Tests suggest Edge is maybe not the fastest browser after all

Edge undoubtedly gets better with each Windows update that passes. Microsoft recently ran a series of battery experiments that highlight Edge is the most battery efficient laptop browser. The software giant has also conducted its own browser speed experiment that shows, as you might guess, that Edge is faster than Google Chrome and Firefox. However, TekRevenue has now questioned Microsoft’s claim that Edge is the fastest browser.

Microsoft compared Edge, Chrome and Firefox browsing speeds with the Apple Jetstream 1.1 benchmark after the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. The company included the Jetstream 1.1 benchmarking for those three browsers on its Edge website. Edge scores 185.97 with Firefox and Chrome clocking up 156.53 and 144.34. Thus, Edge is the winner in that benchmark.

The Edge website includes three speedometers that show the above scores rounded up or down to 186, 157 and 144. There Microsoft boasts that Edge is “faster than both Chrome and Firefox.” The benchmarking highlights that Chrome is 22% slower than Edge.

TekRevenue.com has questioned Microsoft’s browser benchmarks. TekRevenue confirms that Edge does indeed beat Chrome, Firefox and Edge in Jetstream. There scores for the browsers are not the same, but Edge is still the fastest with Firefox finishing ahead of Chrome.

However, TekRevenue also compares browser speeds with the Speedometer 2.0 benchmark for two alternative CPUs. That benchmark shows Edge is slower than Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Chrome is the fastest browser in both the Speedometer 2.0 benchmarks for i7 and i5 Intel CPUs. The TekRevenue page states:

It should come as no surprise that Microsoft cherry-picked a browser benchmark that showed Edge in the best possible light next to its competitors… Real-world usage might not be so rosy for Microsoft’s browser with its significant performance deficit in the Speedometer test, a test which prides itself on measuring the kinds of highly interactive online experiences that are increasingly common.

Furthermore, there are a few other benchmarks for browser speed that Edge does not compare favorably with Chrome and Firefox in. Edge currently lags behind Firefox, Chrome and Opera in the Kraken, Octane 2.0 and WebXPRT speed benchmarks. The Kraken (JavaScript) and WebXPRT benchmarks show that Firefox is the fastest. Edge has now slipped down on the Octane 2.0 benchmark it scored highly for in 2017.

Thus, Edge is seemingly not the fastest browser as Microsoft claims on the basis of one benchmark. Jetstream 1.1 highlights that Edge handles modern web apps more quickly than the other browsers. However, Microsoft’s flagship browser is still generally slower in other benchmarks.