Artisan accessories have been in the gaming business for far too long. Currently, they’re known as one of the best brands for eSports gear.
And their best gaming product? Gaming mousepads.
If you’re a gamer yourself, you will know the importance a mousepad holds to an enhanced gaming experience and capability.
If you’re not, you may feel like professional mousepads shouldn’t be a thing, right? All they are are just mats that you glide a mouse on. Wrong.
Mousepads are as important as rubber is to a table tennis player, the pitch is to a cricketer, or a table is to a snooker player.
And to achieve proficiency, these mousepads need to be made in a perfect manner, with perfect thickness, grip, and comfort- which is exactly what Artisan excels at.
If you were skeptical about going for an Artisan mousepad, I’m sure you’re now intrigued to learn more. So let’s head right into our guide on buying an Artisan Mousepad for the first time.
Here I will try my best to cover every ground and query related to buying Artisan Mousepads.
Table of Contents
- Where Can I Buy An Artisan Mousepad From?
- How To Choose An Artisan Mousepad
- Bottom Line:
Where Can I Buy An Artisan Mousepad From?
There are two stores I can recommend for buying Artisan mousepads: Artisan’s own website and Amazon.
Artisan’s own website is the most recommended option.
Here, you can find all the variety of products that they offer and accurate descriptions of the products.
Amazon Vs. Artisan’s Store- Where To Buy From?
There are two reasons why Amazon may be a better option for you.
Firstly, Artisan’s website is Japanese… and kinda broken.
Like on Chrome browsers, for some reason the website’s elements don’t load properly. I had to switch to Internet Explorer just to get the website to work.
Plus, much of the content there is in Japanese, as it is a Japanese brand.
I tried to use a Google Translate extension hoping it could help me but the page was too broken to process it.
Second reason: Their stock availability.
There may be times that your preferred mousepad is out of stock on their website.
These are the two reasons why you may find it helpful in some cases to buy artisan mousepads from Amazon instead.
Amazon is a trusted retail store and most people in the US are comfortable using it. It features a large variety of Artisan mousepad retailers and good return policies that can help you gain trust over it and choose it over the official Artisan store.
In summary, try the Artisan website first. If that doesn’t fulfil your needs, go for Amazon. Both will have a good variety of Artisan Mousepads.
How To Choose An Artisan Mousepad
Once you do enter a store to buy an artisan mousepad, you will face a wide variety of mousepads they offer.
Now comes the time when you will have to browse and select the perfect artisan mousepad designed for you.
To clear things up for you, Artisan gives you three decisions to make.
The product, the size, and the thickness.
Artisan mousepads offer different colour options for each mousepad as well. However, what they all share in looks is a simple and subtle design. Artisan mousepads really always go for minimalism in aesthetics.
With that, artisan does offer you to print a logo of your choice on the mousepad for free.
Let’s go through each decision one by one to help you choose the right artisan mousepad for extreme gaming!
What Sizes Do Artisan Mousepads Come In?
Artisan Mousepads come in 4 sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large.
Here are their measurements:
| S | 24×21 cm |
| M | 31×24 cm |
| L | 42×33 cm |
| XL | 49×42 cm |
Which Size Artisan Mousepad Should I Buy?
It is a universal belief in gamers that the bigger the mousepad is, the better.
This is because when gaming, you need a big free space for your mouse to travel around.
So either go for Large or XL.
XL can be a bit too much for players and some find it harder to manage space for an XL mousepad with their keyboard on the same desk. If that’s a reason for you, go for Large.
Else, XL would be the best.
What Thicknesses Do Artisan Mousepads Come In?
Artisan mousepads come in 3 different thicknesses: Extra Soft, Soft, and Mid.
Here are their measurements:
| XSoft | 4 mm |
| Soft | 3.5 mm |
| Mid | 3 mm |
Which Thickness/Hardness Is The Best In Artisan Mousepads?
As shown above, Artisan mousepads offer 3 different thicknesses to choose from.
Now, for a beginner, it may be hard for you to decide which thickness is preferable for you.
I’ll try to give you a general idea of what difference there is between Artisan mousepad thicknesses.
XSoft is the hardest thickness in artisan mousepads. This hardness allows for a rigid cushion for your wrist when holding your mouse, ultimately allowing better stopping power. This means, if you want better stability and the games you play require crucial stops to be made under a fraction of a second, XSoft would be the thickness for you.
Mid is the softest thickness in artisan mousepads. Softer thickness means there is a lighter cushion for your wrist which compromises stopping power and stability, however, it allows more freedom when swiping the mouse across the mousepad. This helps players get more speed on the mouse but at the cost of less control.
Soft thickness is the middle point of the hardnesses artisan mousepads come in. These were launched in an attempt to offer players a middle ground between speed and stability. However, reviews suggest that this thickness didn’t really help beginners achieve that.
In my opinion, if you’re a beginner, go for the XSoft hardness. Better control and stability can significantly improve your gaming ability. Speed can still be adjusted using sensitivity in the in-game options so if you have a problem with that, you can find a way to make it work for you.
However, if you like going 360 with your characters and need to be the fastest player in your team to catch opponents off guard, maybe Mid would be preferable for you.
Which Artisan Mousepad Should I Buy?
Now that you understand which size and thickness to go for, let’s head into which mousepad would suit your gaming style the best.
To choose the best artisan mousepad, you will need to have a general idea about the products that they sell and the distinguishing features between them.
Let’s first decide between the two series of mousepads that artisan sells.
Classic vs. FX Artisan Mousepad Series: Which Is Better?
To start with, Artisan mousepads have two series they sell: Classic and FX.
Classic series is the older version of mousepads Artisan used to sell. FX is the newer series.
Basically, the only difference between Classic and FX is the edges of the mousepads.
Classic has non-stitched edges while the FX series has stitched edges.
Artisan Mousepads- Zero vs. Hayate vs. Hien vs. Raiden vs. Shidenkai
Now we’ll have a look at each Artisan mousepad one by one. At the end of the page, you will find a table showing the main attributes and differences between each mousepad.
1. Artisan Zero
Artisan Zero is the most popular mousepad of Artisan.
The main selling point? Complete control over aim.
Artisan Zero is the slowest mousepad in their series. This offers the best control in-game for players at the cost of speed.
In comparison, it is essential the GS-R of Zowie or QCK of the Steelseries- but added with the premium precise Japanese craftsmanship.
If you prefer control and stability over anything, just like many pros, go for Artisan Zero.
2. Hayate Kou
Hayate Kou is a very buttery smooth mousepad in the series and the fabric is arguably the best in any mousepad.
However, it has very mixed reviews. Many gamers feel that the fabric is inconsistent.
The problem is, the X-axis of the mousepad is slow while the Y-axis is unusually very fast.
This means moving left to right is controlled but up and down gets faster.
This feeling is very hard to get used to. but, it is still the cup of tea for many people out there.
For a beginner, I wouldn’t recommend this to you.
3. Hayate Otsu
Hayate Otsu is the most awesome mousepad in the series!
It allows for perfect speed, more than Zero but less than Hien.
The fabric allows for smooth gliding of the mouse all around making it my best recommendation for a mousepad!
What Artisan did here was listening to the reviews. Zero was criticized for being too slow while Hien was criticized for being too fast. Otsu is the middle ground in between them and I think they did great trying to achieve that.
Would recommend 100%!
4. Hien
Hien is the second most popular Artisan Mousepad.
The selling point: An almost perfect equilibrium between speed and control.
This is the most balanced mousepad there is. Good speed and good control.
However, the fabric? Not so good.
Hien is heavily criticized for having a rough fabric. This actually sometimes causes a wrist burn when moving the mouse around too much.
So if you do go for Hien, I would suggest Mid thickness for a better cushion for your wrist.
5. Raiden
Raiden is super fast. Essentially, a faster Hien with great texture.
Forget compromising control over speed, Raiden’s fabric somehow allows for good control at great speeds.
This helps many players benefit from the speed catching opponents off guard while also being able to aim for the bullseye headshot!
Would recommend 100% if you like high-speed mousepads.
6. Shidenkai
When you use Shidenkai, you forget Raiden.
Shidenkai is the fastest mousepad there is that Artisan offers.
Extremely fast, but also extremely delicate and expensive.
Shidenkai has that premium mousepad feel where the upper layer of the mousepad is actually extremely thin coated glass.
This can be fancied by many players but may not be the favourite for others as the glassy feeling on the wrist is hard to get used to coming from fabric.
Gliding is super smooth on Raiden, however, there are two catches.
First, people do review parts of the glass to deteriorate when used too much, like the rugged touchpads of old laptops, which makes the mousepad inconsistent later on.
Secondly, with a glass layer, it is less durable. Unlike other mousepads, you can’t just burrito roll this mousepad and travel with it.
| Zero | Slowest – The best control |
| Hayate Kou | Good fabric – Inconsistent Y and Z axis |
| Hayate Otsu | Faster than Zero – Slower than Hien – Good control and speed |
| Hien | Most balanced – Rough Fabric |
| Raiden | Extremely fast but also good control |
| Shidenkai | Glass coat – Fastest – Not as durable |
Bottom Line:
And that’s all the Artisan Mousepads summed up.
Raiden and Otsu would be my recommendations. These are my personal favorites as well. If I need speed, I switch to Raiden else Otsu is the default mousepad in my set-up.
Let me know your experiences on Artisan mousepads in the comments below!