Speed & reaction · Keyboard
Keyboard Reaction Time Test
Press space when the panel turns green. Ranked against other keyboard players.
Wait for the panel to turn green, then click or press space as fast as you can.
Press space to start
What this measures
A key press and a mouse click do not travel the same path. The key registers as the switch closes, roughly halfway through its travel, while a mouse button registers at the moment of contact. Wireless keyboards poll less often than gaming mice, and membrane boards debounce for several milliseconds before reporting anything at all.
Because of that we score keyboard attempts against other keyboard attempts. If you are comparing a mechanical board against a laptop, expect a difference of a few milliseconds that belongs to the hardware rather than to you.
Fighting game and rhythm game players tend to score best here, since both genres train exactly this movement: a single finger already resting on the key, waiting for one visual cue.
What is a good reaction time score
| Band | Score | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | ≤ 150 ms | 99th |
| Top 5% | ≤ 175 ms | 95th |
| Top 15% | ≤ 200 ms | 85th |
| Top 30% | ≤ 225 ms | 70th |
| Median | ≤ 273 ms | 50th |
| Bottom 25% | ≤ 320 ms | 25th |
| Bottom 10% | ≤ 400 ms | 10th |
Bands anchored on Human Benchmark’s published median of 273 ms across more than 81 million recorded clicks.
Full reaction time statistics, by age and device →
Questions
Is the space bar faster than a mouse click?
Usually by a small margin, because the finger is already resting on the key and does not have to travel. The difference is typically under 10 ms and varies more with the keyboard than with the person.
Does a mechanical keyboard help?
A little. Mechanical switches actuate before they bottom out and most gaming boards poll at 1000 Hz, which together save a few milliseconds compared with a membrane keyboard polling at 125 Hz.
What is a good reaction time?
The median adult scores around 273 ms on a mouse. Under 200 ms puts you in the top 15%, under 175 ms in the top 5%, and under 150 ms in the top 1%. Controlled measurements bottom out near 100 ms for a visual signal, so a score well below that is a lucky guess that happened to land rather than a reaction.
Why is my reaction time slower here than on other sites?
Most sites start their clock when their JavaScript changes the colour. The browser does not show that change until the next frame is painted, one to two frames later. We start the clock at the painted frame, which is honest and typically reads 8 to 30 ms slower than sites that do not.
Does my monitor affect the result?
Yes, substantially. Refresh rate adds up to half a frame of quantisation, and display processing adds more — some televisions add over 100 ms in their default picture mode. Wireless mice and keyboards add a few milliseconds on top. We show the uncertainty we can measure so you know how much of your number is you.
Is keyboard or mouse faster?
For most people the two are within a few milliseconds, but they are not identical: a key press registers on the way down while a mouse click registers on the button press, and wireless polling differs between devices. Because of that we rank keyboard scores against other keyboard scores.
What happens if I click too early?
The round is void and you repeat it. We do not score a false start as a slow round: adding a punishment number to your five rounds would corrupt your median and the shared statistics along with it.
Try next
Results are stored in your browser only. Read how we measure if you want the details of the timing, or go back to the standard reaction time.