4mm Revolution: TalonGames Iwa, Kumo & Yami Review

Hey, It has been quite some time since my last review and during that time I have been working on a new skate review.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review, I was not paid or otherwise compensated for this. The skates were only sent to me for testing and I will give my 100 percent honest opinion.

@TALONGAMES_JP reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in testing some new skates that were made for glass pads. At first I thought, cool, sure, but these were not just normal skates, these were the first 4mm skates on the market. Many people will probably think there are already 4mm skates on the market, but no, Ghostglides has already released 4.4mm skates, although I never tested them myself.

Still, if @ghostglides wants to send some over for testing and review, my DMs are open. Back to the review.

I was sent three skate models called Iwa, Kumo and Yami. For some people who have known Talon Games for a while, the Iwa and Kumo may already sound familiar. For those who do not know these skates, here is a short introduction.

The Iwa skates are good control skates with medium speed, making them a solid all rounder when it comes to durability and speed. They are made of UPTFE, which compared to Wallhack UHMW PE silent skates is definitely quieter and offers the same durability. The Kumo skates are very smooth skates with very high speed. They feel extremely smooth, but in my opinion their durability on glass pads is really terrible. They are made of reinforced PTFE, which is basically just reinforced PTFE skates, but still not comparable to UPTFE and UHMW PE when it comes to durability. That said, I have to keep in mind that I have tested many skates already, so I look at them from a different perspective. Still, I would not recommend these skates for glass pads. However, after talking to Talon Games, I learned that they were actually designed for hard based cloth pads. As my buddy Nomar confirmed to me, the skates are very fast and smooth when used on a cloth pad.

The Yami skates are the newest skates in the Talon Games lineup. In my opinion, they are the perfect middle ground between durability and speed. Talon Games uses a Hybrid PTFE material as the base for these skates. They are faster than the Kumo skates and roughly as durable as the Iwa skates. According to Talon Games, the skates are slightly worse in durability, but more on that later.

What comes with the skates?

The skates come in simple packaging with the Talon logo on it. Inside the box you will find, as with many skates, two alcohol wipes, a Talon Games sticker and a total of 70 skates. That felt pretty self explanatory to me, but since I usually use only 4 to 6 skates per mouse, I think that is actually very good.

So what makes these skates so special and are they really 4mm skates?

To answer that, we need to talk a bit about the 4mm design. Talon Games uses a design called Dome Edge Design, which tries to reduce the contact surface by tapering the skates to a point. This theoretically makes the skates feel even smaller than 4mm in terms of contact area.

So how do the shape and size affect the glide?

To test this, I used the skates on various glass pads, both coated and uncoated. Pads used:

LockOn Harut | Control Pad | Uncoated Glsswrks Hana | Control Pad | Coated InfiniteMice Taro | Control Pad | Uncoated Wallhack SP 004 Miku Edition | Balanced Pad | Uncoated Glsswrks Zane | Speed Pad | Coated Tekkusai The Phantom | Speed Pad | Coated AbyssGaming Veil | Speed Pad | Coated

In my first use, it immediately became obvious how fast all of the skates are. Even the Iwa skates, which are meant to be control skates, had very good speed on different pads, similar to the classic Xraypad Obsidian regular version. What surprised me the most was how much the reduced contact area increased speed. That also led me to my second realization, how little control I had on speed pads with light texture, but that was no longer a problem after the break in period. Still, the reduced contact area was definitely noticeable.

How long does the break in period last and how do the different skates perform?

The Kumo skates became unplayable or at least did not feel good after one day. Overall, I would expect a Break-In Period of around 1 to 2 days, depending on the texture of the mousepad. The skates offer a very smooth and fast feeling, but durability is definitely not their strongest point. After the Break-In Period, they were fine for maybe another 2 to 3 days, but after that they just did not feel good anymore. This is how I would rate them:

Speed: 8/10 Durability: 1.5/10 Smoothness: 7.5/10 Control: 5/10 Loudness(a higher score means the skates are quieter): 6.5/10

It has to be said that these skates are more suitable for hard cloth pads, so glass pads are not the type of surface I would recommend for them.

The Iwa skates, which are supposed to have the highest durability, also had a relatively fast Break-In Period of around 3 days, which personally surprised me. In the long run, however, they had the best durability overall. These skates are very interesting because they provide a lot of feedback from the mousepad texture, which I personally prefer for tracking and clicking scenarios. On top of that, they have very good durability. I am still using them on my mouse after 1 to 2 weeks without changing them. For control skates, they perform really well, which is why I would rate them like this:

Speed: 6/10 Durability: 8/10 Smoothness: 5/10 Control: 9/10 Loudness: 4/10

The Yami skates impressed me a lot at first with a break in period of around 4 to 5 days, but after that, durability drops quite sharply, so the skates lasted about 1.5 weeks on my mouse before I replaced them. Still, they offer a very nice combination of control and speed, which I really liked, and I would definitely recommend them.

Speed: 8/10 Durability: 6/10 Smoothness: 8/10 Control: 8/10 Loudness: 6.5/10

Overall, I enjoyed testing these skates. They are not just a small variation of what is already out there, they actually feel a bit different in use. The 4mm concept sounds simple at first, but on glass you can clearly notice the reduced contact area. The skates feel faster and more direct, which can be a nice change depending on what you are used to.

What I liked is that each model has its own role. The Iwa is the most consistent option, the Kumo focuses on smoothness but comes with clear downsides, and the Yami sits in between with a good balance of speed and control. None of them feel unnecessary, and each one makes sense depending on your preference.

Personally, I ended up preferring the Iwa because it felt the most stable over longer sessions. The Yami was the most interesting in terms of overall performance, while the Kumo had a strong first impression but did not hold up well on glass. The main takeaway for me is that the 4mm idea is not just a gimmick. It does have a noticeable impact on how the skates behave, especially on glass pads. If you are someone who likes trying different setups and does not mind experimenting a bit, these are worth looking into. Otherwise, the Iwa is probably the safest choice out of the three.

If you like trying different setups, these are worth checking out. If not, the Iwa is probably the safest pick out of the three. If you enjoyed the review, I would really appreciate some feedback. Just let me know what you think or what you would like to see next, it actually helps me a lot with deciding what to test going forward. Also, I would be curious to hear your thoughts on the whole 4mm concept. Do you think this is something that actually makes sense long term, or just another niche idea?