Fact · Typing and writing speed
123words per minute
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.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“the Mandarin Chinese input rate was 2.87 times faster (123 vs. 43 WPM) than the keyboard for short message transcription”
Comparing Speech and Keyboard Text Entry for Short Messages in Two Languages on Touchscreen Phones, Sherry Ruan et al., Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 2018, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.1145/3161187)- What it measures
- Same laboratory protocol as the English condition: short messages on an iPhone 6 Plus, speech through Baidu Deep Speech 2, typing on Apple's Pinyin keyboard.
- What it does not show
- Short messages in a lab; Pinyin typing speed depends heavily on the typist's experience with candidate selection.
Source
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