diff --git a/test/automation/src/application.ts b/test/automation/src/application.ts
index 4a58db4aa80..0b2bbedee05 100644
--- a/test/automation/src/application.ts
+++ b/test/automation/src/application.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import { Workbench } from './workbench';
 import { Code, spawn, SpawnOptions } from './code';
-import { Logger } from './logger';
+import { Logger, measureAndLog } from './logger';
 
 export const enum Quality {
 	Dev,
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ export class Application {
 
 	async captureScreenshot(name: string): Promise<void> {
 		if (this.options.screenshotsPath) {
-			const raw = await this.code.capturePage();
+			const raw = await measureAndLog(this.code.capturePage(), 'capturePage', this.options.logger);
 			const buffer = Buffer.from(raw, 'base64');
 			const screenshotPath = path.join(this.options.screenshotsPath, `${name}.png`);
 			this.logger.log('Screenshot recorded:', screenshotPath);
diff --git a/test/automation/src/code.ts b/test/automation/src/code.ts
index 0e30e8a1690..ac138b770de 100644
--- a/test/automation/src/code.ts
+++ b/test/automation/src/code.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import * as cp from 'child_process';
 import { IDriver, IDisposable, IElement, Thenable, ILocalizedStrings, ILocaleInfo } from './driver';
 import { launch as launchElectron } from './electronDriver';
 import { launch as launchPlaywright } from './playwrightDriver';
-import { Logger } from './logger';
+import { Logger, measureAndLog } from './logger';
 import { copyExtension } from './extensions';
 
 const repoPath = path.join(__dirname, '../../..');
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export async function spawn(options: SpawnOptions): Promise<Code> {
 		throw new Error('Smoke test process has terminated, refusing to spawn Code');
 	}
 
-	await copyExtension(repoPath, options.extensionsPath, 'vscode-notebook-tests');
+	await measureAndLog(copyExtension(repoPath, options.extensionsPath, 'vscode-notebook-tests'), 'copyExtension(vscode-notebook-tests)', options.logger);
 
 	// Browser smoke tests
 	if (options.web) {
@@ -135,12 +135,16 @@ export class Code {
 
 	async startTracing(name: string): Promise<void> {
 		const windowId = await this.getActiveWindowId();
-		return await this.driver.startTracing(windowId, name);
+		if (typeof this.driver.startTracing === 'function') { // added only in 1.64
+			return await this.driver.startTracing(windowId, name);
+		}
 	}
 
 	async stopTracing(name: string, persist: boolean): Promise<void> {
 		const windowId = await this.getActiveWindowId();
-		return await this.driver.stopTracing(windowId, name, persist);
+		if (typeof this.driver.stopTracing === 'function') { // added only in 1.64
+			return await this.driver.stopTracing(windowId, name, persist);
+		}
 	}
 
 	async waitForWindowIds(fn: (windowIds: number[]) => boolean): Promise<void> {
@@ -153,7 +157,7 @@ export class Code {
 	}
 
 	async exit(): Promise<void> {
-		return new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+		return measureAndLog(new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
 			let done = false;
 
 			// Start the exit flow via driver
@@ -190,7 +194,7 @@ export class Code {
 			})();
 		}).finally(() => {
 			this.dispose();
-		});
+		}), 'Code#exit()', this.logger);
 	}
 
 	async waitForTextContent(selector: string, textContent?: string, accept?: (result: string) => boolean, retryCount?: number): Promise<string> {
diff --git a/test/automation/src/electronDriver.ts b/test/automation/src/electronDriver.ts
index 51f59af2b8d..823b4f0fb42 100644
--- a/test/automation/src/electronDriver.ts
+++ b/test/automation/src/electronDriver.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import { promisify } from 'util';
 import * as kill from 'tree-kill';
 import { copyExtension } from './extensions';
 import { URI } from 'vscode-uri';
-import { Logger } from './logger';
+import { Logger, measureAndLog } from './logger';
 
 const repoPath = path.join(__dirname, '../../..');
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export async function launch(codePath: string | undefined, userDataDir: string,
 	const logsPath = path.join(repoPath, '.build', 'logs', remote ? 'smoke-tests-remote' : 'smoke-tests');
 	const outPath = codePath ? getBuildOutPath(codePath) : getDevOutPath();
 
-	const driverIPCHandle = await createDriverHandle();
+	const driverIPCHandle = await measureAndLog(createDriverHandle(), 'createDriverHandle', logger);
 
 	const args = [
 		workspacePath,
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export async function launch(codePath: string | undefined, userDataDir: string,
 
 		if (codePath) {
 			// running against a build: copy the test resolver extension
-			await copyExtension(repoPath, extensionsPath, 'vscode-test-resolver');
+			await measureAndLog(copyExtension(repoPath, extensionsPath, 'vscode-test-resolver'), 'copyExtension(vscode-test-resolver)', logger);
 		}
 		args.push('--enable-proposed-api=vscode.vscode-test-resolver');
 		const remoteDataDir = `${userDataDir}-server`;
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export async function launch(codePath: string | undefined, userDataDir: string,
 			// running against a build: copy the test resolver extension into remote extensions dir
 			const remoteExtensionsDir = path.join(remoteDataDir, 'extensions');
 			mkdirp.sync(remoteExtensionsDir);
-			await copyExtension(repoPath, remoteExtensionsDir, 'vscode-notebook-tests');
+			await measureAndLog(copyExtension(repoPath, remoteExtensionsDir, 'vscode-notebook-tests'), 'copyExtension(vscode-notebook-tests)', logger);
 		}
 
 		env['TESTRESOLVER_DATA_FOLDER'] = remoteDataDir;
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export async function launch(codePath: string | undefined, userDataDir: string,
 
 	while (true) {
 		try {
-			const { client, driver } = await connectElectronDriver(outPath, driverIPCHandle);
+			const { client, driver } = await measureAndLog(connectElectronDriver(outPath, driverIPCHandle), 'connectElectronDriver()', logger);
 			return { electronProcess, client, driver };
 		} catch (err) {
 
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ export async function launch(codePath: string | undefined, userDataDir: string,
 				logger.log(`Error connecting driver: ${err}. Giving up...`);
 
 				try {
-					await promisify(kill)(electronProcess.pid!);
+					await measureAndLog(promisify(kill)(electronProcess.pid!), 'Kill Electron after failing to connect', logger);
 				} catch (error) {
 					logger.log(`Error tearing down electron client (pid: ${electronProcess.pid}): ${error}`);
 				}
diff --git a/test/automation/src/playwrightDriver.ts b/test/automation/src/playwrightDriver.ts
index 73f7543260e..d85f2b9cfe1 100644
--- a/test/automation/src/playwrightDriver.ts
+++ b/test/automation/src/playwrightDriver.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@ import { IDriver, IDisposable, IWindowDriver } from './driver';
 import { URI } from 'vscode-uri';
 import * as kill from 'tree-kill';
 import { PageFunction } from 'playwright-core/types/structs';
-import { Logger } from './logger';
-import { measureAndLog } from '.';
+import { Logger, measureAndLog } from './logger';
 
 const width = 1200;
 const height = 800;
@@ -223,7 +222,7 @@ export async function launch(codeServerPath = process.env.VSCODE_REMOTE_SERVER_P
 
 async function launchServer(userDataDir: string, codeServerPath: string | undefined, extensionsPath: string, verbose: boolean, logger: Logger) {
 	const agentFolder = userDataDir;
-	await promisify(mkdir)(agentFolder);
+	await measureAndLog(promisify(mkdir)(agentFolder), `mkdir(${agentFolder})`, logger);
 	const env = {
 		VSCODE_AGENT_FOLDER: agentFolder,
 		VSCODE_REMOTE_SERVER_PATH: codeServerPath,
@@ -271,22 +270,22 @@ async function launchServer(userDataDir: string, codeServerPath: string | undefi
 
 	return {
 		serverProcess,
-		endpoint: await waitForEndpoint(serverProcess)
+		endpoint: await measureAndLog(waitForEndpoint(serverProcess), 'waitForEndpoint(serverProcess)', logger)
 	};
 }
 
 async function launchBrowser(options: PlaywrightOptions, endpoint: string, workspacePath: string, logger: Logger) {
-	const browser = await playwright[options.browser ?? 'chromium'].launch({ headless: options.headless ?? false });
-	const context = await browser.newContext();
+	const browser = await measureAndLog(playwright[options.browser ?? 'chromium'].launch({ headless: options.headless ?? false }), 'playwright#launch', logger);
+	const context = await measureAndLog(browser.newContext(), 'browser.newContext', logger);
 
 	try {
-		await context.tracing.start({ screenshots: true, snapshots: true, sources: true });
+		await measureAndLog(context.tracing.start({ screenshots: true, snapshots: true, sources: true }), 'context.tracing.start()', logger);
 	} catch (error) {
 		logger.log(`Failed to start playwright tracing: ${error}`); // do not fail the build when this fails
 	}
 
-	const page = await context.newPage();
-	await page.setViewportSize({ width, height });
+	const page = await measureAndLog(context.newPage(), 'context.newPage()', logger);
+	await measureAndLog(page.setViewportSize({ width, height }), 'page.setViewportSize', logger);
 
 	page.on('pageerror', async (error) => logger.log(`Playwright ERROR: page error: ${error}`));
 	page.on('crash', page => logger.log('Playwright ERROR: page crash'));
@@ -297,7 +296,7 @@ async function launchBrowser(options: PlaywrightOptions, endpoint: string, works
 	});
 
 	const payloadParam = `[["enableProposedApi",""],["skipWelcome","true"]]`;
-	await page.goto(`${endpoint}&folder=vscode-remote://localhost:9888${URI.file(workspacePath!).path}&payload=${payloadParam}`);
+	await measureAndLog(page.goto(`${endpoint}&folder=vscode-remote://localhost:9888${URI.file(workspacePath!).path}&payload=${payloadParam}`), 'page.goto()', logger);
 
 	return { browser, context, page };
 }
diff --git a/test/automation/src/terminal.ts b/test/automation/src/terminal.ts
index 5813f0215ed..fe2589f726a 100644
--- a/test/automation/src/terminal.ts
+++ b/test/automation/src/terminal.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
-import { QuickInput } from '.';
+import { QuickInput } from './quickinput';
 import { Code } from './code';
 import { QuickAccess } from './quickaccess';
 
diff --git a/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/data-loss.test.ts b/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/data-loss.test.ts
index 24be2f5743e..0521bcb4859 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/data-loss.test.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/data-loss.test.ts
@@ -5,13 +5,14 @@
 
 import { Application, ApplicationOptions, Quality } from '../../../../automation/out';
 import { ParsedArgs } from 'minimist';
-import { installCommonAfterHandlers, getRandomUserDataDir, startApp, timeout } from '../../utils';
+import { installCommonAfterHandlers, getRandomUserDataDir, startApp, timeout, installCommonBeforeEachHandler } from '../../utils';
 
 export function setup(opts: ParsedArgs) {
 	describe('Data Loss (insiders -> insiders)', () => {
 
 		let app: Application | undefined = undefined;
 
+		installCommonBeforeEachHandler();
 		installCommonAfterHandlers(opts, () => app);
 
 		it('verifies opened editors are restored', async function () {
@@ -97,6 +98,7 @@ export function setup(opts: ParsedArgs) {
 		let insidersApp: Application | undefined = undefined;
 		let stableApp: Application | undefined = undefined;
 
+		installCommonBeforeEachHandler();
 		installCommonAfterHandlers(opts, () => insidersApp ?? stableApp, async () => stableApp?.stop());
 
 		it('verifies opened editors are restored', async function () {
diff --git a/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/launch.test.ts b/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/launch.test.ts
index dc17c9dc14c..d9e54876fe9 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/launch.test.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/launch.test.ts
@@ -6,13 +6,14 @@
 import minimist = require('minimist');
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { Application } from '../../../../automation';
-import { installCommonAfterHandlers, startApp } from '../../utils';
+import { installCommonAfterHandlers, installCommonBeforeEachHandler, startApp } from '../../utils';
 
 export function setup(args: minimist.ParsedArgs) {
 	describe('Launch', () => {
 
 		let app: Application | undefined;
 
+		installCommonBeforeEachHandler();
 		installCommonAfterHandlers(args, () => app);
 
 		it(`verifies that application launches when user data directory has non-ascii characters`, async function () {
diff --git a/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/localization.test.ts b/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/localization.test.ts
index 27ce308a902..ebc6841f473 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/localization.test.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/areas/workbench/localization.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 import minimist = require('minimist');
 import { Application, Quality } from '../../../../automation';
-import { installCommonAfterHandlers, startApp } from '../../utils';
+import { installCommonAfterHandlers, installCommonBeforeEachHandler, startApp } from '../../utils';
 
 export function setup(args: minimist.ParsedArgs) {
 
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ export function setup(args: minimist.ParsedArgs) {
 
 		let app: Application | undefined = undefined;
 
+		installCommonBeforeEachHandler();
 		installCommonAfterHandlers(args, () => app);
 
 		it(`starts with 'DE' locale and verifies title and viewlets text is in German`, async function () {
diff --git a/test/smoke/src/main.ts b/test/smoke/src/main.ts
index ce06c48fff8..20aec66e4d0 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/main.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/main.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import * as rimraf from 'rimraf';
 import * as mkdirp from 'mkdirp';
 import * as vscodetest from 'vscode-test';
 import fetch from 'node-fetch';
-import { Quality, ApplicationOptions, MultiLogger, Logger, ConsoleLogger, FileLogger } from '../../automation';
+import { Quality, ApplicationOptions, MultiLogger, Logger, ConsoleLogger, FileLogger, measureAndLog } from '../../automation';
 import { timeout } from './utils';
 
 import { setup as setupDataLossTests } from './areas/workbench/data-loss.test';
@@ -216,7 +216,6 @@ async function setupRepository(logger: Logger): Promise<void> {
 		} else {
 			cp.execSync(`cp -R "${opts['test-repo']}" "${workspacePath}"`);
 		}
-
 	} else {
 		if (!fs.existsSync(workspacePath)) {
 			logger.log('Cloning test project repository...');
@@ -244,13 +243,13 @@ async function ensureStableCode(logger: Logger): Promise<void> {
 	if (!stableCodePath) {
 		const { major, minor } = parseVersion(version!);
 		const majorMinorVersion = `${major}.${minor - 1}`;
-		const versionsReq = await fetch('https://update.code.visualstudio.com/api/releases/stable', { headers: { 'x-api-version': '2' } });
+		const versionsReq = await measureAndLog(fetch('https://update.code.visualstudio.com/api/releases/stable', { headers: { 'x-api-version': '2' } }), 'versionReq', logger);
 
 		if (!versionsReq.ok) {
 			throw new Error('Could not fetch releases from update server');
 		}
 
-		const versions: { version: string }[] = await versionsReq.json();
+		const versions: { version: string }[] = await measureAndLog(versionsReq.json(), 'versionReq.json()', logger);
 		const prefix = `${majorMinorVersion}.`;
 		const previousVersion = versions.find(v => v.version.startsWith(prefix));
 
@@ -260,10 +259,10 @@ async function ensureStableCode(logger: Logger): Promise<void> {
 
 		logger.log(`Found VS Code v${version}, downloading previous VS Code version ${previousVersion.version}...`);
 
-		const stableCodeExecutable = await vscodetest.download({
+		const stableCodeExecutable = await measureAndLog(vscodetest.download({
 			cachePath: path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'vscode-test'),
 			version: previousVersion.version
-		});
+		}), 'download stable code', logger);
 
 		if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
 			// Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/MacOS/Electron
@@ -287,8 +286,8 @@ async function setup(logger: Logger): Promise<void> {
 	logger.log('Test data:', testDataPath);
 	logger.log('Preparing smoketest setup...');
 
-	await ensureStableCode(logger);
-	await setupRepository(logger);
+	await measureAndLog(ensureStableCode(logger), 'ensureStableCode', logger);
+	await measureAndLog(setupRepository(logger), 'setupRepository', logger);
 
 	logger.log('Smoketest setup done!\n');
 }
@@ -350,7 +349,7 @@ after(async function () {
 		//
 		// Refs: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/137725
 		let deleted = false;
-		await Promise.race([
+		await measureAndLog(Promise.race([
 			new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => rimraf(testDataPath, { maxBusyTries: 10 }, error => {
 				if (error) {
 					reject(error);
@@ -364,9 +363,9 @@ after(async function () {
 					throw new Error('giving up after 30s');
 				}
 			})
-		]);
+		]), 'rimraf(testDataPath)', this.defaultOptions.logger);
 	} catch (error) {
-		this.options.logger(`Unable to delete smoke test workspace: ${error}. This indicates some process is locking the workspace folder.`);
+		this.defaultOptions.logger(`Unable to delete smoke test workspace: ${error}. This indicates some process is locking the workspace folder.`);
 	}
 });
 
diff --git a/test/smoke/src/utils.ts b/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
index 76f465d5081..d4d8eabe634 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/utils.ts
@@ -26,23 +26,20 @@ export function installCommonTestHandlers(args: minimist.ParsedArgs, optionsTran
 
 export function installCommonBeforeHandlers(args: minimist.ParsedArgs, optionsTransform?: (opts: ApplicationOptions) => Promise<ApplicationOptions>) {
 	before(async function () {
-		const testTitle = this.currentTest?.title;
-
-		this.app = await startApp(args, this.defaultOptions, async opts => {
-			opts.testTitle = testTitle;
-
-			if (optionsTransform) {
-				opts = await optionsTransform(opts);
-			}
-
-			return opts;
-		});
+		this.app = await startApp(args, this.defaultOptions, optionsTransform);
 	});
 
+	installCommonBeforeEachHandler();
+}
+
+export function installCommonBeforeEachHandler() {
 	beforeEach(async function () {
-		if (this.app) {
-			await this.app.startTracing(this.currentTest?.title);
-		}
+		const testTitle = this.currentTest?.title;
+		this.defaultOptions.logger.log('');
+		this.defaultOptions.logger.log(`>>> Test start: ${testTitle} <<<`);
+		this.defaultOptions.logger.log('');
+
+		await this.app?.startTracing(testTitle);
 	});
 }
 
@@ -58,10 +55,6 @@ export async function startApp(args: minimist.ParsedArgs, options: ApplicationOp
 
 	await app.start();
 
-	if (options.testTitle) {
-		app.logger.log('Test start:', options.testTitle);
-	}
-
 	return app;
 }
 
@@ -98,9 +91,7 @@ export function installCommonAfterHandlers(opts: minimist.ParsedArgs, appFn?: ()
 	});
 
 	afterEach(async function () {
-		if (this.app) {
-			await this.app.stopTracing(this.currentTest?.title, this.currentTest?.state === 'failed');
-		}
+		await this.app?.stopTracing(this.currentTest?.title, this.currentTest?.state === 'failed');
 	});
 }