What is a good reaction time? Averages, age and how to get faster
The short answer
On a simple test where you tap as soon as a screen changes color, most adults score between about 200 and 300 milliseconds. Careful lab studies put the true average near 230 ms. Online tests usually read a bit higher, because your phone or computer adds its own delay on top of your reflexes.
So if you score under 250 ms on a phone or laptop, you are doing well, and under 200 ms is genuinely fast. You can take our reaction time test right now: it averages five tries, which is much more reliable than a single tap.
What the research says
The best modern numbers come from a 2015 study by David Woods and colleagues, who tested 1,469 adults aged 18 to 65. Each person did 120 trials: a light appeared at a random moment, and they clicked as fast as they could.
- The average reaction time was 231 ms.
- Reaction time rose by about 0.55 ms per year of age. A second group of 189 people aged 18 to 82 showed almost the same slope (0.45 ms per year).
- There was no meaningful difference between men and women, and being left- or right-handed made no difference either.
- The researchers measured the delay of their own equipment: about 18 ms (11 ms from the monitor and 7 ms from the mouse). Take that away and young adults reacted in roughly 213 to 220 ms.
A larger UK survey of 7,130 adults (Der and Deary, 2006) found a similar pattern for simple reactions: very little slowing until around age 50. Choice reactions, where you must pick the right button among several, slow down steadily through adult life.
What your score means on an online test
Online tests add delay you cannot see: screen refresh, touch sensors, the browser and wireless mice. The guide below is for a typical phone or computer, not a lab.
| Your average | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 200 ms | Very fast. Common among practiced gamers on fast screens. |
| 200 to 250 ms | Fast. Better than most people on the same kind of device. |
| 250 to 300 ms | Typical adult score on a phone or laptop. |
| 300 to 350 ms | A bit slow. Often tiredness, distraction or a laggy device. |
| Over 350 ms | Check your setup and try again when rested and focused. |
One try tells you little. Your times jump around by tens of milliseconds from tap to tap, which is why we average five rounds and show your best one separately.
How much does age matter?
Less than most people expect for simple reactions. Using the study’s slope of about half a millisecond per year:
| Age change | Expected slowing |
|---|---|
| 25 → 35 | about 5 ms |
| 25 → 45 | about 11 ms |
| 25 → 65 | about 22 ms |
That is smaller than the difference between a fast gaming monitor and an average phone. Harder tasks, like choosing between several buttons or reacting to sound and light together, show bigger age effects.
Why your score changes from day to day
- Sleep and alertness. Being tired is one of the fastest ways to lose speed and consistency.
- Attention. Watching the whole box, relaxed but ready, beats staring hard at one spot.
- Your device. Phones usually read slower than a wired mouse on a desktop. Compare phone scores with phone scores.
- Guessing. Pressing before the change is not speed. Our test shows “Too soon” and does not count it.
How to get faster
- Warm up. Do a round or two before you count your score. Your first taps are almost always the slowest.
- Rest your finger on the button. Hovering adds travel time. On a phone, keep your thumb just above the screen.
- Use the fastest setup you have. A wired mouse and a high-refresh screen can take tens of milliseconds off your result without changing your reflexes at all.
- Train the related skills. Reaction time on its own changes slowly, but you can get better at the tasks it feeds into. Try the aim trainer for fast, accurate taps and the Stroop test for reacting to the right signal instead of the first one.
- Test when you are fresh. Morning or early afternoon scores are often better than late at night.
Sources
- Woods, D. L., Wyma, J. M., Yund, E. W., Herron, T. J., & Reed, B. (2015). Factors influencing the latency of simple reaction time. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 131.
- Der, G., & Deary, I. J. (2006). Age and sex differences in reaction time in adulthood: results from the United Kingdom Health and Lifestyle Survey. Psychology and Aging, 21(1), 62–73.
