Audio Reaction Time Test
Press the moment you hear the beep. See how fast you react to sound.
Hear the beep. Press.
Milliseconds from hearing the beep to pressing. Lower is faster.
- Play a test tone
- Hear it, press
- 2 then 12 goes
Sound required: turn the volume up, wired or speaker.
How to read your score
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 250 ms | An audio reaction time under 250 ms is in the fastest of this test's five bands. A time this low leaves very little room for distraction or extra audio delay, so run two or three more rounds and see whether it holds. This band does not tell you how many people you outperform. |
| 250-299 ms | An audio reaction time of 250–299 ms is in the second-fastest of this test's five bands. Compare it with your own earlier rounds rather than with anyone else, and remember the figure still contains some of the audio delay your device adds. |
| 300-399 ms | An audio reaction time of 300–399 ms is in the middle of this test's five bands. It is not a population average and not a definition of a normal reaction to sound — it is simply the middle range of the scale used on this page. |
| 400-549 ms | An audio reaction time of 400–549 ms is in the second-slowest of this test's five bands. A noisy room, a distant or wireless speaker, divided attention and tiredness all show up at this size, so it is worth one more round in better conditions before reading anything into it. |
| 550 ms and over | An audio reaction time of 550 ms or more is in the slowest of this test's five bands. Check first that the beep is clearly audible and that you are not on wireless audio, then try again somewhere quiet. One round does not define your usual reaction to sound. |
These bands are the score ranges used on this page. They are not rankings against other players and not standards for health or ability. Lower is faster; compare rounds on the same device with the same input method and the same headphones or speaker, and remember each figure contains some device audio delay.
How to play
- Check you can hear it: Press Play test tone. A short 1000 Hz beep plays — the same sound used for scoring. Confirm you heard it, or follow the volume checklist if you did not.
- Practise twice: Two practice beeps follow. They work exactly like the scored ones but never count toward your result.
- Press on the beep, not before: Each beep follows a random wait of 1 to 3 seconds. Press the middle panel, or press Space or Enter. Pressing before the beep does not count, and that attempt is replayed with a fresh wait.
- Read your result: After 12 scored attempts you get your median in milliseconds, your fastest single press, and your sound result next to your visual one if you have taken that test.
What this measures
This test measures how long you take to press after hearing a short beep. You need sound: turn the volume up, and use wired headphones or the built-in speaker — wireless audio adds the most delay of any option.
Every beep is identical: a 1000 Hz tone lasting 60 milliseconds, at a fixed level. Nothing about the sound changes between attempts, so the only things that vary are you and the length of the wait.
The wait before each beep is random, between 1 and 3 seconds. Pressing before the beep, or less than 110 milliseconds after it, does not count: that attempt is replayed with a fresh wait, up to three times. If 1.5 seconds pass with no press, that attempt is not counted and the test moves on.
You need at least 10 usable responses out of the 12 scored attempts for a result. Below that the round is void and nothing is saved. The two practice attempts never count.
Lower is faster. Your main score is the median: the usable times are sorted from fastest to slowest and the middle value is used, or the average of the two middle values when there are two. One unusually slow press moves a median far less than it moves an average. Your fastest usable press is shown separately.
The result card also shows the audio delay your browser reports for this device, in milliseconds. Part of every time on this page belongs to that delay rather than to you, so keep the same headphones or speaker if you want your rounds to be comparable. Your sound result and your visual result are shown side by side rather than as a difference, because that delay is an estimate rather than something this site measured.
Two habits cost beginners the most time. The first is guessing when the beep is due: the wait is random on purpose, so guessing produces false starts that have to be replayed. The second is pressing down early and holding — that registers the moment you press, not when you let go, so rest your finger lightly and press once you actually hear the tone.
Stay on the page until the round ends. Switching away, refreshing, stopping, or losing the audio output ends the round without a score — half a round of reaction times is not a result.
To follow your own progress, compare several rounds on the same device with the same input method and the same headphones or speaker. A single round can land well away from your usual time; what is worth reading is a shift that holds across four or five rounds.
FAQ
What is a good audio reaction time?
Lower times mean faster responses, but this test cannot tell you how you rank against other people. Compare several of your own rounds on the same device instead of aiming at a universal target, and bear in mind every figure here includes some device audio delay.
What is the average auditory reaction time in milliseconds?
This test does not publish an average, because it has no population data behind it yet. What it gives you instead is a five-band scale running from under 250 ms to 550 ms and over, plus your own median across 12 attempts, which is the figure actually worth tracking.
Is auditory reaction time faster than visual reaction time?
Reaction to sound is generally reported as the quicker of the two, which is why this test treats a press within 110 milliseconds of the beep as a false start rather than a response. Your sound and sight results are shown side by side here but never subtracted from each other, because the sound figure carries device delay the browser can only estimate.
What does an auditory reaction time test measure?
It measures how long you take to press after a sound starts. There is nothing to choose and nothing to identify: one beep, one press. That is what makes it a simple reaction task rather than a decision task.
How does audio latency affect a sound reaction time test?
Everything between the browser and your ear adds delay, so part of every time you see belongs to the device rather than to you. The test compensates using the delay your browser reports, then tells you on the result card what that estimate was. Wired headphones or the built-in speaker give a cleaner reading than wireless.
Why is my audio reaction time slower on Bluetooth headphones?
Wireless audio buffers the sound before playing it, which adds delay between the browser and your ear. This test corrects for the delay your browser reports, but that figure is an estimate and a wireless link is the hardest case to estimate, so a Bluetooth round can read slower than the same press on wired audio. Switch to wired headphones or the built-in speaker for the cleanest reading.
What counts as a false start in an audio reaction time test?
A press that lands before the beep, or within 110 milliseconds of it, counts as a false start: it was already on its way and is not a reaction to the sound. That attempt is replayed with a fresh, unpredictable wait instead of being scored, up to three times.
How can I train my auditory reaction time?
Keep the conditions identical and work on the waiting rather than the pressing: same device, same input method, same headphones, and no guessing when the beep is due. Compare medians across rounds instead of your single fastest press. Getting better here means getting better at this task, and is not evidence of a wider change.
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Last updated: 2026-10-22 · Scores stay on this device