Want your laptop to last longer? Swap your web browser
Opera reckons it can double your battery life compared to Chrome and Safari
If laptop battery is the bane of your life, it might be time to switch to a new web browser.
Thanks to Google analytics, there’s about a 50% chance you’re using Chrome if you’re reading this story on your laptop. Seriously, the big G knows a heck of a lot about you.
If you want to stay away from the mains that little bit longer, though, you might want to consider joining the 0.68% reading on Opera.
A battery saving mode that just got added to Opera’s developer version could boost your laptop’s battery by as much as 50%, letting you stay online for longer.
According to Opera, that could mean up to three hours more browsing than if you stuck with Chrome.
It’s managed this bit of battery brilliance by making all kinds of behind-the-scenes tech changes, like tweaking how videos are played, how often web pages get refreshed, and controlling what all those tabs you aren’t looking at right now are up to.
Battery saving pops up automatically when you’re running low on juice, but you can toggle it on from the toolbar whenever you’re working away from the mains.
Opera’s built-in ad blocker also shrinks the amount of memory your laptop uses to run it, which apparently means even better battery life. But please, don’t block ads – I like being able to afford food. And shoes.
The new, battery-friendly dev version of Opera is available to download now for Windows, Mac and Linux. I’m sure that’ll will make the 0.86% of you that are Tux fans very happy -seriously you guys, Google’s scary.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
