Controller Polling Rate Test
This controller polling rate test reports how often the browser hands the page a new gamepad sample. Move a stick and read the hertz figure. It is a real measurement of the browser path. It is not the USB poll rate printed on a controller box.
- Median of real timestamp gaps
- Labeled browser-observed, not USB
- Useful for USB vs Bluetooth on one pad
{"waiting":"Press any button on the controller. Browsers hide gamepads until you press a button on this tab.","noApi":"This browser does not expose the Gamepad API, so the live tester cannot read inputs. The written checks on this page still apply.","insecure":"This page is not a secure context, so the browser will not share gamepads. Open the site over HTTPS.","privacy":"Inputs stay in this browser. Nothing is uploaded.","checkAgain":"Check again","layout":"Button labels","layoutAuto":"Match the connected pad","layoutPs":"PlayStation","layoutXbox":"Xbox","layoutNintendo":"Nintendo","layoutGeneric":"Numbers","player":"Controller","buttons":"Buttons","face":"Face","dpad":"D-pad","shoulders":"Shoulders and triggers","center":"Center and sticks clicks","extra":"Other buttons","sticks":"Sticks","leftStick":"Left stick","rightStick":"Right stick","up":"Up","down":"Down","left":"Left","right":"Right","stickHint":"Up on the plot is up on the stick. The numbers keep the browser’s sign: positive Y is usually down.","offset":"Offset","deadzone":"Inner deadzone","radial":"Radial","axial":"Axial","shape":"Deadzone shape","afterDeadzone":"After deadzone","inside":"Inside deadzone","measureDrift":"Measure drift (3s)","release":"Release both sticks and hold them still.","measuring":"Measuring resting offset…","trace":"Trace circularity","tracing":"Push the stick around the outer gate.","stopTrace":"Stop trace","vibration":"Vibration","strong":"Strong motor","weak":"Weak motor","duration":"Duration","play":"Play vibration","pulse":"Pulse three times","triggerRumble":"Try trigger rumble","rumbleMissing":"This browser did not offer a vibration actuator for the selected controller. Chrome and Edge usually do; Firefox and Safari often do not.","rumbleSent":"Vibration command sent.","rumbleFailed":"The browser rejected the vibration command.","triggerUnsupported":"Trigger rumble is not available on this actuator. Dual rumble still ran if the browser accepted it.","rate":"Browser-observed rate","sampleAge":"Sample age","moveStick":"Move a stick to measure the update rate.","rateNote":"This is how often the browser hands us a new sample. It is not the controller’s USB poll rate.","ageNote":"How old the newest sample is when the page draws it. This is not display lag and not in-game lag.","ageUnavailable":"This browser’s gamepad timestamp cannot be compared with the page clock.","gyro":"Motion","requestHid":"Request DualSense access","hidIntro":"Gyro, accelerometer, touch position, and battery are not part of the standard Gamepad reading. Chrome and Edge on desktop can request a DualSense or DualShock 4 over WebHID.","hidMissing":"WebHID is not available here. Use Chrome or Edge on a desktop computer, connect the pad by USB, and try again. Buttons and sticks above still work through the Gamepad API.","hidEmpty":"No device was selected.","hidOk":"The browser allowed access to {name}. This version confirms the device and does not stream gyro values yet, so it cannot show a wrong motion number. Buttons and sticks above stay on the Gamepad API.","hidDenied":"The browser blocked or cancelled device access. Gamepad readings are unaffected.","raw":"Raw data","rawEmpty":"Raw values appear here after a controller connects.","checkup":"Full checkup","startCheckup":"Start full checkup","resetMarks":"Reset marks","stepButtons":"Buttons","stepSticks":"Sticks","stepTriggers":"Triggers","stepRumble":"Rumble","stepDone":"Review","checkupIdle":"A short pass over buttons, both sticks, both triggers, and vibration.","checkupButtons":"Press every face button, the D-pad, bumpers, menu buttons, and both stick clicks.","checkupSticks":"Rotate each stick out to the gate.","checkupTriggers":"Pull both triggers fully.","checkupRumble":"Play vibration, then say whether you felt it.","feltYes":"I felt it","feltNo":"I felt nothing","checkupSkipRumble":"This pad has no vibration actuator in this browser, so that step is skipped.","announcePress":"{label} pressed","modelLink":"This looks like {name}.","openModel":"Open the model page","presetNote":"Labels are locked to this page’s layout. Change “Button labels” if they do not match the pad in your hands.","mappingStandard":"standard mapping","mappingOther":"non-standard mapping","healthy":"Healthy","borderline":"Borderline","drift":"Drift","couldNotMeasure":"Could not get a still sample. Rest the controller on a table and try again.","suggested":"Suggested inner deadzone","coverageLow":"Keep tracing the outer edge. Too few sectors were filled to score the gate.","noPadSelected":"No controller is selected.","slotsLabel":"Connected controllers","noneConnected":"None connected yet","focusDrift":"This page focuses on stick drift. Every other check is still here.","focusDeadzone":"This page focuses on deadzone and calibration. Every other check is still here.","focusVibration":"This page focuses on vibration. Every other check is still here.","focusPolling":"This page focuses on the browser-observed update rate. Every other check is still here.","focusLatency":"This page focuses on sample age and input timing. Every other check is still here.","focusGyro":"This page focuses on motion. Buttons and sticks still use the Gamepad API.","focusButtons":"This page focuses on buttons. Sticks, triggers, and vibration are still here.","names":{"edge":"DualSense Edge","dualsense":"DualSense","ds4":"DualShock 4","joycon":"Joy-Con","switchpro":"Switch Pro Controller","bitdo":"8BitDo pad","deck":"Steam Deck or Steam Input device","series":"Xbox Series controller","xone":"Xbox One controller","xbox":"Xbox controller","nintendo":"Nintendo controller","generic":"generic PC gamepad"}}This page focuses on the browser-observed update rate. Every other check is still here.
Inputs stay in this browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Press any button on the controller. Browsers hide gamepads until you press a button on this tab.
This is how often the browser hands us a new sample. It is not the controller’s USB poll rate. How old the newest sample is when the page draws it. This is not display lag and not in-game lag.
Buttons
Face
D-pad
Shoulders and triggers
Center and sticks clicks
Sticks
Up on the plot is up on the stick. The numbers keep the browser’s sign: positive Y is usually down.
Vibration
Motion
Gyro, accelerometer, touch position, and battery are not part of the standard Gamepad reading. Chrome and Edge on desktop can request a DualSense or DualShock 4 over WebHID.
Full checkup
- Buttons
- Sticks
- Triggers
- Rumble
- Review
A short pass over buttons, both sticks, both triggers, and vibration.
Raw data
Raw values appear here after a controller connects.
How to measure controller polling rate in a browser
- Focus this tab. Background tabs often slow gamepad delivery.
- Move a stick in a slow circle. The rate only counts samples whose timestamp actually changes.
- Read the median hertz. A handful of samples is noise. Wait until the number settles.
- Change one thing. Repeat on USB, then Bluetooth, or in another browser. Compare those, not a spec-sheet 1000 Hz.
The tester stores the gap between Gamepad timestamps and shows the median, converted to hertz. Gaps under 1 ms and gaps over 200 ms are dropped so a stutter does not dominate. The developer notes show the same timestamp field.
What a browser can and cannot measure
A wired competitive pad may poll USB at 1000 Hz. Chromium often delivers gamepad samples on a cadence near 125 Hz, or tied to the animation frame, whichever path it is using. The page can only count deliveries it receives. A higher USB rate can still feel better in a native game while this number stays flat.
How to read your update rate
- The chip stays on the prompt until you move a stick or hold a button. A still pad may not refresh its timestamp.
- A stable number in the tens or low hundreds of hertz is normal for a browser.
- A number that collapses when the window is in the background tells you the browser is the bottleneck.
- Compare sample age on the latency test if the rate looks fine and the pad still feels late.
USB polling rate vs the browser-observed rate
USB polling is how often the host asks the device for a report. The browser-observed rate is how often that report becomes a Gamepad timestamp you can read. Operating systems, HID stacks, and the browser coalesce reports. Bluetooth adds its own interval, often coarser than a wired report. Use this page to see that difference on your machine. Use a hardware analyzer if you truly need the USB figure.
Why the rate changes
- USB versus Bluetooth on the same pad.
- A focused tab versus a background tab.
- Chrome versus Firefox versus Safari. Their delivery clocks differ.
- Steam Input or another remapper sitting in the middle.
- A display running at a low refresh rate, if the browser ties samples to frames.
The write-up of what the number is, and what to ignore, is What does a controller polling rate test actually measure?.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my 1000 Hz controller not showing 1000 Hz?
Because this page measures browser delivery, and browsers do not surface every USB report. The pad can still be polling faster than the page can see.
What number should I expect?
Often something near a frame rate or near 125 Hz in Chromium, once you are moving a stick. Treat a large gap between USB and Bluetooth as the finding, not a specific “good” hertz.
Does a higher number here mean less input lag?
Not by itself. Rate is how often samples arrive. Sample age is how stale the latest one is. A game adds more delay on top. Read both chips.