READING · 2 MIN
REACTION TIME,
EXPLAINED.
You see green, you click. The gap in between - usually a couple of hundred milliseconds - is your reaction time. Here’s what’s actually happening, and what a “good” score looks like.
What the number measures â—˘
A reaction-time test times the round trip: light hits your eyes, a signal travels to your brain, your brain decides “now”, and the command travels back out to your finger. For a simple visual cue, that whole loop lands around 250 milliseconds for most people - roughly a quarter of a second.
What counts as fast â—˘
- Under 200 ms - very fast; you’re near the human floor.
- 200-270 ms - the typical range most people score.
- Over 300 ms - tired, distracted, or just warming up. Go again.
A true reflex - like pulling off a hot stove - is faster still, because it never bothers the brain; the spinal cord handles it. A game can’t test that, so what you’re really measuring is alertness and focus on the day.
Why it wobbles â—˘
Your score bounces from try to try, and that’s normal - caffeine, sleep, screen lag and plain luck all move it by tens of milliseconds. That’s why the honest figure is a median over several goes, not a single lucky hit. It’s also why “one more go” feels so reasonable.
Warm up your fingers on the Click Speed Test →