Titus Hilton
I ordered both the triangle and snowflake style, and both are a very neutral light grey with darker reflective highlights rather than the yellowish and bluish tinted images shown here. I already have a SteelSeries 4HD pad, and the first thing I noticed about these is that the hard surface is much thinner (around 4x) with the 3M pads than it is on the SteelSeries. The overall thickness is greater, but its mostly the rubber. Unfortunately, this thicker rubber doesnt give the pad a greater ability to ignore small imperfections in the surface under it. Anything thicker than a business card placed under the pad will cause a noticeable bump in the mousing surface. The thicker SteelSeries pad will just tilt slightly if the surface is uneven, which is less problematic since it at least stays consistent. Pressure from my wrist rest also caused the pad to arch slightly, which is probably more likely to happen to the average user than small objects or dirt getting under the pad. The surface finish is definitely an extremely good one for optical and laser mouse sensors. It felt smooth and predictable, and while I dont use a wireless mouse, I did notice that the mice I tested with (Tt eSPORTS Ventus Z and Roccat Kone Pure Military) could track the surface from further away than my 4HD. Im not sure how much of this comes down to color, since mice do seem to prefer light surfaces to dark ones. Ultimately, Im sticking with the pad I have despite it being much larger than I need because it doesnt warp when hit by a small breeze. The 3M pads have already found good homes with friends who didnt have any sort of pad at all. If 3M used 2-3x more plastic and less rubber, I might have been tempted to keep one.