SKYPAD 3.0 ― 782 hours with a glass pad

I. The introduction

In October 2023, I decided to embark on the long-term experiment of using a glass mouse pad, specifically a Skypad 3.0 XL, after a great deal of questioning, apriorism and concern about its use and the negative or positive impact it would have on me.

It's quite important to remember that my profile qualifies as that of a competitive gamer on all types of FPS but mainly tac-FPS - 'Top 5 in Europe on VALORANT - then among the top 10 to 50 each season'

The Skypad 3.0 is a highly regarded glass pad, with a fairly large and active enthusiast community! It's thanks to this active community, made up of many excellent players who use this Skypad, that my interest in glass mousepads in general, and in the Skypad brand in particular, was piqued in the first place.

It's by seeing highlights from some pretty impressive players such as OUTCAST, irrpa and others (honestly, go and see the content on their social networks and their breathtaking levels to understand how after seeing this kind of content, you'd want to experiment with a glass mouse pad, especially with the arrival of the new 4.0s!) that my curiosity and enthusiasm made me succumb to getting a Skypad 3.0 (today I have 7 glass mouse pads...)

II. My first hours, my initiation

When I put this Skypad 3.0 on my desk, the first thing I noticed was its clean, simple, minimalist look. Its grips under the surface and its weight mean that this mouse pad will never move from its initial position. The combination of aesthetics, weight and finish (the rounded edges are so satisfying, the surface is lightly textured in black...) makes this Skypad a premium mouse pad without hesitation.

The first impression is quite unsettling: an extremely fast glide, the fastest I've experienced to date, creating that very low initial friction! Despite all this, when I launched my first warm-up games, I got a sensation that was quite unique in my gameplay. I felt something quite special in a good way, but I didn't yet understand at the time what this sensation was (hype, new sensation?).

From the point of view of going from cloth to glass, the idea of "recording every little movement" is not "recording every little imperfection/shake" because I think that's fundamentally biased. They're not necessarily imperfections, it's just that with the guaranteed minimum friction there is when using a cloth pad and a standard mouse, the minimum force threshold to move the mouse will naturally be a higher value than on a glass pad, meaning that until you use enough force to reach the threshold, there will be no perceptible movements of the crosshair.

With a glass mouse pad, this threshold is lowered and, as a result, the force we can passively apply to our mouse will be noticed because, previously, the friction that increased the threshold prevented our passive or minor force from engaging the cursor, whereas now it does.

For someone starting out with a glass mouse pad, this isn't a problem because they don't know how to handle a mouse comfortably either, do they? It's just a matter of getting used to it.

My first few hours of warm-up were difficult, there was a bad mix between getting excellent and mediocre results in terms of accuracy during my duels. Nevertheless, I didn't give up and continued to use the Skypad on a daily basis for a whole week, in my office tasks as well as in my various gaming sessions, to really implement this new glide and its very low initial friction into my muscle memory.

As I continued to warm up, practice and concentrate a little more on my games, it wasn't long before I was able to understand the Skypad's GREAT potential and intelligently address my own concerns through personal experience.

III. Understanding, consistency and my improvement

The biggest concern with a Skypad is often linked to its fast glide and therefore its lack of 'control', which a cloth mouse pad could fill. This is also a question I've been asked frequently: "Is the Skypad suitable for CS/VALORANT" (in connection with this need for 'control')

My answer is: YES

Why is that? Glass pads have some very special and unique advantages, not least their speed and low friction.

Many people are intimidated by the very low friction (as I also thought when I started out) but, for me, it's a BENEFIT rather than a drawback.

I like to know that if I miss a shot, it's due to my own user error, whereas if I use a cloth mat, I've sometimes felt that the cloth forced me to make excessive flicks or miss micro adjustments because I had to put more force into the mouse movement, causing my reticle to go over a player's head sometimes.

Understanding the advantage of low initial friction and the total control it brings to my movements and, in parallel, my precision, I began more targeted warm-ups on certain scenarios where only practice and consistency would improve my mistakes. So I followed different scenarios belonging to playlists dedicated to VALORANT and regularly did a few warm-up sessions to improve my mistakes!

It was by targeting my weaknesses, linked to the fact that I wasn't used to this kind of glide/speed, that I was able to quickly GREATLY improve my consistency and comfort in game and appreciate this Skypad, to the point of using it overall as one of my main mouse pads over the last 6 months.

IV. Mastery

After easily passing 100 hours of use on this Skypad, I can finally admit it: I feel in control of my mouse pad. Of course, I felt just as comfortable after a week's use, but I'm talking in particular about a mastery where I remain consistent and very precise in all the scenarios I encounter in-game. I'm finally used to this very low initial friction and appreciate the great freedom of being 100% satisfied with my in-game performance.

It's important to understand that to appreciate and master this Skypad, you're going to have to take a step back and accept this slight, ephemeral time getting used to this fast glide and this freedom of glide which, in return, gives you full control over your precision and performance with the sole aim of improving.

The use of an arm sleeve is just as important, to provide you with a coherent and consistent experience when using the Skypad, as without one, your skin could stick to the surface of this mouse pad and thus create a form of inconsistency and annoyance, wearing a sleeve today has become quite common, even in the professional scene, so no doubt you won't mind using one and will even enjoy it! (especially in Winter!)

Today, I've logged almost 800 hours on my Skypad overall (in game sessions), which makes it one of my main mousepads among all those I own. In fact, if I didn't have a hobby of trying out, experimenting with and talking about different mousepads (particularly the cloth ones), this Skypad would be my main mousepad in all my games, and the last one I'd stop at overall, unfortunately, my passion for experimenting with all types of mousepads means that I still use cloth mousepads (which I also greatly appreciate) quite often alongside this Skypad, allowing me to keep an attachment to the use of cloth mousepads just as much as glass ones!

V. The final conclusion

For me, the Skypad experience is a game-changer, a way of discovering a different side to our own performance, our use of the mouse, and our habit of relying on the friction and stopping force of a cloth mouse pad, whereas the Skypad gives us total freedom to control glide, stopping, micro-adjustments and more, 100% thanks to our own ability to use the grip of the mouse in our hand and the force we exert in our movements.

This is undoubtedly its most advantageous point, thanks to its glass material: DURABILITY and CONSISTENCY, as its surface will never (or very rarely) be damaged. A simple splash of water and a soft cloth to clean the surface is enough to restore it to its original state! Unlike cloth pads, where the surface will wear down over time, creating inconsistent gliding in certain areas, it is also sometimes more difficult to clean stains and dust that have accumulated on the surface.

The Skypad is so smooth and even, infinitely durable and incredibly easy to clean with a simple swipe of a soft cloth, I immediately felt that I could track better and make more precise flicks in CS/VALORANT! Where there's no hesitation is also the Skypad's performance on games like Apex, where tracking is sincerely so simple and enjoyable to achieve, again thanks to that very low friction!

Dust can be a problem, if something like a hair gets caught under your mouse, you feel it instantly and you're out of the game, so you can clean your skates or mouse pad pretty quickly and simply.

With all the time I've spent on it, I can only recommend it without hesitation to people who are hesitant, because it's a unique experience that can sincerely change your whole way of playing, in the best possible way. Nevertheless, it's important to understand that the most important thing is to GET USED to it!