About This Test
This is a reaction-time test adapted for mouse input. The browser shows a colored box; the time between the box turning green and your click is measured to the nearest millisecond using performance.now(). We run multiple rounds to give you a stable average and visualize the distribution as a histogram.
What Your Score Means
- < 200 ms: Excellent — pro gamer tier. This includes display lag (~5–15 ms) plus your reaction time.
- 200–250 ms: Good — typical for dedicated FPS players.
- 250–320 ms: Average — most adults fall here.
- 320+ ms: Above average — fatigue, distraction, or hardware latency may be factors.
What's Included in Your Score
- Display input lag: the time your monitor takes to show the green color (~5–15 ms on modern displays, more on TVs).
- Visual processing: your eyes detect the change, your brain recognizes it (~150–250 ms).
- Motor response: your brain signals your finger to click (~30–50 ms).
- Mouse click latency: the time between switch activation and the click event being sent to the OS (1–10 ms on a healthy mouse, more on worn switches).
- OS / browser latency: usually <1 ms in modern browsers.
How to Get Your Best Score
- Use a high refresh-rate monitor (144Hz+) — lower display latency helps.
- Use a wired, low-latency mouse. Wireless adds 1–4 ms typically.
- Close background tabs and applications — distractions affect reaction time more than people think.
- Stay hydrated and take breaks — fatigue measurably degrades reaction times.
- Click with a light, snappy switch — heavy click force slows you down.
Limitations
This test cannot isolate pure mouse click latency (e.g., the time between the switch physically closing and the click event reaching the browser). For that, you need a dedicated device like the Mouse Tester by measuredmechanicalkeyboards.com or a high-speed camera setup. But for most users, this gives a useful end-to-end latency picture.
Keep testing
How to test mouse latencyThe full method for isolating hardware latency from human reaction time. Best mouse for FPS gamesWhich mice we measured as the fastest for competitive play.Frequently asked questions
What is a good click latency score?
Under 40ms is good and under 25ms is excellent for competitive gaming. For general use, anything below 60ms feels instant. Note that these browser-based numbers include the small overhead of the page and the display refresh cycle, so they read a few milliseconds higher than a raw USB analyser measurement. They are still completely reliable for comparing one mouse against another.
Why is my first click always slower?
Because the first click is your reaction to the stimulus appearing, not the speed of your mouse. The tool handles this by discarding any click made before the target is visible, and by ignoring the fastest outlier in each round. Every subsequent click in a round measures genuine reaction plus hardware latency.
What causes high click latency?
The biggest causes are a low polling rate, wireless interference, USB power management saving the device, and background software such as RGB managers, screen recorders or game overlays. Start by checking the polling rate with our polling rate checker, since a mouse throttled to 125Hz is the single most common culprit.
Does click latency affect my aim in games?
It contributes, but it is rarely the deciding factor. The bigger contributors are your monitor refresh rate, your frame rate, and the game engine's input handling, none of which the mouse can change. Still, shaving 10ms of mouse latency is a real improvement with no downside, and it is one of the few changes you can make purely in hardware.
Should I compare my latency to other players?
Compare it to your own past results rather than to other people. Hand size, grip strength, mouse weight and desk setup all affect your reaction time, so a number from someone else is not a meaningful benchmark. Our click latency guide explains how to isolate hardware latency from human reaction time so your trend line is actually useful.