Corsair MM1000

I’VE LONG RAILED against ridiculous mouse pads. Being a connoisseur, I like a hard mat that’s durable, smooth, easy to clean, and preferably not aluminum (bad experiences). That’s why the mat I’m using today is over three years old— and still looks brand new. It’s all about that old adage Poppa Storey used to say to me: “Keep it simple, stupid.” And that’s exactly what a mouse mat should be: simple. That doesn’t mean dumb, it means it does what it’s meant to do, in such a manner that it doesn’t need any additional thrills.

That’s not something mainstream peripheral manufacturers seem to be able to grasp. From the first LED-touting RGB monstrosity, I’ve hammered these things into the dirt, reviewing three— from Razer, Corsair, and SteelSeries— and scoring them 3, 4, and 6 respectively.

So, what’s so special about this one? Well, the biggy is the integrated Qi charging pad in the top-right corner. Plop a wireless mouse on it to charge overnight, or a phone mid-gaming session, and you’re on to a winner. Logitech recently did something similar with an entire pad that acts as a charging tray, but the bigger these things are, the less efficient they become, and I’m not convinced I want to keep my hand above a giant electricity-generating magnetic field like that for eight hours a day. Corsair also includes a micro-USB dongle (with adapters for Lightning and USB C), which can charge any device you connect to it wirelessly. Another plus is the fact that RGB is nowhere to be seen. But it’s still a lot of money. $70, www.corsair.com