Long-Term Review of the Obsidian Dots

Durability

The biggest question people have when it comes to whether it is worth purchasing these hardened PTFE dots is if they hold up over time on a glass mousepad. Glass mouse pads are notorious for eating PTFE skates quickly and finding a PTFE compound that can take more abuse would be a huge money saver for a lot of gamers.

In the 2 months of abuse the Obsidian skates have held up quite well compared to the other aftermarket PTFE skates I have tried (Corepad Air, basic Corepad, Gulong dots, etc). When I got the Obsidian dots I also purchased the Jade dots which are technically not supposed to be used on glass but who cares?

I have put about triple the amount of time on the Obsidian dots compared to the Jades but the wear level is about the same on both types of PTFE skates. The Obsidian also held up significantly longer (still in use) compared to OEM skates, and other aftermarket skates I have tried.

Considering that soft PTFE skates like the Corepads (which are nice on cloth or hybrid pads) died in a week, I would say 2 months of usage and counting is a solid pass on the durability test.

Speed

The Obsidian dots are also preferred over other PTFE skates because they offer a bit more control on glass surfaces. The dots do feel a bit slower on my glass pads and the speed of the glide stayed consistent over the 2 months of usage.

In theory, the PTFE would wear down because of the scratches on the top layer and the skates would feel slower, but I can’t identify a huge change in speed after 2 months. I have eliminated the possibility that I have gotten gradually used to the speed by using my old Obsidian skates vs. new Obsidian skates back to back. The Obsidian dots retain their quick but controlled speed and feel making them consistent after quite a bit of abuse.

Normal PTFE skates I would usually polish the moment I felt them slowing down, but I have not felt such a need yet for the Obsidian dots.

Smoothness

One critical characteristic of PTFE dots on glass surfaces is that they lose their smooth glide in a matter of a couple of gaming sessions making them feel scratchy. This is simply because of dirt and other particles being stuck in the top layer of the PTFE skate, a quick polish bringing them back to a smooth glide.

The biggest thing I was interested in when testing the Obsidian dots over a long period of time was how long these would stay smooth without me polishing them since I hate the scratchy feeling of PTFE skates on glass.

The Obsidian dots held up remarkably well compared to the Jade dots I have put on my other HSK Pro 4K, keeping their smoothness for about 2 weeks (Jades took about a week) before slowly becoming more audible on glass surfaces indicating more scratch. At this point, I would usually polish the skates but I decided to keep them as is and have noticed a simple cycle with the Obsidians.

If I managed to keep the glass pads absolutely clean – hard to do when you live in a house at floor level with dust and cats covering the pads all the time – the red dots would practically polish themselves back into shape. If they did catch some dust they became audible again.

In short, the Obsidians do retain their smoothness for longer than normal PTFE but eventually do become a bit scratchy (mostly an auditory thing since the skate itself is gliding fine). This is however my experience under my circumstances so I assume if you have a pristine environment for your glass pads with no dust the smoothness could be extended indefinitely.

TL;DR

After 2 months of abuse here is what I have found about the Obsidian/control/red skates:

• Better durability than normal PTFE
• Speed stays mostly unaffected
• Stays smooth longer than normal PTFE but will eventually need maintenance (unless pristine conditions with 0 dust – this is an assumption since I cannot test it)

In short, the Obsidian dots/skates are a good investment for glass mousepad enjoyers since they survive for longer meaning you can spend less money on changing skates.