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In NVIDIA’s reported tests, key-press-to-presentation latency was very close between Wayland and X.Org, so the results do not establish a clear overall winner. The finding is limited to one setup—an RTX 5070 with NVIDIA’s R610 driver branch, two Wayland compositors, and X.Org Server 1.21.1.24—and the report gives no exact latency figures.
What NVIDIA’s reported test measured
Phoronix’s October 4, 2026 report on NVIDIA engineer Kamil Łysik’s presentation describes an end-to-end measurement: the time from a key press until the resulting presentation. The setup used a micro-controller and light sensor, alongside software for repeatable, automated testing. The report does not identify the sensor or controller models or provide enough procedural detail to reproduce the full test.
| Test component | Reported setup |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 |
| Driver | NVIDIA R610 branch |
| Wayland compositors | KDE KWin 6.7.4 and GNOME Mutter 49.7 |
| X.Org server | X.Org Server 1.21.1.24 |
| Latency measurement | Key press to presentation, using a micro-controller, light sensor, and automated software |
Phoronix’s report summarizes the outcome as very close latency between X.Org and Wayland. It does not publish numerical results, sample counts, or uncertainty intervals, so there is no supported figure for how many milliseconds separated the sessions.
Does Wayland have more input lag than X11?
This reported comparison does not show a decisive latency advantage for either system: the measured results were very close. That is useful evidence against assuming Wayland must be slower, but it is not proof that Wayland and X.Org perform identically in every setup. The finding applies to the specific GPU, driver, compositor and server versions, and test conditions described above.
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Latency can depend on the application’s display path and configuration. In particular, whether an app runs natively on Wayland or through XWayland, and whether Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) is enabled, are relevant comparison points. Phoronix’s summary does not provide a complete test matrix or raw values for those cases.
What the report says about XWayland
Phoronix reports that XWayland did not add the extra frame delay seen in the past in the reported results. Read this narrowly: it describes the tested results, not a guarantee for every application, driver, compositor, or display configuration. The report does not provide application-by-application measurements or enough detail to determine how broadly that result applies.
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How VRR affected responsiveness
The report says Variable Refresh Rate drastically improved responsiveness and produced roughly similar latency between X.Org and Wayland sessions. It does not give a numerical effect size or specify detailed conditions such as refresh rates, so the summary supports a qualitative finding rather than a precise estimate of VRR’s impact.
What you can conclude from this comparison
- For the tested setup: Wayland and X.Org were close in measured key-press-to-presentation latency.
- For XWayland: The report found no extra frame delay in its test results, but does not establish that outcome for all software or configurations.
- For VRR: The reported tests found substantially better responsiveness with VRR and roughly similar latency across the two session types; no numerical effect is provided.
- For other systems: The report does not establish results for other GPUs, driver stacks, desktop environments, refresh rates, games, or input devices.
Accordingly, these results are not enough to declare Wayland universally faster than X.Org—or the reverse—or to predict latency on a different Linux system. They do show that, on NVIDIA’s reported test setup, the difference was not a clear win for either display system.
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