There are dozens of apps that claim to test your speed — reaction time testers, tap speed counters, finger drumming games. So how does the 67 Challenge stack up, and what does it actually measure?
What reaction time tests measure
Traditional reaction time apps work like this: a signal appears on screen (a colour change, a flash, a sound), and you tap as quickly as possible. The time between signal and tap is your reaction time, measured in milliseconds.
The average human reaction time is around 200–250ms. Elite athletes hover around 150ms. This metric is well-established and used in sports science research.
What reaction time tests do not measure is sustained motor speed — how fast you can keep moving over an extended period. A single-tap test takes less than half a second. It tells you nothing about your 20-second output.
What the 67 Challenge measures
The 67 Challenge measures sustained bilateral hand speed — how fast you can coordinate both hands over a 20-second window. This requires:
- Motor speed: raw speed of each individual hand movement
- Coordination: both hands moving in sync without confusion
- Endurance: maintaining that speed for the full duration without fatigue
- Spatial awareness: keeping both hands visible in the camera frame while moving fast
This is meaningfully different from reaction time. You can have an average reaction time and still score in the Expert tier on the 67 Challenge — because coordination and rhythm matter more than reflex.
The bilateral coordination factor
Most speed tests are single-handed. The 67 Challenge specifically requires both hands simultaneously. This activates different neural pathways than single-hand tasks — it’s closer to playing a musical instrument or typing at speed than it is to tapping a button.
People who play piano, drums, or have trained in martial arts (particularly those that emphasize hand speed drills) tend to score higher than their reaction time results would predict. The bilateral element is a genuine skill in its own right.
Sustained vs peak speed
A reaction time test captures a single peak moment. The 67 Challenge forces you to sustain near-peak speed for 20 seconds. This is a fundamentally different athletic demand — closer to a sprint than a single jump.
This also means the 67 Challenge score is more trainable. Reaction time has a fairly narrow genetic ceiling. Sustained hand coordination speed improves substantially with deliberate practice — players regularly move from the Solid tier (30–49) to Elite (50–66) within a week of consistent play.
So which one should you use?
They measure different things — and both are worth knowing.
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Reaction time tests are good for measuring your neural reflex speed. Useful if you’re tracking athletic readiness, jetlag effects, or cognitive sharpness day to day.
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67 Challenge is good for measuring sustained bilateral motor speed and coordination. More fun, more social (the shareable score card), and more improvable with practice.
For pure entertainment and competitive shareability, the 67 Challenge wins. For tracking a narrow neurological metric, reaction time tests are the right tool.
Either way, trying both back-to-back is a genuinely interesting experiment. Your performance on one doesn’t perfectly predict the other — which is what makes them worthwhile to compare.
Download the 67 Challenge free and find out where you sit.