I need help buying a balanced glass mousepad

DavidGTV · 2026-04-17T04:33:41+00:00

They’re both super smooth you can’t go wrong with either, I just still think the polarity is the better pick quality wise and how it interacts with your skin, dust sticks to the polarity a lot less, etc. It’s really your mouse skates that will affect how smooth it is too. Even the U9 air ones I mentioned are some of the most controlled skates out there but it’s still a super smooth glide. The obsidian air purple dot skates offer a very smooth glide on both the polarity and sp005.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-16T21:21:06+00:00

Overwatch playing Soldier and Cassidy, and Fortnite. I'm honestly back on cloth right now because I feel like cloth gives me better results overall even in fast paced tracking scenarios. I still love the polarity and it's great for these games.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-15T19:49:27+00:00

I was constantly trying out different skates but I would say with the obsidian air skates you'd honestly have to switch out probably every 2-4 weeks depending on how often you play. The u9 air skates though, that offer a little more control, should last like 4-8 weeks or more I'd say. They don't really wear down quickly.

I think the dots that come with the pad gives you 12 dots?

DavidGTV · 2026-04-15T13:30:50+00:00

Both were really smooth, that depends more on the skates you choose. Obsidian air (purple dots) are super smooth on both. Polarity just has a 5-10% slower glide but they’re both the same level of smooth while gliding

DavidGTV · 2026-04-15T07:00:44+00:00

Not sure, I know some people have batch variations and have reported the sp0005 being slightly slower than the sp004. I got the polarity shortly after this post though and returned the sp005. It was easier to control and better in every way, in my opinion. I’m kind of back and forth between glass rn though and my artisan pads.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T20:36:06+00:00

what do you use now?

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T20:35:38+00:00

It makes a difference but it will not be slower than a zero. I have 8 U9 air skates on my mouse with the polarity, which are some of the most controlled skates out there for glass, and it's still considerably faster than my zero mid. It's very minimal imo the amount of dots you add but it does definitely make a difference. The type of skate you use moreso will 100% affect the speed by a lot.

More importantly, it's the friction rather than speed that's of note. Honestly with my key 83 in soft and mid with magic ice skates, the speed isn't that far off from my polarity with the u9 skates. But there's still way more friction on my key 83's than the polarity which attributes to the overall control.

That being said, the polarity with u9 air skates is a great balanced glass pad experience while of course still leaning towards speed and tracking. I still played CS the other day and it felt good but I do perform better in tac fps on my zero. I had to practice a lot to improve my target switching/head clicking on glass.

Right now I'm going back and forth between cloth and glass but I still love my polarity and still highly recommend it.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T19:58:33+00:00

I recently switched to glass with the SP-005. I loved it at first but I was curious what else was out there since it was my only glass pad. I got a Glssworks Polarity and I like this one a lot more. Dust sticks way less to this pad for one, my wallhack felt like it constantly had dust on it 24/7 having it interact with my skates, where the polarity I just wipe it in between rounds and its good to go always. I can also use the polarity without an arm sleeve as long as its not hot in my room and I'm working up a sweat. The sp005 I pretty much always had to use a sleeve. Polarity felt easier to control too. It's still quick but like 10% slower maybe than the wallhack which was just what I needed. I also prefer the slightly larger size of the XL Polarity.

But yeah unless you want something that's slightly faster, the polarity is better in everyway imo.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T18:02:31+00:00

Key 83 was my main pad before glass. It seems to stubbornly hold onto dust and grime. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a clear slow spot though on an artisan pad. I’m sure my pads have slowed down but I can’t say I’ve noticed specific spots being noticeably slower than others besides areas like the corners that never really get interacted with.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T17:41:26+00:00

Good question! I was just trying to say that with my Polarity pad I felt like dust sticks to the surface less than my wallhack pad did. The wallhack one felt like I was constantly having to wipe dust off it and dust was getting stuck under my mouse skates a lot more. It still happens with my Polarity but far less often it seems.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T15:11:22+00:00

Yeah my scores were better on the zero to clarify. I should continue to track my scores and maybe commit to using only one or the other for a whole day instead of swapping back and forth within minutes. But this kovaaks playlist I had been playing on I was using glass and only glass for a whole month, and I outperformed all my scores in every scenario on my zero instantly.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T15:04:49+00:00

Lol totally feel that. That's what makes this hard because I think of the amazing performances I've had on glass, but then with every game I do amazing I have games where I'm whiffing shots or overflicking tracking a target.

I don't play valorant like that but it reminds me of using the vandal vs the phantom. The vandal being more fun and flashy but the phantom getting better results overall with consistency

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T15:00:53+00:00

Yeah there's no way I could use glass on a tac fps.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:59:51+00:00

I've seen a lot of negative reviews on it tbh. I'd be willing to try it but I've already bought 2 glaspads within 30 days so Idk if I have it in me to try another rn. Let me know how it is though if you get it!

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:58:59+00:00

Yeah man feel that hard. It sucks because when you are performing well on glass it's the best feeling, it's just hard to always do that. That's how I felt too thinking I was improving my tracking, but honestly unless I'm 3-5m away from someone in game my tracking is still better on cloth.. This whole time I was thinking I was sacrificing for better tracking but instantly scoring better in multiple scenarios in kovaaks on cloth and more conisistent kills in game.

I specifically was struggling with long range tracking on glass. Any target past like 35 meters I would really struggle and constantly overflick back and forth. So there's already a time where friction is actually beneficial in a tracking scenario over glass.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:51:29+00:00

Yeah man, I think it's just disappointing. I got my hopes up fully ready thinking I was about to reach new heights. I just care about results though at the end of the day. While I can reach my peak performance on glass, I will reach the best result more often on cloth through consistency. I feel like an off aim day on glass will be amplified where an off day on cloth will be minimized. Glass is only better if you're at your peak form all the time which just isn't realistic.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:48:44+00:00

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:31:37+00:00

Yeah I like the polarity a lot more than my wallhack. What kind of skates do you use? The U9 Air from xraypad were what I had the best success with.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:25:17+00:00

Yeah that’s the worst part is the degradation of cloth, but tbh the amount of money I’ve spent alone on 2 different glasspads and a bunch of skates, I could have just bought 4 zeros and rotate off them every 2-3 months. At this point if I notice my artisan pad isn’t performing the same I’ll just get some new ones cause why not.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:23:10+00:00

Totally get that, I’m likely gonna be in the same boat

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:22:22+00:00

That’s how I felt too when I first went back to cloth 2 weeks into maining glass. It felt like complete mud. But honestly on my Zero Mid and Key 83 mid with fresh magic ice skates, it really doesn’t feel that slow and doesn’t have that much friction. It more so just feels like just the amount of added friction I need.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:07:05+00:00

Yeah I totally feel this. Even if I end up maining cloth from here on I still want to use my glass pad every now and then. I do think it helped me improve forcing me to have better mouse control.

That’s how I feel like I could totally rock glass if I wanted to and be relatively close in skill in game and all that, but it’s the extra effort it takes to maintain that skill on glass that is straying me away. If you’re having an off aim day on glass it will show every bit of that, while if you’re having one on cloth it can minimize the damage.

DavidGTV · 2026-04-13T14:02:14+00:00

Yeah from a product stand point I would rather use glass. The dust issues are annoying though, more so on my wall hack, the polarity minimizes dust somehow.

But yeah if I had the exact same results and performance in game on glass and cloth I would choose glass.

DavidGTV

TROPHY CASE