True speed of browsers. - Chrome vs Firefox
I decided to actually measure real browser speed myself instead of relying on Speedometer benchmarks — and honestly, the numbers shocked me.
Setup: Firefox 149.0.2 vs Chrome 146.0.7680.180, running on an Intel NUC 12 with 64GB RAM, 2TB disk, and Windows 11 25H2 fully patched.
The test was simple: load the NYT homepage, then hit CTRL+R to reload and measure how long it takes for everything — scripts, assets, the whole lot — to fully finish loading.
Results:
- 🔴 Chrome: 14 min
- 🟢 Firefox: 9 min and 37 second
So when people say Firefox is slow, I genuinely don't get it. Every time I actually look at the numbers, Firefox holds its own or pulls ahead.
That said, I'm wondering if a single-page load test is enough to draw real conclusions. Maybe I need to push this further?
Open to suggestions — what would you test next?