Gyroscope Test

This gyroscope test reads the motion sensors in your phone and shows them three ways: a 3D phone that turns as you turn yours, the live numbers for every axis, and a graph of the last five seconds. It doubles as an accelerometer test, with a bubble level that works lying flat or standing on an edge. Two checks give a clear verdict: the drift check measures how far the gyroscope strays from zero while the phone lies still, and the level check separates a tilted surface from a tilt sensor that is off. It works in Chrome on Android and in Safari on iPhone and iPad, and the gyroscope test online gives computers a QR code to open it on a phone.

How to test the gyroscope and accelerometer

1. Open this page on your phone and press Start sensors. On an iPhone or iPad, choose Allow when asked about motion and orientation.
2. Turn the phone left and right, tip it forward and back, and roll it side to side. The 3D model should follow without lag, and each row of the table should change.
3. Press Re-center if the model starts at an odd angle. It takes the way you hold the phone now as its starting point.
4. Lay the phone flat on a table and press Check drift. Do not touch it for 10 seconds.
5. For the level check, press Mark 1, turn the phone round 180 degrees on the same spot, and press Mark 2.
6. Switch the graph between Rotation, Movement and With gravity to watch each sensor, and press Copy results to keep the numbers.

What the results mean

The axes follow the screen: X runs from left to right, Y from bottom to top, and Z points out of the screen towards you. Turning the phone like a steering wheel shows on Z, tipping it forward on X, and rolling it on Y.

The 3D model does not move or an axis stays at zero

• Motion access was refused. iPhones and iPads ask first. If you tapped Cancel, close the tab, open the page again and choose Allow. In Chrome on Android, tap the icon at the left of the address bar, then Permissions, and allow Motion sensors.
• The phone has no gyroscope. Some budget Android phones leave it out. The model then still tilts, using the accelerometer, but turning it flat on a table does nothing and the Rotation column stays empty. Games that aim with the gyroscope, and some 360 degree videos, will not work.
• One axis is dead. If X and Y respond but Z never changes, or one accelerometer axis reads the same number whatever you do, the sensor chip is damaged. That usually follows a drop or water damage and needs a repair.

The gyroscope drifts or games aim by themselves

A gyroscope should read close to zero when the phone is still. Phones correct small errors on their own, but a sensor that drifts more than about 0.3 degrees per second makes gyro aiming creep, 360 degree photos lean, and virtual reality views slowly turn.

1. Restart the phone, then lay it flat and still for 10 seconds before opening a game.
2. Take off magnetic cases and mounts, which can confuse the sensor fusion that combines the gyroscope and compass.
3. Run the drift check again. If the result stays above 1 degree per second, use the brand's own calibration below or have the sensor checked.

The bubble level or tilt is off

If a phone placed on a surface you trust shows a tilt, run the level check. It takes one reading, then another with the phone turned round, and splits the difference into sensor error, which stays with the phone, and surface slope, which belongs to the table. Under 0.5 degrees of sensor error is normal. More than 1.5 degrees means the accelerometer needs calibrating before you use the phone as a level. A thick or curved case can also tip the phone, so test it bare.

How to calibrate the gyroscope and accelerometer

Most phones calibrate these sensors by themselves whenever they lie still, so a restart and a minute flat on a table fixes small errors. Some brands offer more:

• Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO: dial *#*#6484#*#* in the Phone app, open the gyroscope or accelerometer test, lay the phone flat and run its calibration. Xiaomi explains the steps on its support page.
• Samsung Galaxy: dial *#0*# and tap Sensor to see the accelerometer and gyroscope readings and run their self tests. Some carrier models block the code.
• iPhone: there is no user calibration. Restart the phone and keep iOS up to date. Apple's Measure app has a level: tapping it sets the current angle as zero, which helps on a sloped surface but does not change the sensor.

Games and apps that need a gyroscope

PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile both let you aim by moving the phone, with a gyroscope switch in their settings. Pokémon GO's basic AR mode needs a working gyroscope, and its AR+ mode also needs Apple's ARKit or Google's ARCore, which track the phone with its camera and motion sensors. Racing games often steer by tilting, which uses the accelerometer as well. Phone virtual reality viewers, panorama photos and 360 degree videos all depend on a gyroscope that does not drift. If any of these feel wrong, run the drift check before changing in-game settings. Games lean on the screen and the motor too, so the touch screen tester and the vibration test round off a phone check before a long session.

Gyroscope, compass and GPS

The gyroscope only knows how much the phone turned, not which way it faces. For that the phone uses its magnetic compass, which you can check with the compass test, and its position comes from GPS, checked with the gps test. A gamepad's motion sensors are a separate matter, covered in the questions below.

What a browser motion test cannot measure

Browsers deliver motion readings at about 60 a second, whatever the sensor itself can do, so very fast vibrations and the sensor's true sample rate are out of reach. The drift check measures what the phone reports after its own corrections, not the raw chip. A web page also cannot recalibrate the sensors or read the magnetometer on its own, and on iPhone the readings only start after you allow motion access.

Gyroscope test questions