The Other Pad: Yes, A Mousepad Guide

1. Do We Even Need Mousepads?

Sick of the iPad? Read about the other pad—the mousepad. If you haven’t given your mouse’s surface any thought lately, check out our review of 14 new ones, plus other surfaces.

Once upon a time, mousepads were a requirement. Ball mice, which tracked the computer’s cursor based on the turning of a metallic, rubber-coated ball inside the mouse, needed a surface with enough friction in order for the ball to turn. Ball mice have been obsolete for the last decade, replaced by more accurate laser and optical mice. So why keep mousepads around?

Sentimental value may have more to do with our continued use of mousepads than necessity does, Dayne Wilcox, global product manager for Logitech said. “[People] generally don’t need a mousepad,” Wilcox said. "In fact, some mousepads give a worse experience than a flat surface."

Logitech, as recently as late last fall, introduced its proprietary Darkfield tracking technology, which enables mice to track on any surface, including reflective surfaces like glass. According to the company’s research, “there is no innate need for a mousepad,” Wilcox said.

Indeed, mousepads are a thing of the past, Debbie Uttechet, senior product marketing manager for Microsoft said. Uttechet also believes that Microsoft’s latest tracking hardware, dubbed BlueTrack, is similar to Logitech’s Darkfield technology and boasts identical capabilities. However, Microsoft views mousepads as a stay-at-home product and not geared for mobile computing. “More and more people are ditching the traditional 'office' setting and taking their computers with them everywhere, from the kitchen to the living room to the coffee shop down the street," Uttechet said. "Taking a mousepad everywhere you go isn’t ideal…”

Robert Krakoff, President of Razer, disagreed when asked how important a mousepad is. “[It's] second in importance behind mice because the ability to track a target is so improved on a good surface,” Krakoff said, while referring to playing computer games and not quickly working through spreadsheets. His company sells six different mousepad models, from hard surfaces to mobile cloth pads. Few companies boast such a wide range of available mousepads, but then again, few companies have any interest in the mousepad.

In fact, most companies that offer any selection of mousepads tend to be gaming companies, which also sell their own gaming peripherals, including mice and headsets. Is Krakoff correct, then, in saying that mousepads are the second most important peripheral for gamers? “Some gamers do benefit from using a mousepad,” Wilcox said. “But it isn’t necessary.” Logitech produces several gaming mice, including the G500 and G9x, which we recently reviewed. Neither uses Logitech’s Darkfield technology and Logitech declined to comment on future gaming mice utilizing Darkfield.

Microsoft’s Uttechet offered a similar sentiment. “While a mousepad isn’t necessary for most of our mice, we know that a lot of gamers use them and our mice work great with or without one," Uttechet said. Microsoft’s SideWinder X8 takes advantage of BlueTrack, though reviews point out the mouse’s poor tracking capability over cloth surfaces.

Both Microsoft and Logitech produce their own gaming mice, though where Microsoft believes a mousepad isn’t required for gaming, Logitech understands that gamers are not typical users. “Gamers are a different breed,” Wilcox said, explaining how their needs would never match those of typical users.

And what about 95% of all people who don’t need or want gaming-grade hardware? For them, the mousepad is unnecessary. “Ever since we released BlueTrack,” Uttechet said. “I haven’t needed to [use a mousepad] because I can use a mouse almost anywhere without problems on my bedspread, my couch, even my lap. We think this is where mice are going: towards being as mobile as possible.”

One bonus some mousepads offer are wrist rests, which amount to a bit of material on the mousepad that better supports the wrist for extended computing. Only Razer offers a single mousepad with a wrist rest, while Logitech says it doesn’t offer wrist rests because consumers are too varied in what they want and their needs in this area are too personalized for such a niche product line. Microsoft, alternatively, says its mice are designed so that additional support is not required.

SteelSeries, a competitor to Razer in gaming peripherals, has the largest line of mousepads of any major manufacturer we tested. The company makes 13 models and several iterations of various models. “SteelSeries offers so many options because there is no right or wrong when it comes to personal preference,” Kim Rom, chief marketing officer for SteelSeries, said. “Some players like the feel and glide of a rough surface, others like it smooth.” 

Are mousepads still important? Find out in the following pages, as we test and review many mousepads and surfaces.