iPad Mini and Fourth-Generation iPad Have Most Responsive Tablet Touch Screens

[MacRumors]

The iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad have the most responsive touch screens, according to a new set of TouchMark benchmarks from cloud streaming company Agawi.

In its latest TouchMark test, Agawi tested the screen latencies of several different tablets, including the iPads, the Microsoft Surface RT, the Kindle Fire HD, the Nexus 7, the Galaxy Tab 3, and the Nvidia SHIELD.

Apple's iPad mini had the lowest Minimum App Response Time (MART), coming in at 75 milliseconds. The fourth-generation iPad came in second at 81, and the fastest Android tablet was the NVIDIA Shield at 92. Samsung's Galaxy Tab 3 had the worst response time, at 168 milliseconds.

In a result that's perhaps now unsurprising, the iOS devices are more responsive than its competitors. Interestingly, the iPad mini - with its smaller screen and 1024×768 resolution - performs similarly to the larger fourth generation iPad and its 2048×1536 resolution, suggesting that responsiveness is not reduced by the larger screen size or resolution.

Our previous speculations continue to apply - more responsive devices may process touches earlier in the stack, poll for touches more frequently or have touchscreens optimized or calibrated to be more responsive. In our latest review of our test apps, we discovered an optimization that suggests that the GPU or GPU drivers in the devices might also add significant latency.

To obtain MART scores for each of the tablets, Agawi used a 240fps high frame rate camera along with a custom-built device called a Touchscope. The MART is the latency experienced between the time that a user touches the device display to the device's on-screen response time.

Previously, Agawi measured the response time of Apple's iPhone 5 compared to several other Android and Windows smartphones, with the iPhone 5 demonstrating a MART time of 55 milliseconds, which is significantly faster than even its own iPads.

Article Link: iPad Mini and Fourth-Generation iPad Have Most Responsive Tablet Touch Screens

 

[Battlefield Fan]

WoooOOooOo I can touch my screen faster than u!!!

 

[RoelJuun]

And that's what makes Safari feel snappier during scrolling compared to other browsers for example.

 

[darkslide29]

And that's what makes Safari feel snappier during scrolling compared to other browsers for example.

LOL. Ok, in this case, I think we'll allow it.

 

[Northgrove]

Not really too surprising since Apple probably uses the same technology as in the iPhones.

 

[xkmxkmxlmx]

I know it is something to do with the smaller bezel on the mini and error correction for hitting the screens on the sides... but the upper corners rarely ever work for me on the first tap.

 

[DJJAZZYJET]

Not surprising, Apples a quality brand

 

[Littleman]

And is the main reason I buy apple.

Instant response.

No double clicking, no thinking, 'did I press that'.

Instant.

Having tried various Android devices, the lag is very very noticeable. Infuriatingly so.

 

[quizdogg]

That's nice, wheres my ipad 5....

 

[Vanilla35]

Except screen size and or resolution actually are determinants. As shown by the iPad mini having a faster response time, even though it clearly has worse specs.

 

[monkor]

Maybe it's just me, but I literally cannot notice the difference in screen sensitivity/responsiveness. I suppose if I'm really, really looking then maybe I can find a near-imperceptible slowdown on one device over the other, but it impacts nothing in general usage. None of my devices are even on this list.

 

[pearvsapple]

It's funny how Samsung didn't copy this important feat instead. No wonder their phones are laggy. Slow response screen paired with natively laggy Android OS. Yuck.

 

[Chuck-Norris]

so is the mini going to get retina or no?

 

[noiseordinance]

Now if they just put a modern processor in my iPad mini I'd be a happy camper. I'd enjoy the snappy touchscreen a whole lot more if apps loaded at a decent speed.

 

[Tankmaze]

i'm guessing, this statistic will be quoted by Tim Cook on the iPad 5 Apple Event.

 

[TommyA6]

But, but, Samsung has a quad core processor

 

[Michael Goff]

I haven't exactly noticed my RT lagging for input, especially after I did some registry tweaks.

 

[teknikal90]

is this before or after ios 7?
because i swear iOS 7 has gimped my ipad 4...

 

[giantfan1224]

Maybe it's just me, but I literally cannot notice the difference in screen sensitivity/responsiveness. I suppose if I'm really, really looking then maybe I can find a near-imperceptible slowdown on one device over the other, but it impacts nothing in general usage. None of my devices are even on this list.

The Microsoft video in the referenced iPhone 5 response time article illustrates the difference pretty convincingly.

 

[firewood]

These response times are great for tablet use, but may still be slow compared to using a wired controller with a PS3 or older GameCube on any action games.

 

[TouchMint.com]

Can anyone with say a ipad mini and galaxy tab 3 really tell a difference?

 

[apolloa]

Well all I can say is the iPhone 5 is dreadful in responsiveness compared to the iPhone 4 and the 2012 Nexus 7. Because I have owned them all, I noticed the lack of touch response compared to the iPhone 4 the moment I started using it.

The iPads seem to have always been pretty good though.

 

[radiohead14]

macrumors has been posting quite a bunch of these defensive articles lately. i frequent a bunch of other tech blogs, and no one else posts as much "hey look, apple or so and so is so much better than you" articles. i get it.. click bait and the editors seem to enjoy seeing flame wars. just wish this site would go back to the days of posting more mac related articles instead. go to droidlife.. they seem to get it.. just post news about what you started the site in the first place for. avoid posting article headlines that just stir up the crowd.

 

[apolloa]

macrumors has been posting quite a bunch of these defensive articles lately. i frequent a bunch of other tech blogs, and no one else posts as much "hey look, apple or so and so is so much better than you" articles. i get it.. click bait and the editors seem to enjoy seeing flame wars. just wish this site would go back to the days of posting more mac related articles instead. go to droidlife.. they seem to get it.. just post news about what you started the site in the first place for. avoid posting article headlines that just stir up the crowd.

Yeap, but it's a capitalist world and they are capitalising on it. Wadya gonna do?

 

[redhawk87]

One thing I think is surprising is that it seems like Samsung, a company that makes touchscreens AND phones/tablets, seems to do the worst in these tests. You would think that with that advantage, they would be able to excel here. I wonder if its the display they are using or if it is the touchwiz software... I would assume those are the only two major things (apart from maybe the logic board?) separating Samsung apart from other Android devices in regards to response time?

And I am assuming Apples control over hardware and software gives them an added benefit in this area which they DID use to their advantage.