Google hits back at claims of sub-par Chrome battery life
Chrome 53 is just fine, thank you very much Microsoft.
Google isn't buying Microsoft's claims that Chrome's battery life is terrible. The search pioneer has posted a video showing the battery life improvements between last year's Chrome 46 and the just-launched Chrome 53, and it's clear that Google is taking a dig at Microsoft testing that favored Edge. The result shows the newer browser (conveniently running on Surface Books, like in Microsoft's clip) offering 2 hours and 12 minutes of additional runtime when streaming Vimeo footage non-stop. It lasted a healthy 10 hours and 39 minutes, which might be enough to get through your favorite movie trilogy.
Just as with Microsoft, though, you won't want to accept the results at face value. This isn't an apples-to-oranges comparison -- Google and Microsoft are using different video services, and Microsoft also touches on web surfing power consumption that isn't mentioned here. They're both choosing tests that play to their browsers' strengths, and your real-life experience is bound to produce different results in both cases. The only definitive conclusion is that the latest Chrome release is more battery-friendly than the version you were using several months ago. It could be worth revisiting Chrome if you were burned by its previous energy demands, but something tells us this won't change many minds.
