Youjo Senki custom glass mouse pad
Not too long ago some user posted a screencap for Season 2 episode 1 (sorry forgot who it was, or i'd give credit). So i thought oo that would be great for a mouse pad.
So i went ahead with that, and this review is to explain how that turned out. Imagine no longer what that would look like.
Ty Redragonshop for providing the custom glass mouse pad for review. The opinions are my own.
Desk setup. Laid it on a crazy horse leather pad.
Specs
>Personalized Image Design
11.8×11.8 Inch Size
Ultra-Smooth Glass Surface
Non-Slip Stable Base
Scratch-Resistant
Durability
Easy to Clean
Other important Notes:
>Please allow approximately 2 weeks or more for production and delivery.
Please upload a high-resolution vertical image with a minimum resolution of
720×1440 pixels for the best print quality and perfect fit.
Also in regards to the important notes, to add onto that, it's important that you provide a HQ image based on the minimum resolution they recommend. The end result highly depends on providing the best quality pic as possible.
I screencap the latest You Senki Season 2 (episode 1?), then use AI to upscale and enhance the image quality.
Because this is custom made, expect the wait time of 2 weeks roughly.
Build Quality
Just to elaborate, this is tempered glass and micro etched.
Looking closely i see some micro textures, but yet, when i touch it, it's very smooth.
Holding it on the side, you can see it's thickness. I feels that the thickness is fine. It's not too chunky, but neither is it too thin either. Feels about right.
While this glass mouse pad feels incredibly solid, keep in mind that it is still glass albeit tempered, so you'll want to be careful not to drop it. Unlike cheap, hard plastic mouse pads that can survive a fall onto the floor completely fine, this premium surface is fragile and requires real care. Make sure to handle it with caution to keep it in perfect condition.
The corners are well rounded, not sharp at all. Very smooth.
Also if you are wondering, that's the quote from Youjo Senki, laser etched onto leather.
I provided a sharp HQ image to use for the graphic, the end result came out glass tinted. I'm guessing it looks like that because of the micro etching in addition to the tempered glass layer.
But that said, you would need to look very close to the mouse pad to get that "oo maybe it's not as sharp an image as it should be".
In practice? When i'm sitting at my desk, i'm looking at it angled from a healthy distance from it, and it looks fine to me. Maybe others will have a different opinion, i'm just sharing my own.
The glass mousepad stays firmly in place using the rubber silicon feet i placed underneath the mouse pad. I placed on my crazy horse leather desk pad, it doesn't move when trying to move it. So don't worry about that.
Maintenance
Give it a good wipe using a micro fiber cloth should suffice. It's quite easy to clean.
The specs say it's scratch proof, probably meaning it will work fine with the skates.
Performance
I've compared it to my leather pad and i can tell there is a difference in glide. the leather wasn't as smooth as the glass. That said, i'm not saying my leather pad is unusable as a mouse pad (it is), i'm merely stating the fact based on my experience testing between them, there is a noticeable difference.
I am using a Royal Kludge RK MG5 wireless gaming mouse which is powered by the latest PixArt PAW3950 optical sensor which is a top flagship sensor which supports glass tracking. So yes, this is the correct mouse with the right sensor to be using on a glass mouse pad.
I'm testing initially with the original RK MG5 skates, they do work, but eventually they will wear out on a glass mouse pad. So it's recommended to replace them with skates designed for glass mouse pads.
I bought some West Lab Dots Universal Mouse Skates, specifically, the Orange (PTFE) which has a profile for being "Quick and fast speed".
Doing my research, this is what another veteran recommended after having tried all sorts of skates, so that's why i went with these.
PTFE skates on a glass mouse pad will wear over time. It's recommended to replace every few months, once you notice that the mouse isn't as smooth, which is probably due to worn out skates.
If you commit to a glass mouse pad, just think of it like paying for a subscription service basically. The price for the skates aren't muich, and it's only every few months, for me, it's not a big deal, but i can't speak for others.
>What Does PTFE Mean?
PTFE stands for Polytetrafluoroethylene, which is the chemical name for the low-friction material famously branded as Teflon.
If you want something that doesn't wear out as fast as PTFE, then there is UHMWPE.
>UHMWPE stands for Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene. It is an
incredibly tough, dense plastic used to make high-performance
alternative mouse skates.
But the reason why i did not pick UHMWPE, is because of the muddy profile.
I got a glass mouse pad to chase that smooth fast glide, so getting a muddy feel, feels counter productive.
So yes, i am willing to accept PTFE will burn through faster and need to be replaced, and i am ok with that.
This is my RK MG5 mouse settings for the glass mouse pad
Even when not using glass mode, it still worked. But since i have a glass mode... why not. I suspect however, that the glass mode was primarily for the older glass moude pads. But these newer ones like the Redragon had added micro etching, so it works because the gaming mouse has a frame of reference for tracking.
This is a demo showing how the RK MG5 mouse smoothly glides on the glass mouse pad using the orange dot skates i just installed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bubrcB-ZZg8
As i was testing it, the skates felt like they glided better after a few hours of testing. I guess you need to wear them in?
Use cloth hand sleeves or not for glass mouse pad?
I did try without and it worked, but if you move your hand a lot and it touches the glass, i would say get the hand sleeves. This is what i used. No armband needed, it cuts off at your elbow which is sufficient. The only reason you would need the armband variant is if you were driving outdoors.
I won on my first test using the glass mousepad. I had not installed the skates yet. Nor did i use the cloth wear for my hand either. I wasn't even paying attention or being mindful of the glasss mouse pad, i simply played normally while focused on the game, that is an important point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsWV76Iqdpc
Demo using the dot skates (designed for glass mouse pad) and wearing cloth hand wear to prevent friction against the glass.
Ranked placed #4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC1gjV-0-64
Wildcards won
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztTI2xVDufE
Conclusion
So who is this for? If you want a nice aesthetic piece on your desk, or you are a gamer chasing whatever edge you can get, and you want that smooth glide that no other surface does except a glass mouse pad, and, you are willing to replace the skates every few months when you notice they are starting not to glide as smoothly. In addition, you need to be able to patiently wait the 2 weeks for the order, and, you need to be able to responsibly provide the image graphic in high resolution to achieve a good result.
If you meet those requirements, then i can definitely recommend this Redragon custom mouse pad to you.
However, if you can't wait, and you are too lazy to come up with the image graphic, then i would suggest Redragon's other glass mouse pad, the Drake Oath series, for which you can pick from multiple choices of characters for your preference.
