So you’ve got your shiny new smartphone and you think it’s the best in the world. So easy to use and fast! Anyone can say that, but nobody ever shows any quantifiable data about exactly how easy to use the devices really are.

I decided to make up some generic usability speed tests that are intended to help you figure out exactly how easy it is to use your device. Mind you this is not to be confused with “easy-to-learn”. These tests assume you already know how to use your smartphone and use it to perform tasks every day.

Follow along using your own smartphone while watching the video below as we see how quickly you can do some basic smartphone tasks such as:

1 - Switch between the email, contacts and calendar applications

2 - Open a 3rd party application (Google Maps) buried within the interface

3 - Open a favorite web page from the home screen

4 - Start playing music from a specific artist

5 - New Add a new contact beginning from the home screen using the following details:

Name: John Doe, Work Phone: 800.555.1212, E-mail: test@example.com

6 - New Compose and send a specified E-mail to that contact (beginning from home screen; no cheating and using the contact you’ve just created and Send E-mail to) using the following details:

To: John Doe

Subject: Test

Message: The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

Please feel free to post a video response of your own smartphone’s usability test in order to compare!

If you don’t think the tasks tested above are fair representations of things that all smartphone users may perform, let us know in the discussion below.

Treo 800w Results

Test 1: open email, contacts, & calendar = 2 seconds (63 frames)

Test 2: open Google Maps = 2 seconds (71 frames)

Test 3: open a saved website favorite = 5 seconds (155 frames)

Test 4: find and play music from a specific artist = 8 seconds (239 frames)