 'Browser Benchmark Battle: July 2018' -- Sometimes (venturebeat.com) 157

Posted by EditorDavid from the can't-lose-for-winning dept.
An anonymous reader quotes VentureBeat: It's been more than 20 months since our last browser benchmark battle, and we really wanted to avoid letting two years elapse before getting a fresh set of a results. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge have all improved significantly over the past year and a half, and as I've argued before, the browser wars are back. You can click on the individual test to see the results:

SunSpider: Edge wins!
Octane: Chrome wins!
Kraken: Firefox wins!
JetStream: Edge wins!
MotionMark: Edge wins!
Speedometer: Chrome wins!
BaseMark: Chrome wins!
WebXPRT: Firefox wins!
HTML5Test: Chrome wins!

Chrome looks to be ahead of the pack according to these tests. That said, browser performance was solid across all three contestants, and it shouldn't be your only consideration when picking your preferred app for consuming internet content.
Chrome wins in four tests, beating Edge's three wins, and Firefox's two wins.
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Chrome Beats Edge and Firefox in 'Browser Benchmark Battle: July 2018' -- Sometimes More

Chrome Beats Edge and Firefox in 'Browser Benchmark Battle: July 2018' -- Sometimes

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  • obviously (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Alexan Kulbashian ( 4438611 ) on Saturday July 14, 2018 @12:39PM (#56947624)
    If Firefox and Edge inhaled as much memory as Chrome, i'm sure they might also perform a little better

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

      Today I'm usually less worried about performance and more about feedback, privacy, security and stability of the browser.

      What I really miss in the Microsoft browsers is the feedback about what the heck it's waiting for - or if it's still waiting for a server response.

    • For several years now Safari has outpaced Chrome nearly across the board in javascript and DOM operations.

      I've been tracking it as a web app developer because it has serious implications for UX on mobile devices. The DOM operations can easily be 3-4X faster in safari, when combined with the iPhones processing advantages stacks up a 10X difference in performance between the average iPhone and the average android phone. Its a big problem for javascript app developers.
      examples:
      https://bugs.chromium.org/p/ch... [chromium.org]

      • For several years now Safari has outpaced Chrome...

        It needs to because it has to load all the ads. I never used Safari because of the absence of a decent adblocker.

      • Safari costs $499 (source: Best Buy [bestbuy.com]). Most people (except professional web developers) aren't willing to buy a second computer or second phone just to run a web browser. These comparisons include Edge despite it being exclusive to Windows 10 because Windows 10 has a much larger installed base than macOS and X11/Linux.

        • But that doesn't make Edge free either.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tepples ( 727027 )

            I concede that Edge is not free software, unlike Chromium and Firefox. I concede that acquiring an Edge license is not without charge, unlike Google Chrome and Firefox. But the fraction of PCs worldwide that are already licensed to run Edge is far greater than the fraction of PCs worldwide that are already licensed to run recent Safari. The Edge fraction is above the threshold, the Safari fraction not so much.

      • You seem to be discussing mobile devices. iOS is a special case; all competing browsers are guaranteed to be inferior to Safari because Apple requires that they use the HTML and Javascript services provided by iOS, which are basically an out of date version of Safari. The choice on iOS is easy because Apple has rigged the game.

        The benchmarks cited here are on systems where all the browsers they tested run natively - that means Windows. Safari for Windows was discontinued ages ago so it's out of the picture.

    • They should also average all the browser performance over Mac, Windows and Linux or state which OS the results are valid for. It is unlikely that Edge will win any speed contest outside Windows because it will have to run inside a VM.

      • Only test browsers available on the OS:
        Windows: Edge, Chrome, Firefox
        macOS: Safari, Chrome, Firefox
        Linux: Firefox, Chrome

    • If Firefox and Edge inhaled as much memory as Chrome, i'm sure they might also perform a little better

      Then they should do it. RAM is cheap. It's in my system to be used as fast as possible. Cache the Jeebus out of websites if you have to. My server has 32GB of RAM currently with 31GB actively used for by the filesystem for caching.

      Low memory footprint is something for RaspberryPis, not desktops. Give me speed!

  • Browser benchmarks (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Please tell me again why time-based browser benchmarks matter at all, when the differences are measured in milliseconds.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      They don't. But since most people (including the ones publishing such benchmarks) really do not understand anything about browsers or what matters and what does not, we will get these demented comparisons for the foreseeable future.

    • Re:Browser benchmarks (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Dutch Gun ( 899105 ) on Saturday July 14, 2018 @03:09PM (#56948352)

      One issue that matters to me is responsiveness and perceptible speed of the browser UI. In my experience, Firefox beat out Chrome in this regard, as the Chrome UI had a few noticeable stutters under heavy load, while the Firefox browser stayed responsive. That's probably not going to show up in a benchmark of any sort, as it's a very subjective experience.

      I had briefly considered switching to Chrome after Mozilla pulled it's "Mr Robot" plugin stunt, and so I tried it out for a while. It was a pretty slight margin, but Firefox just *felt* faster to me, likely because of UI responsiveness. But beyond that, I missed a few of Firefox's minor quality-of-life features. Edge seems very much a take-it-or-leave-it experience. Firefox is becoming more like that, but still not as much as with Chrome.

      And whatever problems Mozilla may have, and whatever idiotic decisions they still make, I still trust their motives more than Google or MS.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tsa ( 15680 )

        About FF's quality-of-life features: you know what I hate? That if you accidentally or purposefully close the last tab, the whole browser just disappears. All browsers except Firefox do this. That alone is reason enough for me to keep using FF.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

          You probably set an option aeons ago, I think a fresh Firefox install also closes the browser. But still, Firefox (Waterfox here) gives you the option.

          I prefer Waterfox because it allows me to keep the classic look whilst having multiple processes. Which leads to the question - if Waterfox can do this then why can't Firefox?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tepples ( 727027 )

            What else is the browser supposed to do visually when the user has closed the last tab? Keep the window open with no tabs in it? Keep the application open with no windows open? Other than macOS, does any major PC GUI operating system even have a concept of an application remaining open after its last window is closed?

      • One issue that matters to me is responsiveness and perceptible speed of the browser UI

        The browser UI? Why are you using the browser UI? Do you use the Windows UI or the applications within it? :-)

        I know what you mean, but these days the interaction I have with things are very much within the rendering window of the Browser. The Browser is a glorified alt+tab alternative. Increasing Javascript performance means increasing UI speed of things people actively use including Office365, Gmail, Facebook, etc.

    • The reason is...well...it's because...err...well, you know...um...I dunno.

      All seriousness aside, my choice of browsers (Firefox) is because it's easier to use, because it has a _real_ menu system, and because I can make configuration changes that I need.

      Chrome has none of this. I can't use the backspace key because G, in its wisdom, knows better; I might some day be filling out a form, and accidentally hit the backspace key, resulting in backing out of the form instead of erasing a single character. (That

  • So? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 14, 2018 @12:47PM (#56947660)

    I am not entirely concerned with the speed of the browser, at this point the speed difference is in the unnoticeable order of milliseconds.

    My primary concern is advertisers and bitcoin miners tracking me or utilizing my machine. In this regards firefox wins hands down because Google and Microsoft both have vested interests in making a dirty browser which serves them but appears to serve us the user.

    Until these companies change their souls to be better citizens within our society I will never allow their products upon my machine, it is too much unknown risk for no reward. They have only themselves and their actions to blame for burning through their goodwill karma with the public, google most especially given how beloved it once was.

  • Hmmm (Score:4, Informative)

    by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) on Saturday July 14, 2018 @12:50PM (#56947672)
    Safari missing? Nice of you, it is based on good intentions I presume.
    • It is impossible to do an apples to Apples comparison between Edge and Safari because they don't run on the same OS. These benchmarks chose to concentrate on the OS with the larger market share.

    • I tired Safari once, but I couldn't figure out how to install it on Windows 10.

  • Who cares? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The thing that need battling, is the bloated "web"!
    An ad blocker was the biggest speed improvement that actually meant something in the last years.
    Blocking stupid visual effects (like 3D animations and background videos) should get the web back to mostly smooth even in the slowest browser.
    And the most ideal solution, not abusing the web to run applocations in the mother of all inner-platform effect software design anti-patterns, would mean a super-smooth web experience even in Mozilla 0.6 from 2001!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tepples ( 727027 )

      And the most ideal solution, not abusing the web to run applocations in the mother of all inner-platform effect software design anti-patterns

      What would you recommend instead? Writing the applications in Java and requiring everyone to download a Java VM? Writing the applications in Python and requiring everyone to download a Python interpreter? Writing the applications in Swift or Objective-C and requiring everyone to buy a Mac?

  • And Waterfox would be the winner due to XUL and web extensions supported.

  • Not sure why (Score:5, Informative)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday July 14, 2018 @01:01PM (#56947732)
    but benchmarks or not Chrome "feels" faster than Firefox these days. As for IE, it's JavaScript compiler is dog slow so pages take forever to load, making the entire experience pretty rough since pages still transition a lot (AngularJS and one page sites haven't really taken over like everybody thought they would...)

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Not generally true anymore. Chrome feels more sluggish then Firefox, Safari, or even Edge for a looooot of users. And not because of "crufty profiles" or "bad drivers" or "too little RAM" or other classic excuses, either. It's frankly starting to show its age, even if it still has a lot of life left in it.

      In fact Google is even artificially crippling other browsers by using not-ready-yet technologies in their own web services which only Chromium supports well. See for instance their use of Web Components in

    • Sounds like AdBlock/uMatrix fail. No one cares about that hundred megs of Javascript crapware if you don't load it.

      • in either browser. If ads are annoying me I stop going to the site.

        • These days, most sites don't have a single source of annoying ads -- they have several. There's no option but to block those, and the war against spammers (ads are a form of spam) is going so badly that opt-out blocking is a losing proposition, you need opt-in.

    • Could you make a Firefox plugin that replaces stock images on websites with the top result of a google image search for "stick figure" plus the title of the stock image?

      "stick figure" Trump. "stick figure" Kanye.

      The web would be so much better.

  • Who cares? Seriously... (Score:3)

    by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Saturday July 14, 2018 @01:12PM (#56947796)

    Browser speed is not a factor today. The only reason for these comparisons is that most people do not have what it takes to do more than compare a (meaningless) number.

    • Browser speed is not a factor today

      Ahhh someone who still uses MS Office. Get with the program man the browser Javascript speed is directly related to how complicated and fast the modern version of the "application" works. If Office365 can have less UI lag then go for it.

      If this were a discussion of Linux kernel outperforming the Windows kernel you'd be all over that. Time to give up on the idea of a web browser showing some text on a screen and time to face the reality of modern computing that is the glorified thin client running a browser

  • What about IE6 performance? It's the PHB ultimate browser as Chrome makes his internet's sites on the LAN look funny

  • Interface is more important (Score:5, Informative)

    by Stormwatch ( 703920 ) <(rodrigogirao) (at) (hotmail.com)> on Saturday July 14, 2018 @01:25PM (#56947856) Homepage

    A difference of microseconds doesn't matter if the program has a shitty user interface. Firefox is the only one of those three that has a proper interface -- after you restore the title and menu bars, that is. No, cramming the menu bar into a goddamn hamburger button is never acceptable for a desktop application.

    • Amen.

      At least in mac, the menu bar is there by default all the time (os imposed), so there is nothing to restore in that front.

      HAving said that, I like my tabs in the title bar (even with the 16:10 display of the mac, vertical space is at a premium these days).

      On the other hand, I hate how firefox dicks around with the buttons on the interface. Lucky for me, I am in the ESR channel, so this happens only once a year, not every six weeks (chrome), or every six months (edge).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by theCoder ( 23772 )

        With vertical space at a premium, you should look into the Tree Style Tab extension for Firefox. It puts your tabs down the side, and also organizes them in a tree structure, so that new tabs open under the tab they were opened from. You can collapse groups of tabs as needed. Personally, I don't know why all the major browsers keep tabs on the top. With widescreeen monitors (at least on desktops/laptops), tabs on the side makes much more sense.

        Of course, I had to stay on FF56 to avoid losing my TST exten

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tepples ( 727027 )

          With widescreeen monitors (at least on desktops/laptops), tabs on the side makes much more sense.

          Not if you're splitting your 1920x1080p display down the middle to show two 960px-wide windows.

    • What interface? All you need is tabs and a scroll bar. The rest of the interface is dependent on the "apps" that you run in your browser these days, and Office365 looks the same on Firefox and Chrome.

  • There are a few websites -particular specialty government websites- that don't work right with this browser or that one, but for the most part, everything works fine regardless of browser.

    So who cares?

  • Firefox isn't Chrome or Edge (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    So Firefox WINS!

  • They go to all that effort to benchmark and don't even list the versions of the freaking browsers. Plus, only MS-Windows... no Linux, no MacOS. (And they didn't use a zero scale on several of the graphs.)

    In any case, I am not sure it matters. Looks to me like all three were fast. Other factors probably matter more now...

    I am much more concerned with using a browser that is truly open-source, multiplatform, tries to respect privacy as much as possible, and community driven. I guess you know which browse

  • Speed isn't the biggest problem (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sremick ( 91371 ) on Saturday July 14, 2018 @03:32PM (#56948438)

    So basically some Chrome fanboy is paranoid about articles such as the one at The Verge which outline the far bigger problem with Chrome, and so it trying to deflect attention: "Hey, look! Chrome is 0.001ms faster than Firefox (sometimes)!"

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/... [theverge.com]

    It seems people have started to just lazily accept the browser monoculture of a Chrome-dominated web with no acknowledgement that this is the exact same nightmare we went through back in the day with Internet Explorer. We're seeing underhanded and sneaky bundling deals and drive-by trojan installs (which then make Chrome the default), as well as a push for proprietary markup that only works with Chrome and subsequently websites that REQUIRE Chrome for use.

    Why are we giving Google so much of a free pass for all the things Microsoft got raked over the coals (and taken to court) for? It seems peoples' memories are quite short, but I can assure you that a lot of us are STILL dealing with the fall-out of websites requiring Internet Explorer to this very day.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tsa ( 15680 )

      Not only are People's memories short, but there is a whole new generation of people who never saw the monkey run.

  • 1) Which one slows my computer down the most with most tabs.
    2) How easily can I save and shut down all those tabs and get back to a useful state.

    Category 1 goes like Chrome, Opera Beta, Firefox, Edge or something such. Hard to decide between the first two.
    Category 2 I don't even remember which one let you save all tabs at once even through multiple windows but basically with extensions they all do it well.

    What I'm using now is Opera Beta though with V7 sessions. I know for sure V7 sessions has felt slow aft

  • The wetware or carbonware that is put between the Keyboard and Chair is the main bottleneck in performance.

    If you change many things in the browser, like the interface, or break a lot of plug-ins, the wetware/carbonware gets adapatation problems, and productivity suffers.

    Chrome changes every six weeks or so.
    Edge changes every six months or so.
    Firefox ESR changes every year.

    So, logic dictates, go with firefox ESR.

  • Firefox never in third place (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PineHall ( 206441 ) on Saturday July 14, 2018 @06:24PM (#56948984)
    An interesting detail I noticed in the nine tests that Firefox was in second place except for the two times that it was in first place. It was never in third place. I think that means Firefox is solid across all tests. Looking at first place finishes only, you see that Firefox ends up in third place, but if you add up the rankings Firefox ends up in first place. I think all the browsers are pretty good so maybe these tests are not that big of a deal. I think the point is that Firefox and Edge have improved so much that Chrome not the must-use browser that some people used to claim. I use Firefox so I am happy to see that it is performing well.

  • Which browser performs the best when you block javascript? Which browsers make it the easiest to set configuration rules that blacklist third-party scripting? Which browsers then gracefully display the 'corrected' web content after the script infestation has been removed?

    That is the kind of benchmarking some of us would find more relevant than gee-whizz speed measurements of the excrement that "web developer" discharge.

  • I couldâ(TM)nt care less if a page takes a microsecond longer to load. What I care about is not chewing up all the memory on my machine because of sloppy coding and memory leaks.

  • Browser wars (Score:3)

    by Clived ( 106409 ) on Saturday July 14, 2018 @11:26PM (#56949878)

    What about Opera ? I seem to be using it a lot these days, love the built in VPN and its quite fast

    Comments ?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      What about Opera ? I seem to be using it a lot these days...

      Last I heard, Opera stopped using their own distinct engine in... was it 2013? Thereabout. They switched to the same engine as Chrome, so there's no point in making Opera a separate contender in browser tests anymore.

    • Comments: I'd rather an American company hoovering all my data up than a Chinese one.

  • made by an ad company to ensure the consumer gets their ads?

  • This is just the beginning!
    After all the needless things, like bookmarking, navigation, GUI, etc has been removed, FF will really fly!
    And as an added bonus, It will report itself as "Google Chrome".
    Its what the kids want!
    Right?
    Right!

  • Browser Benchmark Battle: July 2018 (Score:3)

    by najajomo ( 4890785 ) on Sunday July 15, 2018 @10:30AM (#56951462)
    Is there any difference between Apple, Linux and Windows in running these tests. Does the fact the most of Edge is baked into the kernel add anything to it's performance?

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