We’ve stressed how important a good gaming mouse is for making the most out of your gaming PC, but it’s not going to mean nearly as much if you’re playing all your games while mousing over a tiny mouse pad you’ve owned since the year 2000 or just straight on your desk. It’s just that much worse if you’re using the back of a notebook or a magazine as a mouse pad. While those might work in a pinch, you don’t want to do long term gaming on them. And there’s really no excuse, as a mouse pad can be one of the cheapest gaming accessories you can get, though some add fancy features that come at a premium.A proper gaming mouse pad will let your mouse do that job it was truly meant to do. The gentler surface will put less wear on the feet of your mouse, helping prolong their lifespan. The materials in gaming mouse pads can even improve tracking. And, the bigger space many gaming mouse pads provide will let you work on using large muscles in your mouse movements, eventually developing some muscle memory and improving your accuracy in games. Here are the best you can get.TL; DR These are the Best Gaming Mouse Pads:
1. SteelSeries QCK Medium
Best Budget Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Soft Surface: 136.08 inches-square Size: 12.6″ x 10.8″ x 0.07″
SteelSeries QCK mouse pad is made of cloth, so it’s pretty traditional as far as mousepads go while also being very cheap. For just $10, this is a very effective mouse pad, making it a stellar deal for anyone just getting into PC gaming. The surface is smooth for mice to easily glide over, which is perfect for twitchy games, and the underside of the mat is rubberized, so it’ll never move around on your desk. The rather small SteelSeries logo in the corner is also a nice touch, given some companies propensity for splashing huge logos all over everything.2. Cooler Master MP510
Best Cloth Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Soft Surface: 133.83 inches-square Size: 12.59″ x 10.63″ x 0.11″
The SteelSeries QCK is a great, cheap mouse pad and all, but if you want the best cloth mouse pad, you should be looking at the Cooler Master MP510. Instead of being just a square piece of fabric, the Cooler Master MP510 is a genuine pad that feels plush, but isnt thick enough to obstruct the rest of your PC gaming desk setup. Its also woven from cordura fabric the same material youll find in water-resistant bags and jackets so spilled drinks wont seep into the mouse pad and permanently leave a stain.3. Logitech G440
Best Hard Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Hard Surface: 147.55 inches-square Size: 13.39″ x 11.02″ x 0.12″
Gamers who prefer a lower-profile, smoother mouse pad should invest in a hard mouse pad and theres nothing better than the Logitech G440. This plastic mat offers users a seamless, minimally tactile surface thats all about speed, which makes it perfect for real-time strategy and arena battle games that demand you move your cursor from one side of the screen to the other at a moments notice.4. Artisan Ninja FX Shidenkai
Best High-End Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Soft Surface: 208.4 inches-square Size: 16.54″ x 12.6″ x 0.16″
Can’t choose between a soft or hard mouse pad? No worries, the Artisan Ninja FX Shidenkai gives you the best of both worldsthough it comes at a premium. This nearly $70 mouse pad is a soft pad embedded with tiny glass beads. This unique composition allows the Ninja FX Shidenkai to be both squishy like a sponge and incredibly slick at the same time. You can take full advantage of this mouse pad’s interesting blend of characteristics by gliding the mouse across this surface and then applying pressure to come to a dead stop.5. Roccat Alumic
Best Metal Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Hard Surface: 139.23 inches-square Size: 13″ x 10.71″ x 0.11″
Ive just talked about hard mousepads, but the Roccat Alumic is an extra hard mouse pad made of aluminum. Metal mouse pads might not make much sense at first, but they give you a truly flat play surface, whereas cloth and even some hard mousepads might conform to defects in your desk. The Roccat Alumic also features two different textured sides with a super smooth surface for fast, sweeping movement and a more granular side for slower, precise adjustments.6. Razer Sphex V2
Best Flat Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Hard Surface: 140 inches-square Size: 14″ x 10″ x 0.02″
If youre looking for something truly unobtrusive (and unique), look no further than the Razer Sphex V2. Instead of just being a mouse pad that rests on your desk, it’s basically a thin plastic sheet that sticks to your desk. You actually adhere it to your play space, so it becomes a part of your desks surface. The adhesive is reusable too, so you can move the Sphex V2 around whenever you want. Meanwhile, the ultra-thin polycarbonate surface offers a smooth finish for speedy mouse movements. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s also pretty unique.7. Asus ROG Scabbard
Best Desk Pad Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Soft Surface: 555.78 inches-square Size: 35.4″ x 15.7″ x 0.08″
Sometimes a simple pad for your mouse just isnt enough. You want a mouse pad that can sit under your mouse, your keyboard, and the space in-between too. The Asus ROG Scabbard is essentially a yoga mat for PC gaming thats designed to cover your whole desk and it lets you move your mouse wherever the heck you want. At the same time, having a soft pad cover most of your desk makes it look pretty swanky and comfortable. The surface has a smooth finish to promote fast mouse gliding and theres a non-slip surface underneath, so it’ll never move around on your desk. It also features Cordura Lite fabric similar to the Cooler Master MP510 so you can worry less about spills and stains.8. Razer Firefly V2
Best RGB Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Hard Surface: 151.65 inches-square Size: 10.84″ x 13.99″ x 0.14″
With RGB lighting emanating from your gaming PC, keyboard, mouse, and everything else, you might as well complete your set with a light-up mouse pad like the Razer Firefly V2. It’s our top pick for a light-up mouse pad due to its slim profile and 19-lighting zones. Compared to Razer’s first Firefly mouse pad, it offers four more lighting zones and brighter LEDs to boot.It offers a hard surface with great accuracy for quick swipes and precise smaller movements. And while youll have to add another thing to plug into your PC, it doubles as a mouse bungee to keep your wired gaming mouse’s cord out of the way.
9. Corsair MM1000
Best Wireless Charging Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Hard Surface: 141.1 inches-square Size: 13.78″ x 10.24″ x 0.24″
There’s a very real possibility you have a phone on your desk, or at least nearby, while you work. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just plop it down and let it charge without messing with a charging cable? The MM1000 mouse pad from Corsair has your back. It features a Qi wireless charging pad built right in, and it’s located at the top corner of this somewhat large mouse pad, so you don’t have to worry about bumping into it. It also comes with a bunch of USB and Lighting adapters, so you can charge anything wirelessly, as if by magic.10. SteelSeries QCK Edge Large
Best Large Mouse Pad
Surface Type: Soft Surface: 279.1 inches-square Size: 17.72″ x 15.75″ x 0.08″
You might not need to cover your whole desk with a mouse pad, but there’s plenty of reason to go big. The QCK Edge from SteelSeries is an excellent option when it comes to plus-size mouse pads, as it gives an extra spacious area to help let you train your flick shots and rely on larger arm movements to refine your aim. It’s not enough to just be big, though. The QCK Edge, as the name would suggest, goes a bit further by stitching up the edges, preventing the fraying and separation of layers we’ve seen on cheaper mouse pads. The rubberized bottom also helps keep the mouse pad in place. Of course, this being a SteelSeries product, the QCK Edge is focused on delivering perfect mouse tracking. To that end, the soft cloth surface is made with a high thread count to ensure gaming mice register every little movement.What to Look for in a Gaming Mouse Pad
Below I’ve broken down the various surface types most gaming mouse pads feature as well as some of the materials theyre usually made of.Shopping for the best gaming mouse pad might seem as simple as finding one that looks good to you and will fit in with your gaming setup, but theres more to these mouse pads than you would think. For starters, youll usually find that mouse pads will have either a smooth or rough surface, and these different types of textures cater to certain styles of play.
Youll find that most mouse pads made of cloth are a bit resistant and make it harder to quickly whip your mouse around. The main reason youd want to slow down and limit your mouse movements is for better control in shooter-style games or other tasks that requires precision. Outside of mouse pads made of fabric, you can also get the same experience from a hard mousepad with a grainy or coarse texture.
On the flip side, most hard mousepads are designed to have a slick surface that makes it feel like your mouse is gliding on ice. The idea behind these low-tack surfaces is to make it easier for gamers to move their cursor from one side of the screen to the other as quickly and easily as possible, which comes in handy for real-time strategy games. All hard mousepads arent necessarily restricted to just having a slick surface either. Some manufacturers will also glue on a sheet of fabric or speckle the surface so it’s grainy like sand to give users play space better suited for control.
As for what materials mousepads are made of, its pretty straight forward. Cloth mousepads are made of…well, cloth. Hard mouse pads, for the most part, are made of plastic, and usually of the polyethylene variety. Some manufacturers also make mouse pads out of metal, which helps make them extra sturdy and unquestionably flat. Alternatively, you might find other wilder options like tempered glass and acrylic.
And thats everything you need to know about finding the best mouse pad. Ultimately, getting any of these mouse pads is better than not having one at all, but think hard about the types of games you want to play before you make your final decision.
Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspamMark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
