Keyboard Delay Test
Measure keyboard input delay and how consistently your keys register, run after run.
Click here, then press any key to start
Wait for green, then press a key as fast as you can. 5 rounds.
Last round
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Median
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Best
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Spread
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How it works
Each round the arena waits a random 1–3 seconds, turns green, and times how long until your key press reaches the browser. That number blends your reaction time with the entire input pipeline — switch actuation, keyboard controller, USB or wireless link, OS and browser processing. After five rounds you get the median (the number to compare), your best round, and the spread between best and worst — a tight spread means a consistent input chain.
No browser test can isolate pure hardware latency, so use this comparatively: run the same five rounds with two keyboards on the same computer and browser, and the difference between medians isolates the keyboards themselves. Wireless vs wired, Bluetooth vs 2.4GHz dongle, and gaming vs office boards all produce measurable gaps. Pressing early is caught and the round restarts. For key-level diagnostics — chatter, rollover, stuck keys — head to the keyboard tester.
What counts as a normal result?
Median human reaction time to a visual cue is roughly 200–280ms, and everything your input chain adds sits on top of that. These are the deltas we consistently see when the same person swaps keyboards on the same PC:
| Connection | Typical added delay vs a wired gaming board | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wired USB, 1000Hz | baseline | Gaming boards poll at 1000Hz (1ms) and debounce aggressively |
| Wired USB, 125Hz | +4–8ms | Most office keyboards still poll at 125Hz (8ms window) |
| 2.4GHz dongle | +1–10ms | Good gaming dongles are near-wired; budget ones are not |
| Bluetooth | +15–60ms | Connection interval (7.5–30ms) plus OS stack; worst with interference |
So if your median here is dramatically worse on one keyboard — say 40ms+ — and your spread is wide, the keyboard or its link is the suspect, not your reflexes.
Why your keyboard feels delayed — the usual causes, in order
- Bluetooth mode. The single biggest source of typing lag. If your board supports a 2.4GHz dongle or cable, switch and re-run this test — the difference shows up immediately in the median.
- Low battery on wireless boards. Many boards silently increase the connection interval to save power below ~20% charge.
- 125Hz polling. Office keyboards report at most every 8ms. Some gaming boards ship at 125Hz by default and need their software (G HUB, Synapse, Armoury Crate) set to 1000Hz.
- Windows Filter Keys. If enabled (sometimes by accidentally holding Shift for 8 seconds), Windows deliberately delays every keystroke. Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard → Filter Keys → off.
- USB hubs and front-panel ports. A keyboard behind an unpowered hub or KVM can drop to lower polling. Plug directly into a rear motherboard port.
- Software layers. Key-remapping tools, RGB suites and some anti-cheat drivers each add a hook into the input path. Test with them closed.
- The display, not the keyboard. A 60Hz screen with high response time makes everything feel late. Our refresh rate test confirms what your monitor actually runs at.
How to reduce keyboard input delay (quick checklist)
Work through these and re-run five rounds after each change: switch Bluetooth → dongle or cable; charge the board; set polling to 1000Hz in the vendor software; disable Filter Keys; plug into a rear USB port; close remappers and RGB suites; and if you game, use fullscreen (not borderless) so Windows bypasses the compositor. If the median improves after a specific step, you found your bottleneck — no new keyboard needed. If a wired board still tests poorly on every PC, the controller itself debounces slowly, and that is not fixable in software.
What this latency test can and cannot measure
This test measures how consistently your keyboard registers presses across repeated rounds, on your current machine and browser. Be clear on one point: no browser test can isolate a keyboard's true hardware latency — the operating system, the browser and the display each add their own delay. What this test gives you is a reliable relative comparison and a consistency read, which is what actually matters day to day.
How to get a meaningful number
- Close other tabs and background apps — CPU load skews timing more than the keyboard does.
- Plug a laptop into power so it doesn't throttle.
- Run several rounds and take the median, not the single best or worst.
- To compare two keyboards, test both on the same computer and browser back to back — only the difference between them is meaningful.
Consistency beats raw speed
A keyboard with a slightly higher median but a tight spread between best and worst rounds gives a more predictable feel than one that is occasionally fast and occasionally slow. For gaming, low and consistent is the goal; a wide spread usually points to background load or a flaky connection (a wireless dongle in a crowded 2.4 GHz environment, for instance) rather than the keyboard itself.
Typical keyboard latency by connection type
Published hardware measurements (taken with high-speed cameras and logic analyzers, outside the browser) cluster into clear bands. Use these as context for what your keyboard class should deliver:
| Keyboard class | Typical hardware latency | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wired gaming (1000 Hz polling) | ~1–5 ms | High polling rate plus optimized debounce |
| Wireless gaming (2.4 GHz dongle) | ~1–8 ms | Modern dongles rival wired; older ones add 5–10 ms |
| Standard office wired (125 Hz) | ~10–30 ms | Lower polling and conservative debounce |
| Bluetooth | ~15–60 ms | Varies hugely with adapter, OS and interference |
The gap that matters for feel is Bluetooth versus everything else. If a Bluetooth board feels sluggish and your test spread is wide, the radio link — not the switches — is nearly always the cause.
Keyboard input delay: causes and fixes
If typing visibly lags on your machine, work down this list — it is ordered by how often each culprit is the answer:
- Windows Filter Keys — an accessibility feature that deliberately delays key acceptance. Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard → turn Filter Keys off. This single toggle explains a large share of "my keyboard suddenly lags" reports.
- Bluetooth interference or power saving — re-pair the board, move away from USB 3.0 ports and Wi-Fi routers, and disable USB selective suspend / Bluetooth power saving in Device Manager.
- Heavy CPU or GPU load — input is processed by the same machine that renders the screen; a maxed-out system delays everything. Check Task Manager while the lag is happening.
- High display latency — a TV in picture-processing mode can add 50–100 ms between press and pixels. Switch the display to Game Mode; the keyboard was never the problem.
- Software in the input chain — key remappers, RGB suites and some antivirus keystroke shields each add hooks. Temporarily exit them and retest.
Want to separate the keyboard from your own reaction time? Run several rounds — human reaction varies round to round, so the pipeline delay shows up as the consistent floor beneath your times.
Troubleshooting
› Is this my keyboard’s true hardware latency?
No single browser test can measure hardware latency in isolation — the OS, browser and display all add time. This test measures consistency and relative differences between keyboards on the same machine.
› Why do results vary between runs?
Background load affects timing. Close other tabs, plug in your laptop and run several rounds — the median across runs is the number to compare.
Frequently asked questions
› What does this test measure?
The delay between a visual cue and your key press registering in the browser, aggregated over multiple rounds. It blends human reaction time with input pipeline delay.
› Is this the same as an input delay or input lag test?
Yes — keyboard latency, keyboard delay, input delay and input lag all describe the same thing: the time between pressing a key and the computer registering it. This test measures that delay end to end, including your reaction time.
› What is a good keyboard latency?
Measured with lab hardware, wired gaming keyboards land around 1–5 ms, 2.4 GHz wireless around 1–8 ms, standard office boards 10–30 ms, and Bluetooth 15–60 ms. A browser test adds OS and display time on top, so use it to compare keyboards rather than as an absolute number.
› Why is my keyboard delayed when I type?
The most common causes, in order: Windows Filter Keys (an accessibility setting that deliberately delays input), Bluetooth interference or power saving, heavy CPU load, and a TV or monitor in picture-processing mode. The guide above walks through each fix.
› How do I compare two keyboards?
Run the same number of rounds with each keyboard on the same computer and browser, and compare the median values — the difference between them isolates the keyboards.
› Is lower always better?
For gaming, yes — but consistency matters as much as the raw number. A tight spread between best and worst rounds indicates a stable input chain.