Thanks to Opera's New Power Saving Mode, You'll Browse for Several More Hours

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 12 May 2016

You’re on your laptop, surfing the web and enjoying yourself. But wouldn’t you know it, right when you’re having the most fun, the battery runs out. Now you have to cut your browsing session short because the stupid battery is all out of juice. Or do you?

By using the Opera web browser, you can add hours to your browsing session. You see, Opera is the first major browser to include a dedicated power saving mode. Once activated, it can extend battery life by up to 50%, meaning you’ll get a lot more time to surf the web before you have to recharge your laptop.

Running out of battery is frustrating (and Opera knows it)



Thanks to mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops, you can do a lot on the go: play games, watch videos, listen to music, surf the web, perhaps even do a bit of work. The problem is that the more you use these mobile devices, the faster they run out of battery.

When you’re browsing the web on your laptop and you have multiple tabs open in your browser, it puts a lot of strain on the laptop, leading to rapid battery drain. Before you know it, the dreaded low battery icon will show up on your screen, much to your annoyance.

Opera Software, the Norwegian developer behind the Opera web browser, is well aware of the fact that it is incredibly frustrating to run out of battery when you’re busy surfing the web. So it decided to do something about it.

“It's extremely frustrating to run out of battery on your computer, whether you are out traveling, watching videos, or you have just left your charger behind. Our new power saving mode will nudge you when the laptop starts to consume battery, and, when enabled, it can increase the battery life by as much as 50%,” said Krystian Kolondra, SVP of Engineering for Opera.


Say hello to the new, dedicated power saving mode



By enabling the new power saving mode, the Opera browser boosts battery life, allowing you to surf the web for longer. As the image above exemplifies, browsing with the power saving mode on lasts for almost 3 hours, while browsing with the power saving mode off lasts for just 2 hours.

To extend battery life by as much as 50%, the browser’s dedicated power saving mode does a lot of under-the-hood optimizations:
  • Reduced activity in background tabs
  • Waking CPU less often due to more optimal scheduling of JavaScript timers
  • Automatically pausing unused plug-ins
  • Reduced frame rate to 30 frames per second
  • Tuning video-playback parameters and forcing usage of hardware accelerated video codecs
  • Paused animations of browser themes
As Opera’s PaweÅ‚ Miniewicz explained, "these optimizations provide nice savings for you without compromising the speed and functionality you expect."


How to get started with Opera’s power saving mode



When you unplug your laptop’s power cable, a battery icon shows up in the address bar (upper right hand corner). To activate the power saving mode, you need only click on the icon and then switch the toggle to on (as seen in the animation above).

The Opera web browser will suggest that you enable power saving mode when it detects that your laptop’s battery is running low. The suggestion will show up when your laptop reaches 20% remaining battery capacity.

The new, dedicated power saving mode is available in Opera for computers. That’s Opera for Windows, Opera for Mac, and Opera for Linux. The catch is that it’s currently available only in the developer channel for Opera for computers.

Opera has three release channels:
  • Developer – offers a sneak peek of upcoming features and experiments that might make their way into future products.
  • Beta – presents the latest refinements to the Opera browser.
  • Final – the stable version that’s ready for the public.
At least for now, the dedicated power saving mode is available only in Opera Developer, which is available for download here.

"Recently, Opera has released several industry-changing features, such as an integrated ad blocker, a built-in VPN and a video pop out feature," said Opera in a press release. “These features were first tested in our developer channel, which allows Opera and our early adopters to test and improve new technology from inception. Bringing the power saving mode to the developer channel marks another step in building a browser that matches up to users’ expectations and needs today.”


Opera's built-in VPN just got better



Besides the dedicated power saving mode, Opera Developer has one more interesting feature to offer: a built-in VPN. At launch, it did not work with Opera’s private browsing mode. Realizing that many users want to access the VPN in private browsing mode, Opera made sure to add this bit of functionality.

So if you get the latest Opera Developer, you can test the new power saving mode and you can use the built-in VPN even while browsing in private mode.


In related news...




Opera VPN, the company's first VPN app for iOS has just been released to the public. It's a full, free, fast and unlimited VPN app that works on iPhone and iPad.

“Every day, millions of people, from students to working people, find that social-media sites like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook are blocked when they surf on their campus or workplace Wi-Fi. The same goes for video-streaming sites. With the new Opera VPN app, we help people to break down the barriers of the web and enjoy the internet like it should be,” said Chris Houston, President of Surfeasy, Opera’s VPN division.



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