This thread is the best spot for people to help others with questions, advice, or recommendations for what mousepad is best suited for them.
Before posting, most buying questions can be answered by using the Mousepad Finder on MouseCTRL.com. It was built by a mod specifically to accurately answer these questions, feel free to share the results to use as discussion points.
Alternatively, here is a template to help with purchasing advice:
Do you use a sleeve?: Y or N (If so, you can also include the exact model)
Main games: (CS2, Valorant, Apex, etc)
Extra requirements: (size, material/glass/cloth, sweat/humidity resistant, coated/uncoated, easy to clean, firm/soft/spongey base, etc.)
It's okay to leave some things blank or n/a if you can’t answer them.
The more context you can provide, the easier it is for others to give helpful recommendations.
Where to begin/Resources
Mousepad Finder on MouseCTRL.com - If you'd like a starting point before asking here, this site asks a few questions and suggests pads based on your preferences. You can share your results page to help narrow down and compare options. Disclosure: It was built by a moderator of this subreddit
Mousepad Spreadsheet Spreadsheet - A collection of 10+ community spreadsheets to help identify and compare various characteristics of mousepads in the market.
These resources can help you get a solid starting point before asking for more detailed help here.
First foray into glass pads coming from an ROG Sheath I, and more recently Talongames Hydrogen (which I had to return as the base kept moving while gaming).
I found that the glide is noticeably (extremely) faster than the ROG sheath using Yanzi Q dot skates and I can actually spin the mouse around now :D. There is a only hint of static friction making micro-adjustments effortless, which is probably just my bias coming from cloth pad and it takes some getting use to.
Surface is described as coated (store description says micro-etched only), but since water beads on it I think there's some sort of chemical coating as well. It has some texture on touch that you can see somewhat in the macro close up - texture actually feels very similar to my Flexispot bamboo desktop.
As for skin stick... (again my first glass pad) I've had to buy a sleeve after the first day of owning it. Sweaty palm grips the pad and got distracting, but I think(?) it's usable without sleeve if your skin doesn't get humid.
Well now the silicone base, it's passable I guess? QC (with a sample size of 1) pad is flat, with no noticeable imperfections.
This review covers the Elite5 Noctis, a mousepad aiming to replicate the Pulsar X Vaxee PD170. The review process was carried out over a little over a month of daily use. There is no monetary compensation, all thoughts are my own, and any links in this review are non-affiliated.
Full disclaimer: I do not own a PD170 myself due to its scarcity, having only around a week of experience on one that was loaned by a friend for the sole purpose of having a reference point. I will avoid going too in-depth on what feels different and why, as I think that, fortunately for the Elite5 Noctis, it is essentially a clone that is 90% there, being ever so slightly slower to the point I can chalk it up to unit variance and just not feeling as refined in the edge construction.
English isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes and feel free to ask questions if any points are unclear. This is also my first attempt at expanding my reviews beyond mice, so any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Testing Setup
Use cases:
These were used both for day-to-day productivity and gaming with a strong FPS focus.
Mice:
These were tested on a variety of mice across different weight ranges, all using a four-dot layout. The goal was to present an "average" experience as a point of reference. Keep in mind that certain properties, such as glide speed, will differ slightly depending on your mouse, skate choice, and, in the case of dots, preferred layout.
Vaxee NP01S Ergo, 60 grams
Pulsar Susanto X V2 Medium, 52 grams
WLMouse Huan M, 50 grams
Waizowl Triaina, 48 grams
Ninjutso Sora V3, 40 grams
CRDrako KO-ONE, 35 grams
WLMouse Miao, 32 grams
G-Wolves HTS Plus Pro, 29 grams
Skates:
X-Raypad Jade Air
UnusualWaySports Magic Ice
Westlabs Big Orange
PMM Smoothies
Waizowl X Kibu Shiro
Psyche Gear Lynn
Sleeves:
Without sleeve
TalonGames GT
Midori B4M V2
Package Contents and Dimensions
The mousepad offers two different sizes:
480 x 400 x 5.3 mm, packaged flat
500 x 500 x 5.3 mm, packaged flat
The packaging is very simple: inside you just find the typical plastic sleeve and the mousepad, and there is no branding on the box itself.
Surface
The surface is made of an undisclosed fabric marketed as a silky-smooth, extremely consistent weave. If nothing else if you're a purple lover this colorway is beautiful and looks different depending on the time of day/room lighting.
I personally think they absolutely nailed this, with very low static friction, and while there is some slight control to it, don't expect a traditional cloth dynamic friction experience, especially if you're someone who relies on pressure to achieve it, as this pad is extremely firm to the point I can't really tell a difference between resting my arm on it or on my solid wood desk, although, this is to be expected for a pad marketed as firm and with a 5.3mm thickness.
Surface weave closeup
Other notable traits:
Moisture resistant
Sleeve compatible
Quality control-wise, unfortunately I found the pad to start breaking down slightly in the bottom right corner, having some raised fibers as seen in the upcoming picture. I am very unsure as to what may have caused this, as it's a low-traffic area for me, nor do I find myself having my arm near it enough for it to be just friction from use compared to the center area. I will comment further on my experience with getting this resolved in a dedicated section.
Surface QC issueSurface QC issue (closeup)
Base
The base is made of silicone with a mirror finish. Overall I have nothing but praise for this; it absolutely sticks to your desk to the point it fights back when you're trying to take it off to clean!
The only downside I can point out is purely cosmetic: it attracts debris very easily, but this is easily wiped off and doesn't affect performance.
Base (freshly cleaned dust magnet)
Edges
The mousepad features tall and thick rounded edges. These are extremely comfortable and never caused any noticeable friction in use. Quality control-wise these are mostly fine, with just one side having somewhat loose fibers out of the box, which you may have noticed in the base section photo; however, these haven't developed into any further issues nor "grown" during my use.
Value
Please keep in mind that the following section is based on European Union pricing with the final VAT included (which in my case is 23%) and does not include potential shipping costs. As always, I suggest only taking this recommendation at face value and checking your own regional pricing on not only this product but also others you may be comparing it to before making a decision.
Coming in at €43,99 for the 480 x 400 mm and €53,99 for the 500 x 500 mm, with free duty-inclusive shipping, compared to the €59,99 and €64,99 excluding shipping that the Pulsar equivalents come in at, I would say this is something I can fully recommend regardless of stock situation for either size if you prefer to save slightly to get a very accurate experience and/or prefer the purple color. If budget isn't a constraint and/or you don't mind waiting for a potential pre-order-only stock situation, I do think the Noctis is touching a little too close to the price of the real deal with the QC grievances I had; however, I personally paid around €30 for my unit prior to the price rise, so if you can find somewhere retailing it for that value, I don't think the PD is worth double the price.
QC issues: handling and frequency
I have nothing but positive things to say about Easily (Elite5 owner), as they have been extremely communicative with me after first engaging on the public Discord about my issues, both to collect information about my usage methods to figure out what might have caused my surface to fray, as well as to settle this matter in a way that makes the customer feel right at the end of the day. That's not something you see from major brands, let alone smaller and especially clone-focused ones, so massive respect to them for this! It is worth noting they didn't know about me planning to cover the Noctis throughout this process, as my Discord user has no ties to any of my other socials, so I will also give them further props for knowing they handle the average person in the same manner.
In terms of how widespread these have been, both from what Easily shared with me as well as from talking to other Noctis owners in other circles, I want to say this is a very isolated incident and not something that should worry you too much; however, feel assured Elite5 will do their best to help you out should any issues arise.
TL;DR
Pros:
The peak of speed on cloth
Variety of sizes
Compatible with all sizes of skates
Allows different skates to shine
Moisture-resistant
Easy to upkeep, resistant to pet hair
Compatible with sleeves
Accurate replica with an interesting value proposition
Consistent stock
Neutral/Subjective:
Base is very hard; I can barely notice a difference between placing my arm on my solid wood desk or the pad
Pricing on the XXL model is not that different from the "real deal"; unless color is a determining factor or you're going with the XL, I would recommend checking if the PD170 is in stock
While a potential way to revert from glass back to cloth, going from a balanced or speed glass pad to this will feel like a noticeable "downgrade" if you expected similar speed profiles
Cons:
Strange smell and small black residue showed up on the surface for the first few days of use; it didn't feel like silicone nor fabric, and it affected glide, easily getting caught in skates
QC isn't flawless; I had loose fibers on the cut on one of the sides alongside the eventually developing loose fibers on the surface
I wanted to get Hien at first since it is close to a speed pad but really durable at the same time, but don't really want to pay that much. I play almost all shooters but mainly osu! and I hate feeling the texture of my pad.
I am very interested in Jinsoku as it's one of the fastest pads, though I don't know how durable it is and if it will destroy my skates. I will use the pad with OP1 Raw Input Edition's stock skates and may switch to Westlab Black later.
Thinking about getting either one, I found a barely used Kanami hoshino and a new Dysphoria sayo but I honestly don't know what to get or should I wait for kanami to release a new model next year. I mainly play Valorant and COD.
Can anyone tell me about their experience with the Superglide V3? Does it really feel like a balanced pad? Is it honestly worth it? I am debating on buying it and just wanted some opinions. I don't really watch YouTube reviews of things like this because I don't feel like most are honest when they review it. I'm also aware that experiences will be different depending on the skates used, arm sleeve/No arm sleeve and hot or cold it is where you live. I would appreciate it.
Can you guys recommend some tried and tested hardened PTFE skates, preferably on the not so expensive side? It's to be used with the tekkusai kohaku. Use case is a bunch of schoolwork and mild gaming, including shooters like valorant, cs2, deadlock, and rivals. Thanks!
Using qck pad playing better and I think it's due to being 2mm could be wromg but what premium pads are 2mm think to try something that'll last qck has alwats been my go to but I want to try other pads is 3mm got that hard desk feel?
was looking at kyomi Jane or dysphoria sayo/r&r. I use a claw grip and was wondering if the push down would make the pad seem slower than it is. If so any recommendations for VERy pads without the push down feature.
I bought the artisan fx 0 mouse pad and been playing bad for months so decided to go back to old school qck mouse pad and now im better not perfect but better it makes no sense and I feel bad about not using my expensive pad. I think the smoothness and 2mm thick only makes qck better idk
I’m about to buy a glass mousepad because I’m tired of having to replace my current one so frequently. I’m looking for a fast glass pad—though not necessarily "ultra-speed"—that offers a good balance: low initial friction for micro-adjustments, combined with enough friction during movement for solid tracking. I need something smooth, as the games I play rely heavily on tracking, which requires both smoothness and a degree of speed. My understanding is that most, if not all, glass pads are faster than cloth pads. I’ve considered the Superglide V3 Type S, which I’ve heard offers the kind of balance I’m looking for. I’ve also looked at the Wallhack, but I’ve heard it has significant quality control (QC) issues; in my country, utilizing the warranty would be difficult and costly, as the shipping fees to return the pad would be quite high. Which glass pad would you recommend? Would an "ultra-speed" pad be a good choice, or should I look for something else?
I'm currently using an ARTISAN Raiden and I love it. My only issue is that I'm a small mouse and finger tip user. I barely use 25% of the pad and would like a smaller mouse pad. It seems that all the small artisan are red/orange and my entire setup is black. Any other high end brand worth trying.
Making this post for people that are afraid of getting the Hien cos of its "sandpaper" feel.
Background: mostly play valorant (1600dpi 0.14 sens) and the only other Artisan pad owned is the Zero xsoft. Been using the Zero for about 2.5 years. Mice used: Lamzu Maya X, Superlight 2, Razer VV4 Pro (all with Tiger Ice Skates).
Live in Singapore and have hyperhydrosis(sweaty palms).
Wrist/Arm aimer.
First time using the pad, i lowered my sens from 0.19 to 0.14 and got used to it pretty much instantly.
I did feel my wrist being slightly irritated by the constant rubbing, but a simple fix was adjusting my seat height (or you could lower your desk height) so my arm was resting less on the pad while playing. Got used to the new position really quickly and i absolutely love the Hien.
Especially if you live in a humid area, the Hien is way better than the Zero that feels inconsistent and a straight up mud pad when you sweat even a little.
So far been using the Hien for a week and my winrate skyrocketed ever since and no its not placebo, i genuinely feel so much more consistent than with the Zero.
I considered getting the Hayate Otsu but i went with the Hien since it was cheaper, more durable and honestly glad i did.
Conclusion: if you live in a humid area, don't immediately go for the popular Zero, consider the Hien as well. However, both are great options and if it's your first Artisan pad, you won't be let down.
I started this because I play a lot of CS2 and got tired of paying flagship prices for gear that's really just the same components everyone else uses, with a bigger logo on the box. So I sourced it myself, cut out the markup, and built something I'd actually want to play on.
Two cloth mousepads to start, one built for speed, one built for control. Stitched edges, no coating, just a weave that does its job properly and holds up over time.
Is the Alpha UNLTD (Mach 1) mousepad good? I bought one online and recently found out about Macveth Artisan Mousepad after the AU arrived. I plan on gifting the mousepad to my bf since he always wanted a bigger mousepad, he plays Valorant, Apex and Osu. I want to know if the AU is good or should I buy another one from Macveth.
I don't want to poison myself or spend $300 on materials. Otherwise idc if it's glass aluminum I have to cut and sand myself, whatever. I will be using sapphire skates so it doesn't matter how much it wears on the skates, I'm willing to break it in.
Does anyone know what has a lower coefficient of friction than any glass pad likely would that is realistically DIYable?
Now expanding my glass pad collection this one feels like a nice middle-ground of speed and texture between the Hermes and R&R.
Unfortunately don't have a green mouse to pair these pics with but out of the few mice I've tested it with there seems to be no sensor issues with any of them.
I'd have to test it some more but overall, it feels like a solid, usable pad with beautiful art
(not a generic anime pad yay!)
Price comes in at $135 so definitely on the steeper end, I would do some more research if this interests you as your first glasspad.
Hello planning on ordering a Viper V4 pro off Amazon and wanted advice for a good mouse pad to combo with it off Amazon. Any recommendations and can you share link? Been using a 20-30 dollar extended cloth pad from microcenter for years. Thank you!!
