QPAD Obsidian Glass mouse pad review

I've always stuck to cloth mouse pads, and given the few plastic hard pads I've tried have never gelled with me, I didn't think I'd ever switch. But the QPAD Obsidian Glass has made me realise there's a whole class of mouse pads out there that I was overlooking, and that's glass ones. Of course, I'd seen them before, but I'd never paid them much mind—and what a fool I was.

My time with the Obsidian Glass has been a joy and has convinced me that the glass pad lifestyle is for me. Which isn't to say that it's an easy lifestyle—far from it, in some ways—but it's worth it if you're into competitive shooters.

First off, what is a glass pad not? Well, it's not cloth, of course. But it's also not plastic, either. When I'd tried hard pads previously, they'd all been plastic ones, and I never found those convincing enough to switch away from cloth, especially when there are luxuriously fast cloth pads like the SteelSeries QCK Performance out there. That's primarily because hard plastic pads tend to wear out and become slow over time, which I find more annoying than when cloth pads slow down over time, as cloth's slow-down never seems as drastic.

Glass pads, on the other hand, don't wear out like that. They offer the speed and smoothness of a plastic pad, but have tons more durability. That's true even if the glass has a coating on top like this QPAD one, as these are bonded to the glass and should take a very long time to wear out, if at all. This surface gives the pad somewhat of a matte texture, thanks to the micro-etchings that help the mouse to track. It also makes moving your mouse a lot more audible, but that's something you should expect from any textured glass pad.

Getting used to the Obsidian Glass didn't take me anywhere near as long as I thought it would. I was anticipating a solid week or even a month of adjustment before I got used to it, but actually, after just a couple of days and a few hours of Counter-Strike, I was at home. Those initial few hours weren't great—tons of overshooting and wobbly adjustments—but it really didn't take long for my mind and body to adjust.

Now that I've adjusted, it's hard to overstate how much better it feels to not fight against my surface, but flow with it, all zen-like. I've heard that many people do prefer a slower surface with more stopping power, but I've not found stopping power to be an issue at all. In fact, I've hit a surprising number of flick shots when taken by surprise—more than I ever did on a cloth pad.

I think part of this is to do with how light and relaxed I can now hold the mouse, given there's very little resistance to push against. Microadjustments are also incredibly easy to make, so even if I miss the initial line-up, I can adjust my crosshair onto that head so much easier than on a cloth pad. It will, I'm sure, also be fantastic for tracking, given that this benefits from smoothness, but I'm primarily a Counter-Strike guy so I haven't experienced that too much.

You also benefit from not having your mouse speed change depending on how hard you press down: it's a much more consistent choice. It stays put, too, thanks in part to its pretty heavy 1.5 kg weight and rubber base.

The size is pretty ideal, too, although I could see some who use the low end of low sensitivity struggling. It's 7 cm narrower than the fan fave Wallhack Skypad 4, and those few centimetres could make a difference if you are a very low sensitivity player. I have a 180-degree turn that takes about 23–25 cm of mouse movement, and I haven't been frustrated at all over a lack of space. In fact, I've been thankful it's a little narrower than some, as it saves desk space.

For a couple of weeks, I had only positives to sing about this pad, but then I experienced something I thought I'd miraculously managed to escape: the dreaded sticky forearm. It's a known problem with glass pads that if you get a bit too hot, or there are other environmental factors, your arm can start to stick to it and prevent you from moving your mouse around. Which isn't a problem for high sensitivity wrist aimers, of course, but for medium and low sensitivity gamers, it can break the experience.

Putting on a hoodie helps with this, but it's not quite as consistent as having a dry arm gliding across. The solution? Yep, it's to wear *gulp* a gamer sleeve. At least, so I'm told. That's next on my purchase list, and I can't say it's something I want to be shouting from the rooftops. What's next, Gunnar glasses?

But hey, if it works, it works, and it seems like the consensus online is that it does, indeed, work. I don't doubt it does, either, given that just a normal hoodie sleeve is fine to use, albeit less consistently and smoothly.

The only other real issue to consider are the skates on your mouse. If you've got PTFE skates, these will wear down very quickly—you need harder ones, such as UPE feet. Even these will wear down eventually, though, so you should be prepared to buy and replace your mouse skates every now and then.

I'm convinced that for gamers like me, it's worth donning the sleeve and occasionally swapping out the mouse feet, though, given how great the smooth surface is. Not to mention the fact that, unlike a cloth pad, it should last forever, and requires just a cloth wipe to keep clean. Not everyone will find it worth it—in fact, the majority probably won't—but it doesn't have to please everyone, and for those who do think it's worth it, it's a real game-changer.

Its £100 price tag seems about average for a good glass pad, too. It's just a question of how much you care about perfecting your in-game aim. It might be a bit much for casual gaming, but if you're into competitive shooters and have the money to spare, I'd say it's well worth it.