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 The Endgame Gear EM-C is a little bit thinner than the G-SR II, but other than that it’s a very similar mousepad. The EM-C has a bit more static friction than the G-SR II, but less dynamic friction. The differences between the two are extremely small, however, so I see the Endgame Gear EM-C as the most obvious alternative to the ZOWIE G-SR II.

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. A logical alternative to this pad would be the original ZOWIE G-SR, which I feel is just a bit slower than this one but offers around the same glide experience overall. Other contenders are the recently released Endgame Gear EM-C and the Lethal Gaming Gear Saturn Pro. ZOWIE G-SR II vs Saturn ProWith great balance comes great, consistent in-game performance, and that’s the case here with the Zowie G-SR. Plenty of professionals use a special customized version of a certain pad with a team logo or gamer tag on the surface, but those pads are essentially all the same when it comes to the overall specifications and performance, so we added those to the count of their unbranded/non-customized versions. These special colorways and personal editions usually have the logos and names added to the pad by sublimation, so the glide isn’t affected at all. Logitech G640 If you plan to place the pad on an extremely uneven surface, it will be more obvious how thin the mousepad is, and performance will be affected. 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. 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 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. 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. Now, there’s enough real estate here that the flared sides do not have to get in the way while you’re using the mousepad, but if you’re someone that tends to move the mouse to the edges of the pad when you’re using it, then it will be harder to ignore. 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 – ConclusionThe pad feels nice and smooth here, and it has stitched edges which I’m a big fan of. The stitched edging is also very well done and not just there for the sake of it, so cookie points for that, Zowie.

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 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. What’s noticeable to me is the consistency of this mousepad. The foam feels the same all throughout the pad, and even though this new material is a little bit softer (which is something that I like) I never got the idea that some parts had more give to them than others. This, in combination with the top texture feeling very consistent as well, makes for a mouse surface that feels extremely well-designed and crafted. 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.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. 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.