Introduction

SteelPad has been producing high quality mouse mats for years. They started off producing hard mats based on plastic or metal (SteelPad 4D, SteelPad 4S). These were a great success. Since gamers wanted ever bigger and bigger mats SteelPad started producing cloth based mats, this product line was called QcK. Today SteelPad offers three different sizes of the popular QcK mat (QcK, QcK+, QcK heavy).
I will be reviewing the latest evolution of the QcK series namely the QcK heavy, which is the biggest mat (450mm x 400mm, 6mm height). The reason for going with the heavy thickness of 6mm is supposedly that this eliminates problems with playing while having the mat on an uneven desk surface, I will comment on this further on in the review. Furthermore the heavy thickness makes the mat stretch less than it's thinner competition.

The package

As with most cloth mats this one comes in a plastic tube. The mat arrived at my house just fine with no damage to the package or the mat it self.

Examination

This new version of the SteelPad QcK features a 6mm base made of rubber foam. This foam should ensure that the mat doesn't slip around while playing and it should help you get a decent gaming experience even if the desk surface is uneven. Since the mat is made of cloth the added height doesn't really hurt your wrist.



Here are some specs:

• XXL-sized cloth mouse pad
• Heavy thickness eliminates uneven surfaces
• Ideal for low sensitivity mouse settings
• Compatible with all mice
• Specially designed non-slip rubber base
• 450 x 400mm (17,7 x 15,7in) - thickness 6mm (0,23in)

As you probably noted, this mat is absolutely huge! It's way bigger than my Razer Mantis Speed and QPAD LowSens. At this size it's save to say that this new mat from SteelPad is directly aimed at low sensitivity gamers.


As you can see from the picture above, the surface is really smooth and it's really fast when you move the mouse around on it. The friction is really at a minimum on this mat. I've tried this mat with both the Razer Copperhead and the Logitech G5 and they both performed really well with the mat.

Even while using 2000 DPI the tracking was spot on. So the performance is really top-notch. The only other mouse mat that I have tested to be accurate at 2000 DPI was the QPAD XT-R which is a hard plastic mat.

Since the mat is really heavy, the mat doesn't slip around at all. It hasn't moved a single mm since I laid it on my desk which is a definitive plus.


The mat is way bigger than the competition. SteelPad QcK heavy has a bit different surface than most cloth based mats on the market. Because of the way the mouse mat is constructed, the surface is really solid and doesn't stretch at all. This is good because if the mat stretches when you move your mouse near the edges of the mat, the motion will become less precise because of uneven friction (a problem with some cloth mats, i.e. XtracPads Ripper XXL).