diff --git a/config.yaml b/config.yaml
index 76adcc2..8e3be9c 100644
--- a/config.yaml
+++ b/config.yaml
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ artifact_detection:
       enabled: true
       threshold_db: 6.0  # Energy change threshold in dB between consecutive windows (detects level changes)
 
+latency:
+  max_std_dev_ms: 0.5  # Maximum allowed std deviation; test fails if exceeded
+  min_avg_ms: 1.0      # Minimum expected average latency; near-zero indicates bad loopback
+
 latency_buildup:
   measurement_interval: 10  # seconds between latency measurements
   max_duration: null  # maximum test duration in seconds (null = run until canceled)
diff --git a/src/audio_tests.py b/src/audio_tests.py
index 24ea935..511871a 100644
--- a/src/audio_tests.py
+++ b/src/audio_tests.py
@@ -235,11 +235,22 @@ def run_latency_test(config: Dict, num_measurements: int = 5, save_plots: bool =
             last_correlation = correlation
             last_lags = lags
     
+    avg = float(np.mean(latencies))
+    std_dev = float(np.std(latencies))
+    latency_cfg = config.get('latency', {})
+    max_std_dev_ms = latency_cfg.get('max_std_dev_ms', None)
+    min_avg_ms = latency_cfg.get('min_avg_ms', None)
+    valid = True
+    if max_std_dev_ms is not None and std_dev > max_std_dev_ms:
+        valid = False
+    if min_avg_ms is not None and avg < min_avg_ms:
+        valid = False
     latency_stats = {
-        'avg': float(np.mean(latencies)),
+        'avg': avg,
         'min': float(np.min(latencies)),
         'max': float(np.max(latencies)),
-        'std': float(np.std(latencies))
+        'std': std_dev,
+        'valid': valid
     }
     
     if save_plots and output_dir and last_recording is not None:
diff --git a/test_latency.py b/test_latency.py
index 2f7258e..9ab7947 100644
--- a/test_latency.py
+++ b/test_latency.py
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@ def main():
     try:
         latency_stats = run_latency_test(config, num_measurements=args.measurements, 
                                          save_plots=save_plots, output_dir=test_output_dir)
-        print(f"✓ Latency: avg={latency_stats['avg']:.3f}ms, "
+        valid = latency_stats.get('valid', True)
+        status = "PASS" if valid else "FAIL"
+        print(f"{'✓' if valid else '✗'} Latency [{status}]: avg={latency_stats['avg']:.3f}ms, "
               f"min={latency_stats['min']:.3f}ms, max={latency_stats['max']:.3f}ms, "
               f"std={latency_stats['std']:.3f}ms")
     except Exception as e: