Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge: Which Browser Is Best?
Investigating your web browser options is worthwhile. Here, we compare top performers on speed, privacy, and other important features.
Web browsers celebrate their 30th anniversary this year, if you include Tim Berners-Lee’s 1991 creation of the World Wide Web. Browser wars have raged almost since day one. The browser software you use is just as important now as it has ever been, because more and more browsers offer new technologies, protections, conveniences, and features.
Google has claimed nearly 70 percent of the browser market in the last several years with Chrome.
In mobile devices, Chrome continues to be the dominant browser, with over 60 percent market share. The Chrome rendering code was used by almost all of the other browsers, leaving Firefox as the last top-to-bottom competitor.
Although Chrome may be one of the most popular web browsers (except on Apple devices), it isn’t the most powerful by every metric or by number of features.
The Chrome browser doesn’t offer all the features you’ll find in Firefox, Edge, Safari, or Opera. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other worthy browsers out there. Chrome is an excellent choice, but there are alternatives to Chrome.
Speed and compatibility remain the top requirements nowadays, but the reliance on your smartphone has grown ever greater. Indeed, some browsers now make it possible to send pages from one device to another, and all let you sync bookmarks between them.
Compatibility Matters
Web browsers’ compatibility with web standards can be gauged by scoring browsers on the HTML5test website.
Google Chrome remains the leader overall in this test, scoring 528. Opera, along with other Chrome-based browsers, followed closely by Firefox and Safari, which respectively read 491and 471 points.
Until a few years ago, people considered a score in the 300s satisfactory, and Internet Explorer (used by millions) is still stuck at 312. Despite this, some business web applications still require this old software. Read more about why you should stop using Internet Explorer browser.
Faster Is Better
The web browser on your computer or phone is your portal to the internet. Each time you go online, you use a browser. It is likely the tool of choice for making website access possible. Such is the case right now as you read this article.
Page load time is the amount of time it takes for a web browser to fully render a website. There is no single factor that is solely responsible for page load time, and many websites possess different page load times depending on the type of browser being used.
Speed of the browser is one factor, however your network connection and the design of the website also play a role.
About 90% of the global browser market shares each of these four browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. Chances are you use at least one of them to access the internet. Can they be the fastest ones? Let’s see.
Browser Privacy
Updating your browser greatly affects the security of a computer when it is on the internet. Following are some helpful tips to help you stay safe while browsing the internet.
A website’s technology evolves at an exponential rate, just as everything else on the internet does. Consumers demand for the ‘newer and better’, causing firms to develop new tools that enhance the experience.
As a consequence of the advancements in technology, these tools call for newer implementations by current browsers. Browser developers work hard to implement these requirements, should they fail to do so, they will fall behind rival companies.
As malware is constant in release, browser developers develop security patches updates to protect their users. This happens mainly due to software imperfections causing browsers to be
vulnerable to hackers and viruses.
Keeping your browser updated ensures you are protected against updated malware.
The Goodies and the Tools
Useful browsing tools are also important when making a decision.
With Microsoft Edge, you can virtually read webpages with remarkably realistic speech, set up your homepage the way you like, manage your privacy settings, use the Collections feature, and search the web with ease. If you need to use multiple identities on the same site, Firefox lets you add another Container or save a page to Pocket.
Google Chrome
Most Internet users are familiar with Google Chrome, the search giant’s browser. It’s fast and easy to use. Most websites’ code now targets it, so compatibility shouldn’t be an issue. According to the HTML5 Testing website and the Jetstream 2 benchmark, Chrome also scores well when it comes to speed.
With Chrome you use more RAM than most other Windows browsers but it is some of it that is used for preloading content. Chrome also creates more program processes than the others to ensure stability when working with tabs and plug-ins and frames.
Google is constantly working to enhance its security and features, however, bugs can occur, so make sure you remain updated. Another advantage of Chrome is that you will no longer receive pop-ups telling you to switch to Chrome every time you visit Google News, Gmail, YouTube, and so forth.
A password leak detection feature, a distilled page view, and forced dark mode for sites are a few features accessible only by Chrome’s advanced users.
The Chrome mobile browser is a powerful tool that syncs bookmarks, passwords, and settings. Like the desktop edition, it has voice input for Google searches. It also suggests content that may be of interest to you based on how you browse.
Mozilla Firefox
The Firefox browser, which was a pioneer of many web capabilities and is the product of the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, has been a strong advocate for online privacy.
It also stands out for its array of extensions. The Multi-Account Containers extension lets you sequester multiple logins to the same site on different tabs without having to open a new private
tab.
Mozilla’s browser is up to speed with the latest HTML5 and CSS features, and the company is working on open source standards for AR and speech synthesis.
A webpage tab on any device with a Firefox syncing account can be sent to any other device logged into your account. That’s right: You can have a webpage open on your PC and have it open on your iPhone, or vice versa.
In Firefox, the Pocket button in the address bar lets you save a webpage you want to watch later anywhere with one click, while Reader View declutters webpages loaded with ads, promotions, and videos, so you can view the content without distractions.
Also, the browser is incredibly customizable, allowing you to rearrange the toolbar buttons to best suit you, and you can select from a variety of Theme add-ons which change the border patterns and colors in the browser.
Apple Safari
Although its interface has some nonstandard features on both desktop and mobile, the default Mac and iOS browser is a strong choice.
Among other features, Safari was first to offer Reader Mode, which cleared distracting content like ads and videos from web pages so you could read the content. That feature launched in 2010 but hasn’t reached the Chrome browser yet.
Moreover, Safari introduced fingerprinting protection, reducing the risk of a web tracker being able to identify your system specifications. Additional features include Apple Pay support and the option to sign in with Apple instead of Facebook or Google.
Safari’s Big Sur update improved a lot, with a customizable home page (like Edge’s), improved performance, and improved tabs. Those benchmarks above demonstrate its speedy operation.
Apple’s Handoff feature lets you carry your browsing session from an iPhone to a Mac, making Safari integration a great deal of sense for iPhone users. Safari is behind on support for HTML5 so far, but we haven’t seen major site issues with it.
Microsoft Edge
In order to eliminate compatibility issues caused by the site developers’ only targeting Chrome to meet compatibility requirements, Microsoft has released a new Edge browser.
Chrome’s webpage rendering code, Chromium, was used instead so they could release unique features instead of putting out compatibility fires. Edge now works on Mac OS X and earlier Windows versions, aside from Windows 10.
With the new Edge, compatibility isn’t the only benefit; it also offers superior performance coupled with a slimmer footprint.
For Edge, the initial focus has been privacy, a customizable home screen, and unique collections for researching the web.
Collections is a sidebar where you can drag web pages and photos, write notes, and share everything to Excel or Word. It hasn’t been released yet, but works well in the beta and Microsoft says it has been updated for release in the near future.
There are three levels of privacy in the browser: Basic, Balanced and Strict. As you move from one to the next, you increase privacy but also disable site features. The private browsing mode, like any other browser feature, does not save history.
With synchronization between desktop and mobile, transitioning between the two is a snap. Password management works better than most other browsers.
Conclusion
The decision comes down to your individual preferences and priorities – so there is no single browser that consistently wins in every department.
From the above assessments, it was determined that Microsoft Edge is the best option when it comes to security, while Firefox has the best privacy credentials and Chrome has the best performance with regard to graphics. Google Chrome has one of the most comprehensive extension libraries for desktops, but Firefox beats it on mobile.
There’s no doubt: all three browsers are powerful and seasoned, so if you’re still unsure about which one to use, feel free to try them all out and see which one best suits your needs.
