Fact · Typing and writing speed
138words per minute
In the text entry speed by input method dataset, the 2 published figures for “Speech recognition” have a median of 138 words per minute, ranging from 123 to 153.
Calculated from 2 data points on October 19, 2026
- What it measures
- Each figure is one row of the dataset: a published measurement for a stated group, traced to its source. The median is the middle value of the 2 figures for this group.
- How it is calculated
- Median of 2 values (123, 153) = 138.
- What it does not show
- Methods are measured in different studies with different people, phrases and error handling. A direct comparison is only fair within one study; the medians show the typical reported figure per method.
A statistic of the dataset Speech vs Typing Speed: Text Entry Rates Compared, calculated by code from its published rows.
Calculated from
- In the same study, Mandarin Chinese entered by speech reached 123 words per minute, against 43 words per minute with the Pinyin keyboard, 2.87 times faster.
- In a controlled study on an iPhone, English text entered by speech reached 153 words per minute, against 52 words per minute on the built-in keyboard, 2.93 times faster.