This reaction time test measures how quickly you respond to a signal. Click to start, wait for the light to turn green, then click, tap or press a key as fast as you can. Five valid tries make a round, and you get your average, your best try and a chart of every round you finish, saved in this browser. Switch the signal to Sound to time your response to a beep, or the input to Any key to test keyboard reactions. Clicks before the signal, and responses under 100 ms, are caught as false starts. It works on computers, phones and tablets with a mouse, a touch screen or a keyboard.
How to take the reaction time test
- Sit comfortably with your finger resting on the mouse button, the screen or a key.
- Click the panel to start. The lamp turns orange and the panel says Wait for green.
- When the whole panel turns green, click as fast as you can. Your time appears straight away.
- Click again for the next try. After five tries you get your average and best, and the round is saved.
- Play two or three rounds. The first round is usually the slowest while you get used to it.
- For the sound test, choose Sound, turn your volume up and use wired headphones or speakers.
The wait before green is random, between 2 and 5 seconds, so counting does not help. Watch the panel and react to the change.
What your result means
| Average | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 100 ms | A guess, not a reaction. It counts as a false start |
| 100 to 170 ms | Very fast. Few people reach this on an online test |
| 170 to 230 ms | Fast. Common among gamers on quick setups |
| 230 to 300 ms | Typical for an online visual test |
| 300 to 370 ms | On the slow side. Check your setup, then try again rested |
| Over 370 ms | Slow. Usually tiredness, distraction or a laggy device |
Tries slower than 2 seconds count as missed and are repeated, so a distraction does not wreck your average. These bands are guidance for online tests, not a medical scale. The scale under the charts places your average on them and marks the laboratory range for comparison.
What is a normal reaction time?
Laboratory figures collected in Harvard's BioNumbers database put simple reaction time at about 180 to 200 ms for a light, about 140 to 160 ms for a sound and about 155 ms for a touch. A sound reaches the brain's decision stage sooner than a picture does, which is why the sound test usually scores faster.
Online tests read higher than the lab, because the delay of your screen, mouse and browser is part of every try. This test removes what a browser can: it times each try from the frame that shows green and uses the timestamp of your click itself, so a busy page does not slow your score. What is left is the hardware delay a browser cannot see, which is why most people land between 200 and 300 ms.
Your score is slower than it should be
If your average stays above 300 ms when you feel quick, the device is often the cause:
- A 60 Hz screen shows a new picture every 16.7 ms, so green can appear up to that much later. Check yours with the refresh rate test.
- A TV or projector not in game mode can add 50 ms or more. Measure a monitor's own delay with the input lag test.
- A Bluetooth mouse reports less often than a wired or 2.4 GHz receiver mouse.
- Battery saving slows the screen and the processor on many laptops and phones. Plug in and turn it off.
- Touch screens take time to detect a tap. Tests on a phone read slower than with a mouse.
To see how much your own setup adds to each click, run the mouse latency test.
Sound and keyboard reaction tests
The sound test times your response to a beep instead of a colour change. Wired headphones or speakers give the fairest result: Bluetooth headphones often delay sound by 100 ms or more, and browsers do not always know by how much. The Sound delay readout shows the delay your browser reports, and the test already allows for it.
The keyboard mode times a key press instead of a click, which suits people who react with a spacebar in games. Press any key on the green signal. Most gaming keyboards and mice add only a few milliseconds, so your times should be close in both modes. To see how fast you can tap a key over and over, try the spacebar counter.
How to improve your reaction time
Reaction time improves with what you control on the day more than with drills:
- Warm up. Run two or three rounds before you judge your score.
- Sleep and rest. Lack of sleep slows reactions and makes you miss more signals.
- Remove distractions. Notifications and a noisy room add hesitation.
- Get the hardware out of the way. A wired mouse and a high refresh screen can take tens of milliseconds off.
- Train the task, not the reflex. In games, knowing where a target will appear matters more than raw speed. Practise that with the aim test and check your clicking pace with the click speed test.
What this test cannot tell you
This is a simple reaction test: one signal, one response. Real tasks such as driving or competitive games involve choices, which take longer, so a fast score here does not mean faster decisions there. The test is not a medical or driving assessment, and results differ between devices, so compare your rounds on the same setup. If your reaction times change suddenly and you are worried, talk to a doctor rather than relying on a website.
Reaction time questions
What is a good reaction time?
On an online test like this one, an average under 230 ms is fast and 230 to 300 ms is typical. Your screen, mouse and browser add some of that, often 10 to 50 ms, so the same person scores better on a fast gaming setup than on a phone or a 60 Hz laptop.
What is the average human reaction time?
Laboratory measurements of simple reaction time put the average for young adults at about 180 to 200 ms for a light and 140 to 160 ms for a sound. Online tests read higher, usually 200 to 300 ms, because the device's own delay is included.
Why is my reaction time slower on my phone?
Phone touch screens take time to detect and report a touch, and many phones also run their screens at 60 Hz. Together that can add tens of milliseconds. Compare results on the same device, or use a wired mouse and a high refresh screen for your best score.
Can you improve your reaction time?
Somewhat. Scores improve over the first few rounds as you get used to the test, and being rested and focused helps. Beyond that, simple reaction time does not change much with training, but anticipation and decision speed in games do, which is where an aim trainer helps.
Why does a click under 100 ms not count?
The eyes, brain and hand cannot complete a response that fast, so a time under 100 ms means the click started before the signal. Sprint racing uses the same rule: World Athletics treats a reaction under 0.1 seconds after the gun as a false start.
Does age affect reaction time?
Yes. Simple reaction time is fastest in young adulthood and slows gradually with age, and the slowdown is larger for tasks with choices. Practice and fitness narrow the gap, and the differences are small next to device delay in an online test.