I have ran various tests across four browsers, all with no programs or addons running and AV turned off, all browser are the latest versions as of 25/01/2017
notes:
* I also ran a BASEMARK bench but Opera was the only browser that could complete the test fully, i have not included the results here
* On the SunSpider test I have awarded a point for every millisecond faster than 300ms as none of the results were above that
results: (in order highest scoring first)
1st
EDGE
- PeaceKeeper = 2580 (HTML5 = 5/7)
- Speedometer = 45.4
- JetStream = 218.79
- SunSpider = 99.6ms (lower is better)
- Octane 2.0 = 32865
- TOTAL = 35,909
2nd
CHROME
- PeaceKeeper = 3887 (HTML5 = 6/7)
- Speedometer = 110.0
- JetStream = 177.45
- SunSpider = 187.7ms (lower is better)
- Octane 2.0 = 31201
- TOTAL = 35,497
3rd
FIREFOX
- PeaceKeeper = 4273 (HTML5 = 7/7)
- Speedometer = 45.5
- JetStream = 151.95
- SunSpider = 228ms (lower is better)
- Octane 2.0 = 28834
- TOTAL = 33,376
4th
OPERA
- PeaceKeeper = 3492 (HTML5 = 7/7)
- Speedometer = 53.85
- JetStream = 160.68
- SunSpider = 220.3ms (lower is better)
- Octane 2.0 = 23247
- TOTAL = 27,032
There you have it folks.... but these are just benchmarks, its always down to user preference, for example; Opera came last but it definitely seems to load pages as fast as Edge and faster than Chrome and Firefox on my PC, from personal usage it would seem to me that Edge would be the best browser to use...if only it would allow add-ons, as I cant block adds or use gestures, Xmarks, LastPass etc I cant use it...this would leave Opera, as this to me is as fast as edge but has all the goodies... Chrome...then of course Firefox is definitely the slowest at loading pages IMO, everyone has different experiences.
Microsoft have proven that Edge consumes much less battery on laptops than other browsers and Chrome being the most power hungry.
tested on a Core-i5 @ 3.4Ghz with Samsung 850 EVO SSD, 1Gb nVidia GTX 650 and 8GB RAM @ 1600Mhz - no background programs running and Anti-Virus disabled. (no RAMdisk cache either)