so Artisan is of course the number one brand for boutique level mousepads and Shidenkai was their most high end mousepad that had cloth with glass beads embedded into it …
a year ago they discontinued it due to durability issues …
but now it’s coming back with some changes that will hopefully make it more durable …
they said it will become available in about 2 months:
after the Razer Acari ( which i use ) and the Polaris Superglide, this Shidenkai would be the next mousepad to check out …
All three of these mousepads use something like glass beads except in the Acari the beads are embedded into the plastic and may not be glass ( Razer doesn’t say what they are, just that there are beads inside the surface of the pad that give it a characteristic texture ) …
in the Superglide it’s a solid slab of glass with surface textured to act like beads …
and in the Shidenkai it’s actual glass beads embedded into the fabric of the mousepad …
to my knowledge these are three different technologies each representing a pinnacle of performance with its own unique feeling and set of tradeoffs …
out of the 3 my Razer Acari is least well liked by the community, but i love it …
and the Artisan pads are the most well liked but they’re cloth and i hate cloth pads …
while the Superglide for me would require a new desk and a sleeve to use it …
choose your poison …