A lot has changed in the market for PC browsers. About five years ago there was even more competition and completely own development, now there are only two engines left: the one behind Chrome and the one behind Firefox. With the release of Microsoft’s Blink-based Edge this month, we are looking at benchmarks and field tests.
At the moment there are only a few browser layout engines left for Windows systems, namely Webkit, Blink (started as fork of Webkit) and Gecko. About ten years ago you also had Presto from Opera and Trident (later EdgeHTML) from Internet Explorer (later Edge). These two also gave up their own engine and switched to Chromium’s Blink.
There are actually only two parties left for PCs (apart from small forks): Google’s Blink and Mozilla’s Gecko. Microsoft has released an official version of Edge based on Chromium after a few months of beta testing, complete with a new logo that you can can download via Microsoft.
In this collection of benchmarks for PC browsers, we look at the two primary browsers that are based on these two different engines: Chrome (Blink) and Firefox (Gecko). In addition, we also look at the new version of Mirosofts Edge, which is also based on Blink. So that you can get a better picture, we are looking at a third Blink browser alongside Chrome and Edge, and the most popular one according to figures from Net Applications is currently Opera.
We disregard WebKit because it no longer occurs in pure form on PCs since the Blink-fork and engines such as KHTML and Pale Moon are also not so relevant to this consideration. That means that we are dealing with four browsers here: Chrome, Edge (new Chromium version), Opera and Firefox.
For all tests we used the same system (including the Basemark test with the legacy version of Edge) a Windows 10 PC (version 1909, x64) on a laptop with Intel Core i5 U processor at 2.2 GHz with 8 GB RAM.
Browser performance: Basemark
The benchmark test from Basemark puts the browser to the test to see how well it is able to handle modern web standards and is the most complete test that we conducted. JavaScript (ECMAScript) is also being tested, although in a test later we look more extensively at JavaScript performance through Jetstream.
The test runs through graphic elements and tests popular JS frameworks to see how well the client handles them. A higher score means a better result. For comparison, we also ran a test on a PC with the same hardware configuration and version of Windows 10 in the legacy version of Edge based on EdgeHTML.
Because the benchmark is an indication of how the client is currently performing, we have kept the basis as much as possible: only the browser in question was open, nothing else, the resolution was 1920 x 1080 and the basic system (as well as that of the extra test) with EdgeHTML) was otherwise the same.
We ran each test three times with the same load and the same system. From those total tests, we have drawn an average of all results and these are shown below. The following list follows, with the best score at the top:
A few remarks about these results: Opera and Edge were the highest in each round; sometimes Opera won, sometimes Edge won. Opera took the final win when we drew an average. All browsers scored less well with the CSS elements, but did well with loading pages and reclassifying HTML. The legacy version of Edge was unable to run through the WebGL 2.0. The new version of Edge had no problem with that.
Firefox stumbled considerably over the Canvas test that Basemark conducted, which lowered the score, but it has long been known that Firefox performs poorly in many a public benchmark. In Mozilla’s own test for developers Kraken, Firefox is probably the best.
JavaScript performance: JetStream
JetStream is a benchmarking tool that specifically looks at the performance of JavaScript and WebAssembly, two hugely important aspects that determine overall browser performance. It is designed to specifically test WebKit implementations, but is used more widely to compare the results of different browsers. It is perhaps logical that Blink versions with the WebKit legacy score higher than engine Gecko.
The tool is aimed at rewarding browsers that start quickly, execute code smoothly and therefore load quickly, so that the benchmark gives a good indication of your browser’s real-world performance. We used both version 1.1 and newer version 2, which tests more modules than the earlier version. The tests are run three times with numerous web components and interfaces. An average of is taken from these tests in order to give a reasonable picture of performance. A higher score is better.
If you look purely at JetStream2, Opera wins again from Edge and Chrome from Firefox. We ran Jetstream 2 on four browsers, unfortunately we experienced crashes with the legacy version of Edge. JetStream1.1 was executed on all, so that you also have an idea of ​​the performance difference of the two Edge variants.
Edge and Opera are also the best here, although Opera has a small advantage over Edge. Firefox and Chrome were practically the same in JetStream2, but Firefox won in Jetstream1.1. In terms of JavaScript, Firefox does perform better in a similar test SunSpider.
RAM load: practical test
The load on the working memory is also an important measure of performance, especially on systems where you are tighter in resources. For this test we have always started the browser without plug-ins or adblockers and opened five tabs: Techzle.nl, Gmail.com (in the mailbox), Nu.nl, Reddit.com and Computerworld.nl. We then waited a minute for the loading to be completed as much as possible and the browsers to perform equally.
For these results, of course, a smaller number is better, because it means a lower load on the working memory (and therefore the battery if you work on a laptop). Chrome once had the reputation of being a huge RAM-freer, but Google has been working on it in recent years to put an end to it. This is bearing fruit: Chrome is the least burdensome browser in this field test.
Opera is the worst and Windows Task Manager also drew a threatening deep orange color when it came to battery use. Mozilla’s Firefox was also less successful with still more than a GB of RAM. Edge came in second, but was still a lot heavier than Chrome.
Other tests
In the past, manufacturers offered their own benchmark tests, most of which are no longer serviced. In Google’s Octane, Chrome is the best, Mozilla’s Kraken wins Firefox and Microsoft’s Chalkboard was specifically designed to test Internet Explorer. These benchmark tests also add little and, in our opinion, have a fairly high WC duck content. It is not for nothing that public benchmarking tools have become more popular.
Furthermore, all of these tests refer purely to performance, but that is usually not the only consideration for choosing a browser. For example, if you go for extensions, then Chrome is a better choice. If you prefer privacy, Firefox is best for you, or if you are used to Chrome extensions, browser Brave. A good speed / load ratio now seems to come from Edge, since Opera is fast, but the memory and the battery are therefore heavily loaded.