Humans are nearly as swift when typing on smartphones compared to keyboards, study finds

Typing on a smartphone is almost as efficient as typing on a keyboard, a new study on Tuesday revealed.

According to the study, which was performed by researchers from the University of Cambridge, ETH Zürich and Aalto University, the gap between users’ smartphone typing speeds and keyboard typing speeds is closing noticeably.

In fact, users typing on a smartphone are now 25% slower than those using keyboards.

“We were amazed to see that users typing with two thumbs achieved 38 words per minute on average,” said ETH Zürich researcher Anna Feit.

On keyboards 35 to 65 words per minute is the average, with supremely gifted individuals topping 100 words per minute.

The study, which involved over 37 000 people, also found that people between the ages of 10 and 19 typed even faster than those from older generations.

Interestingly, however, the word-prediction feature on smartphones did not boost typing speeds, and one researcher noted that “the time spent thinking about the word suggestions often outweighs the time it would take you to type the letters”.

Researchers also found that 74% of people type faster when using two thumbs.

The findings suggest that people, particularly younger people, are becoming more accustom to on-screen keyboards.

Feature image: Porapak Apichodilok via Pexels