What to Buy > Computer Components The Best Desk Mats of 2024 The Journey Alti is the cream of the crop here for surface quality, versatility, and extra tech features By Jason Schneider Jason Schneider Writer Northeastern University Jason has been writing for tech and media companies for nearly ten years. He reviews audio products, including speakers and headphones for Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on July 31, 2024 Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. In This Article View All In This Article Our Top Picks Reviews How We Tested What to Look For Desk mats or extended mouse pads provide a comfortable space to use your mouse, rest your wrists, and even set down more delicate belongings like portable electronics. I found a few desk mats that provide cable management and some with powered charging functionality. These are my favorites. Our Top Picks Journey Alti at Staples $133 Jump to Review Best for Small Spaces: Orbitkey Desk Mat Slim at Amazon $80 Jump to Review Grovemade Matte Desk Pad at Grovemade.com Jump to Review Journey Alti PHOTO: Lifewire / Jason Schneider $133 at Staples View on Journeyofficial.com TL;DR: The Journey Alti—with its dual wireless chargers and dual surfaces—offers just about all the bells and whistles you’d want in a desk mat. Why We Recommend This In some ways, a desk mat is just a piece of high-quality fabric to lay on your desk to make it soft and easier to use with your mouse. But it can be so much more. The Journey Alti earns my top spot on this list because of its quality, sure, but also its full-featured functionality. This leather-style desk mat (made of vegan leather) has a dual-layer design, allowing you to flip it over and use the bottom as a felt desk mat—effectively giving you two styles of desk mats in one. The magnetic wireless charging pad really unlocks the functionality. The color-matched strip sits next to the desk mat with a standard Qi wireless charging surface and an earbud-sized pad. Though I don’t use this feature all that much, I do also like that the desk mat flips open between the layers to stash documents or post-it notes to keep your desk space clear of clutter. Lifewire / Jason Schneider But it’s the magnetic wireless charging pad that comes packed in that really unlocks the functionality. This color-matched strip sits right next to the Alti desk mat and stays put using some strong magnets on the edge of the mat. Pros Excellent build quality Reversible: one side is felt while the other is vegan leather Has magnetic wireless charging built in Cons Fairly expensive The felt bottom can be slippery Needs to be plugged in This pad offers a standard Qi wireless charging surface (with magnets to position any MagSafe-enabled devices) and an additional earbud-sized wireless pad. That means you can keep your phone and true wireless earbuds’ battery case charged up just by plopping them down. Lifewire / Jason Schneider All of this might be a little overkill, and if you don’t want a wire running to your desk mat, this isn’t for you. But if you can stomach the slightly higher price point you really won’t be left wanting for anything with this particular desk mat. I would have liked to see just a few more color options to help tie in more aesthetically vibrant desk setups, and I did find that the mat slipped around ever-so-slightly when the felt surface was on the bottom. But overall, on design and functionality alone, my workday testing places it squarely in my top slot. Who else recommends it? Newsweek, 9to5toys, and more top publications found the wireless charging performance effective and reliable for this desk mat.What do buyers say? Customers rate the Alti well for its build quality and its performance—though price is often a sensitivity Best for Small Spaces Orbitkey Desk Mat Slim PHOTO: Lifewire / Jason Schneider $80 at Amazon View on Orbitkey.com TL;DR: Desk mats should cover enough area for a comfortable surface, but the Orbitkey Desk Mat Slim does so while accommodating smaller, more minimal setups. Why We Recommend This The Orbitkey Desk Mat Slim is the smaller take on Orbitkey’s desk mat line thanks to its small footprint and updated orientation. The Orbitkey Desk Mat's main trick is its sleek accessory and cable-management channel. The mat comes bundled with a magnetic clip that can be slid to any point in the channel and leaves a slot to feed a cable through, so it’s always ready on your desk when you need it. I also used my channel for extra stuff, like a pen and small fidget toys. Lifewire / Jason Schneider What I like about the slim format is that Orbitkey puts this channel on the side of the desk mat instead of along the top, which I think is a more natural place to keep pens and accessories. Pros Excellent quality surface Clever cable management and accessory channel Grippy, stable base Nice, slim footprint Cons A little pricey for what you get Took a while to flatten after unboxing From a quality standpoint, you’ll find an impressive-feeling surface here. The topper is made from high-quality vegan leather, which feels a little more like a soft vinyl than I expected. But this is good because the surface is easy to clean and durable. The bottom is made of thick felt material with grippy dots plastered across it, so it stays nice and stable on your desk. The two layers also come apart, allowing you to hide sensitive documents or post-it notes without cluttering your desk. Lifewire / Jason Schneider It wasn’t all rosy, however. When I first unboxed both of the Orbitkey mats I got my hands on, they were very curled and it took a number of days to train the bend out of them. This is to be expected with some desk mats, but the extremity was surprising to me. While I like the surface material, it would have been nice if it was reversible, like some other mats at this price point. I also would have liked to see a few more color options available. These are minor gripes, however. The Slim is a winner for someone with a smaller desk space who doesn’t want to take up a ton of area. Who else recommends it? Lifestyle reviewers like the Modest Man and the Gadgeteer found positive experiences with the Orbitkey desk mats in their real-world testing.What do buyers say? More than 250 Amazon customers gave the Orbitkey Desk Mat line an aggregate 4.2 stars with particular notes on how easy it is to clean and maintain. Grovemade Matte Desk Pad PHOTO: Lifewire / Jason Schneider View on Grovemade.com TL;DR: Grovemade’s entry level desk pads provide a variety of textures to adorn your desk—without the bloated price tag or any extra bells and whistles. Why We Recommend This Grovemade is a brand that has hung its hat on high style and well-crafted design. While you may think pedigree would lead to a high price point, I’m choosing the Grovemade Matte Desk Pad here because its quality feels much more premium than the price tag implies. To be clear, some much cheaper options exist (Logitech, for example, makes one for about $20). But the Grovemade Matte and Felt desk pads feel top-tier and much more expensive than their actual price point. Pros Excellent quality for the price Premium feeling "natural linoleum" topper Handy cork base Very durable and cleanable Cons Need to be bent and “trained” before first use Somewhat limited color/design options No extra features or bells and whistles I got my hands on a Matte pad in dark blue in a medium plus size that measures just under 16 inches tall and about 38 inches wide. This is a nice balance between the massive desk mats that might be too large for smaller spaces and the tiny extended mouse pads that don’t offer enough real estate. Lifewire / Jason Schneider While I like the Merino Wool felt desk pad, there’s something impressive about the Matte version. The cork bottom provides a no-slip option and could also work as the desk mat surface if you prefer that style. Grovemade calls their Matte pad’s topper a "natural linoleum," which comes together and feels, to my hands, like a mix between faux leather and vinyl. This makes it easy to clean while maintaining a soft, pleasant texture. I find the color options a bit limited, and while the material feels great, it won’t be as premium as Grovemade’s flagship (and more expensive) leather mats. Like a few others I’ve tested, this mat is also plagued by the need to flatten and train it well over time, so using it right out of the box won’t be as turnkey as you’d hope. But the price is just right on this one. Who else recommends it? Grovemade is well-liked on designer blogs and included in roundups from Esquire and our sister site, The Spruce.What do buyers say? Forums and subreddits dedicated to desk spaces and mouse pads echo that the Grovemade desktop lineup's quality and usability are impressive and premium. How We Tested Desk Mats One half of the desk mat equation is how good it looks—after all, it’ll be a statement piece on your desk. But that decision is mainly aesthetic. Nevertheless, I ensured all the desk mats I considered passed that design test. Next, it’s all about feel and performance. I spent at least one entire workday with each of the desk mats I tested to ensure it felt great on my wrists, worked well with a typical optical mouse sensor, held up to some abuse and spills, and looked great doing it all. I also ensured the mats could be rolled up and unrolled without bending or “bumping upward.” Some of the choices on my list did require me to “train” them under a heavy book overnight before use. I didn’t ding them for this because thicker material needs some time to relax, but I want to mention that extra step. What to Look For If you’ve used a computer in your life, you’re likely familiar with a mouse pad, which offers a smooth, low-friction surface for classic wireless external mice. These days, larger, extended mouse pads, often called desk mats or desk pads, have come into style. These more expansive surface coverings provide a comfortable space to use your mouse, rest your wrists, and even set down more delicate belongings like portable electronics. But what makes for a good desk mat? It starts with a clean, comfortable surface but must also be durable and have a grippy base to keep it from sliding around. But I wanted to take it further, so I set my sights on desk mats that do more than provide a surface. I found a few that provide cable management and some with powered charging functionality. I spent a few weeks with each of the mats below on my desk to see how well they fit into my workflow and what type of user each mat is best suited for. Desk mats, at their most basic level, are just a sheet of material. But if you’re breaking down the specs and features, here’s the order of important I’d consider: Quality of feelDesign and aestheticsDurability and cleanabilityStability on your desktopExtra features and technology Brands We Considered Amazon BasicsGrovemadeJourneyLogitechNordikNuPhyOakywoodOrbitkeyRazer Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit