Click Latency Test
Test your mouse click latency — the time between pressing the button and your computer registering the input. Click and release inside the test area to measure response duration in milliseconds, captured live from your browser's Pointer Events API.
- Click and quickly release the mouse button inside the test area.
- Review your response latency in milliseconds per click.
- Run 10+ trials and note the average and worst-case readings.
- Verify whether your readings fall within optimal gaming thresholds.
Browser-measured latency includes OS event scheduling overhead — typically 1–4ms above true hardware latency. Use this to compare your mouse against itself across conditions, not to get absolute hardware specs.
What This Test Measures: The Click-to-Event Pipeline
Click latency is the time your computer takes to register and process a mouse button press from the moment the switch physically closes. It is a composite measurement of three layers: You can check your mouse's performance to see if your latency issues translate into dropped inputs or lower polling rate.
- Switch actuation time: The physical time for the metal contacts to close (typically 1–3ms for mechanical switches; near-zero for optical switches).
- Polling and USB transmission: The time for your mouse firmware to detect the state change and transmit it to the computer via USB or wireless. At 1000Hz polling, this is a maximum 1ms delay.
- OS and browser event processing: The time for Windows/macOS to schedule the hardware interrupt, pass it through the HID driver stack, and deliver it to the browser's JavaScript engine as a
pointerdownevent.
This test measures the combined total of all three layers — from click to event. It is measured live here, using the browser's performance.now() high-resolution timer, which has sub-millisecond precision. The reading you see is the real delay your hardware and software pipeline produced for that specific click.
How to Read Your Result: Latency Ranges
- Below 15ms: Excellent. This is the territory of high-end gaming mice with 1000Hz+ polling rates and optimized drivers.
- 15–30ms: Good. Standard gaming mouse performance. Competitive for most FPS and RTS games.
- 30–50ms: Average. Office mice, older drivers, or Bluetooth connections typically land here.
- 50–100ms: Noticeable delay. You will not consciously feel this in most tasks, but competitive gaming at this range is measurably disadvantaged.
- Above 100ms: Poor. Indicates driver issues, wireless interference, USB hub throttling, or hardware fault.
Important: your readings will vary by 2–8ms between individual clicks even on the same mouse. Look at the average across 10+ clicks, not individual outliers.
What Causes High Click Latency
- Low polling rate: At 125Hz, your mouse only reports state every 8ms. A click happening 1ms after the last report must wait up to 7ms before transmission. Switch to 500Hz or 1000Hz for 2ms or 1ms max wait.
- Wireless interference or high Bluetooth latency: 2.4GHz wireless gaming mice match wired latency (~1ms). Bluetooth typically adds 10–30ms. Multi-device Bluetooth connections add further instability.
- USB hub with insufficient power: Unpowered USB hubs can throttle data throughput, introducing irregular delays. Always plug gaming mice directly into motherboard USB ports.
- Driver overhead or Windows power management: USB Selective Suspend can park USB device polling. Disable it in Device Manager for consistent low-latency performance.
How to Reduce Click Latency
- Set your mouse polling rate to 1000Hz or higher in mouse software.
- Use a wired connection or 2.4GHz wireless dongle — avoid Bluetooth for competitive gaming.
- Plug directly into motherboard USB 3.0 ports; avoid unpowered hubs.
- Disable USB Selective Suspend in Windows power settings.
- Update mouse firmware and HID drivers via manufacturer software.
- Close background applications that consume CPU and delay OS event scheduling.
Want to understand the full difference between click latency, polling rate delay, and system input lag? Read our technical breakdown of click latency versus input lag across the complete hardware pipeline, and learn whether low-latency gaming mice matter for casual players in daily desktop use.
Under 20ms measured in-browser is excellent. True hardware input delay on premium gaming mice is under 5ms at 1000Hz polling. The browser adds 2–8ms of OS scheduling overhead on top.
OS event scheduling is not perfectly consistent — the CPU may be handling other interrupts when your click arrives. Variance of 2–6ms is normal. Variance of 15ms+ indicates driver issues or USB power problems.
Yes, significantly. Bluetooth HID protocol adds 10–30ms of latency compared to 2.4GHz wireless or wired connections. Avoid Bluetooth mice for competitive gaming.