The build quality of the Zowie G-SR is pretty solid, so maintenance is something that the manufacturer certainly considered.

With great balance comes great, consistent in-game performance, and that’s the case here with the Zowie G-SR. Anyway, the Zowie G-SR is also 470mm wide and 390mm long. The result of those dimensions is a more “square” shape compared to other mousepads, but I think I prefer mousepads that are more horizontal than vertical. It’s pretty easy to clean with just soap, water, and a cloth, and you should get any dirt and dust off without a hassle. Also, there are no noticeable delicate parts that can be ruined by washing. Cost ZOWIE made a number of promises when they first unveiled the G-SR-SE Rouge, and from what I can tell they’ve delivered on all of them. The surface is smoother, the humidity resistance is better, and the foam is a little bit softer. The pad still feels every bit as consistent as it should be, though, and with its controlling medium glide (by this I mean that it’s pretty much a ‘medium’ pad, but it’s on the slower end of that spectrum) this Rouge offers an interesting glide experience for people who play tactical shooters or who just want a touch more control without losing out on gliding speed.

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A gaming mousepad can be compared to the tires of a race car if you’re asking us. You can have the fastest car on the circuit with the best driver behind the wheel, but if you slap a pair of old and worn out tires underneath the car you won’t be seeing a lot of wins. The mousepad is a piece of kit that’s often ignored by the more casual gaming audience, but that really shouldn’t be the case. There are many different pads out there, all with different specifications and characteristics, so it’s definitely a good idea to find one that matches your preferences and playing style. You’ll not only increase your personal playing comfort but you’ll also increase your performance. Interestingly, in my first impressions of the Endgame mousepad, I didn’t really think of it as an ultrathin mousepad, possibly because of the more rugged material that it was made with. Zowie has always made a point out of not adding any unnecessary drivel to their products, and although they have released some rather ‘gamer-y’ mousepads in the past the G-SRwould not look out of place in a more formal setting. The pad has stitched edges and is finished with a small stitched on Zowie logo on the side of the pad. That logo does technically interfere with gameplay if you glide your mouse over it, but if it comes to the point that this becomes a problem ingame then you were probably going to get fragged either way, so this is a non-issue really.

Something that was noted when this pad was first announced was that there would be a smaller X/Y difference in the glide. As I mentioned earlier, I sadly don’t have a fresh G-SR to compare testing results to, but the X/Y difference on the G-SR II is 14.99%. That’s on the higher side (the average of all the pads I’ve tested so far is 7.5%) but it’s well within the range that I would call reasonable. For reference: the VAXEE PA has a very similar X/Y difference, so if you can handle that then you won’t have any issues with the G-SR II. The Zowie G-SRis a relatively thin and large sized mousepad. It’s a lot wider than it is ‘high’ so the G-SR(as a logical consequence) is more rectangular than some other mousepads out there. That’s neither positive nor is it negative, but it’s an observation. There’s plenty of room for low sens gamers in all directions though, and if you don’t need all thisreal estate you can go for the Zowie P-SR which is the same pad in a smaller form factor. This price point puts the mousepad just below the average in the market, which is fantastic value for a product of this quality compared to the competition. Verdict Lastly there’s also the fact that a gaming mousepad is generally better for the long term health of your mouse. If you’ve got yourself a shiny new gaming mouseyou don’t want to be sanding down the feet of your mouse by sliding it around on a wooden desk or a plastic cutting board you’ve found in the kitchen, for example. It’s finished with high quality stitched edges so it’s going to be plenty durable as well as extremely comfortable due to the quality of the stitching. You’re going to need to wash itquite often, however, since the accumulation of dust, sweat, and so on affect the glide of the pad in a pretty large way. That’s not a big deal, but it is something to take note of.At first glance, the G-SR-SE Rouge looks just like any other recent G-SR-SE release, but once you place it down on your pad you almost immediately feel the first difference: the foam feels softer. It’s still very uniform across the surface, but it’s quite a lot easier to sink your fingers into the Rouge than into an earlier version. Aside from that, this feels just like your regular ZOWIE G-SR-SE at first glance: same size, same box design, no stitched edges. The G-SR II is a pad that’s focused on control. As such, there’s a high amount of static and dynamic friction present here, but it’s not the absolute slowest pad I’ve ever used. Both in my testing (see our article on how we test mousepads) and when gaming with it, I initially found it to be a touch faster when it comes to dynamic friction than other dedicated control pads like the Lethal Gaming Gear Saturn Pro and the original G-SR (though I don’t have any tests for that one as I don’t have a fresh G-SR lying around). The static friction feels more or less on par with those other pads. The top of the pad, as you can see, has the manufacturer’s logo on top of it. This is a zoomed-in picture, so it’s not as large as it appears to be. It’s actually relatively small.

However, it is the most consistent option for someone that plays a wide variety of games and wouldn’t want to be switching mousepads all the time. Maintenance It’s definitely faster than some of the mousepads that I’ve tried, but the glide is not overdone and it handles fast-paced FPS games pretty well. However, unlike that pad, the Zowie G-SR was not as easy to smoothen. I found that there was still some flaring on the sides (see sample image) even after a week of use which included piling up other pads on it to keep it down. The mousepad’s stopping power is still remarkable despite its speed, so it’s still a solid option if you tend to overshoot your targets while gaming and need more control. In-game Pretty much the main reasons for making a new G-SR version were the durability and humidity resistance concerns that plagued the original. Sadly I can’t really say a lot of useful things about the durability in this G-SR II review due to the simple fact that I don’t spend months or even years with the products that I review. I did spend a number of weeks with the G-SR II during a particularly warm and humid summer though, and aside from the aforementioned slowdown that occurred after a couple of days, I didn’t notice any big changes to the overall glide and characteristics.Do note that here seems to be a bit of a break-in period with the G-SR II. When I first got it, it seemed to be faster than what it is now. The ‘slowdown’ appeared after a couple of heavy gaming sessions, and it hasn’t slowed down any further after weeks of usage beyond that, so I’m inclined to say that ZOWIE’s claims about the improved durability ring true. Definitely do give it a couple of ‘breaking-in sessions’ though. To me, it feels like there’s a bit less static friction, which could make sense given the fact that the surface is now smoother. You can definitely also feel this when you’re just gliding your hand across the mousepad, but it’s still not the smoothest material out there. I know that some people had complaints about the G-SR-SE’s surface irritating their skin after some time, and while I of course can’t speak for everyone I do believe that this change is going to make the pad feel a lot more tolerable to a lot of people out there. The G-SR-SE Divina is a very interesting pad in the sense that it’s got a faster and less controlled glide than its G-SR namesake while still offering a more restrained feel when compared to the ‘usual glide’ that a lot of cloth pads offer. When it comes to humidity, the G-SR II has definitely improved upon its predecessor, but it’s still not perfect. On sweaty days, you are going to feel your sweat and skin oils impacting the overall feeling of the pad somewhat, but the days where a couple drops of liquid made the mouse come to a full stop are well and truly behind us. On the G-SR II, the humidity issues have been dropped down to just a mild annoyance rather than a full-blown performance limiter, so that’s definitely nice to see. ZOWIE G-SR II Alternatives