Closer Examination

The mat itself is a beautiful black thing with only two logos on it to spoil the looks. In the bottom left corner there is a small "Goliathus" logo and in the upper right corner we have the obligatory three headed snake logo that is featured on all of Razer's products. The logos are unobtrusive gaming wise since the glide over the colored parts is the same as that of the plain black parts of the mat which is nice. The mat we got was the midsized one that has about the same dimensions as the thick QPADs. The midsized version will have plenty of room for the average gamer that uses a low to medium sensitivity. I think most high sensitivity gamers will be satisfied with the small version which is $5 cheaper than the midsized version.


Surface wise the Goliathus "Speed" is extremely smooth and soft. It is a bit faster than a normal high quality cloth mat, but shares similar surface characteristics. The surface is just like that of the Mantis "Speed" as far as I can tell.


As far as base material goes the Goliathus brings nothing new to the market. It has the same natural rubber base with the usual thread.


Compared to the surface of the old Mantis "Speed" mat it is hard to spot the difference. To be honest I do not think there is one except that the base cloth color has been swapped from white on the Mantis to black on the Goliathus. The printed graphics have also been altered quite a bit.


The thickness of the Goliathus is exactly the same as that of the older Mantis.


Logos are almost always an annoying addition to any mouse mat because they are post applied, however, that is not the case with the Goliathus mats. As you can see from the picture above the pigment is in the fabric and not a post applied heat type sticker.

Performance

Mouse mats are like mice largely a matter of personal tastes, however, there are some common denominators that can be used to judge the quality of a mat. For example, top fabric stretch gives a wobbly feeling which should be avoided. Likewise if the base does not grip your desk's surface in a proper matter it will be all over the place in a few of seconds of some hardcore FPS action. To start off with I tested the mat with three different types of sensors, one with a 3G laser sensor (Doppler), infrared, and last but not least one that uses a conventional optical sensor. Needless to say Razer has created a mouse mat that works very well with these types of mice, not one of them exhibited erratic movement or erroneous tracking at high speeds. The surface is of a really good quality even compared to other high end cloth mats like the QPAD UC.

The glide is nicely smooth and the friction is quite low albeit not nearly as low as that of hard and hybrid mats. Like all cloth mats there is a little expansion of the top cloth layer which is pretty much unavoidable with such a design. The Goliathus keeps this within reasonable amounts and makes for a very pleasant gaming experience be it with a low or high sensitivity. Tracking was good and precise throughout my tests and the lift off distance was pretty low with all mice tested, of course with the 3G laser sensors having the lowest.

On my wooden desk the mat did move around a little while gaming, but it did not amount to a real problem, however, if you have a slippery desk you should keep this in mind. Comfort was really good as well even though the mat is a bit high it is not a problem because it is soft.

The mat performs really good with low sensitivity and I think this is where it holds its greatest value because you can get it in some fairly big sizes. For medium sensitivity gaming I prefer a hybrid mat because it eliminates some of the friction. If you really like the feel and handle of a cloth mat then go for it, this is one of the best out there. Then add the fact that you can get it in a size that fits you and the Goliathus becomes a really great mat for the money.