BenQ ZOWIR G-SR Black

Product Information

Professional shooter gamers might gravitate towards (more controlling) cloth pads, but there are droves of people out there who have a need for speed. If you’re one of those people then you should look at the SkyPAD 3.0. Its smooth surface is just about the fastest you can find out there, and while we certainly wouldn’t recommend this to people who are just finding their footing in the world of gaming mousepads it’s undoubtedly a pad that’s great at what it sets out to do.

Increased humidity resistance when compared to earlier versions, though it’s still not flawless at handling oils and sweat People often think that all cloth mousepads have the exact same glide, but that’s a common misconception. The Zowie G-SR is living proof of that. When compared to (most) other cloth gaming mousepads this one offers a very controlling glide with a pretty large amount of surface friction. This won’t please everyone (then again, no product does) but it is a great option for people who have a tendency to use large, aggressive swipes or for gamers who often find themselves overshooting their target.

As I type this out, it's 68% humidity on an early afternoon after a night of rain. There's some resistance, but I'm incredibly impressed with how well this pad is doing. Comparing this to the Deep Blue G-SR-SE, the difference is staggering. The Rouge does way better in humidity, and I'm glad! It means that another well-priced option exists for more people living in... suboptimal weather conditions. At 50% humidity or lower, this pad really seems to shine as well. There isn't stitched edging. In the 3 weeks or so I've been using the pad, I've noticed that there seems to be some very light fraying, but the pad itself does not seem to be coming apart; I did try to pull on it a bit and the string that was already fraying did start to unwrap, but it seems that if you don't intentionally try to mess with the edges, you'll have no issues. Just something I have to point out nonetheless. Definitely one of the more reliable unstitched pads.

Mousepads come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and it’s mainly up to you to figure out which one is going to be right for you. All of the pads in this article are going to be doing exactly what they need to do when it comes to sensor performance and what not so it’s mainly a job of figuring out what suits you. If you’re completely unsure we would recommend you to go for a nice middle-of-the-road cloth pad to start out with. 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. It needs to be said that the materials and the finishing on the Zowie G-SRare top notch.I’ve been using this pad for the past couple of months and it doesn’t look a day older compared to when I first got it. Both pads have a glide that’s extremely similar, but the G-SR II is noticeably better at handling humidity and has increased durability over the G-SR I. If you’re considering a G-SR mousepad, I would always recommend the G-SR II over the G-SR I. Conclusion The Razer original Razer Gigantus was pretty much a control pad, but with the V2 Razer tried to make it more like the G-SR-SEs of this world. That pad started getting really popular at a certain point and this is Razer’s own take on that type of glide. What you get is a medium speed mousepad with a decent amount of static friction and a lower amount of dynamic friction to allow for easier gliding. With an impressive consistency and all the features of an extremely decent gaming mousepad, this one is a logical inclusion in the top 5 of the most used mousepads.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. Don’t get me wrong, though: this is a very consistent control surface, and there’s pretty much no speed to it at all. There’s always going to be resistance when using the G-SR II, both when swiping as well as when you’re doing very small micro-level mouse movements. I live in an area of the US with VERY inconsistent weather, and I can confirm: Zowie delivers on the humidity improvements. Of course, really bad humidity still debilitates this pad, but to that, I say two things. One, it's a cloth pad, so some level of humidity debilitation will always exist. Two, Zowie claimed the humidity resistance would get better, not go away. 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.

Update 2nd of March, 2023: ZOWIE has provided us with a link to their recommended way of cleaning their mousepads. You can find the video here. G-SR Review – Conclusion Thanks to u/ZOWIE_Support for sending me a sample of this mousepad. The sample was free, but that will not influence my review of the product & all opinions are my own. 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 This list is, as we mentioned before, based on what the professionals are using. What you’ll see here is that most pros are using fairly large mouse pads, at least when compared to regular office mats. That’s because the overall sensitivity/ eDPIof pro (shooter) players is way lower than that of most casual gamers. This gives them way more control over their aim and overall just makes for a more consistent and reliable aiming experience when compared to extremely high sensitivities where it’s nearly impossible to make any micro adjustments to the aiming reticle. Even if you feel like you don’t need a large mousepad we would recommend getting one if you have the space for it; it’s always better to have some spare space for your mouse movements than to have to run into the edge of your playing surface in the heat of battle.The humidity resistance of a mousepad greatly depends on your personal circumstances, of course. If you live in a humid climate andyou get sweaty palms you will be more susceptible to humidity issues, but ZOWIE’s promises of handling this issue have been fulfilled if you ask me. ZOWIE G-SR-SE Rouge Review – Conclusion The stitching on my unit shows no errors and isn’t raised above the playing surface in a noticeable way, so there were no comfort issues during my testing period. The surface is on the rougher side (as you’d expect from a control pad) but it feels very consistent, and the same can be said for the foam underneath the playing surface, though more on that later. Hard pads are a niche category of an already pretty niche market, so there aren’t a whole lot of options for people who want an affordable hard mousepad. The Logitech G440 is a great option if you’re one of those aforementioned people, though. 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.

All in all, the advantages seem clear to us. If you’re even a bit serious about your gaming it’s a great idea to get yourself a nice pad to really complete your setup. The List

Unique stopping power

The Zowie G-SR-SE might sound like it’s just a recolor of that other popular ZOWIE mousepad (the G-SR) but it’s anything but. It offers a faster glide than the G-SR and lands somewhere between the G-SR and the other pads in this list, making it have a rather unique gliding experience.