The mouse wheel can be switched to freespin with the button. Two mouse mats are supplied. I use the harder mouse mat. Since the mouse is relatively light, the frictional resistance on this mat is also very low. I therefore assume that wear and tear is also lower. I haven't noticed anything conspicuous about the rubber coating. A tip: The edges of the mouse mats are initially very sharp. You can remove what I consider to be the only drawback with fine sandpaper.