Quad Gaming is a new South Korean company that make gaming hardware and accessories. These guys have been getting quite popular recently, especially in their home country. They don't have any website at the moment.
I will be reviewing their Fab series of cloth pads. There are 3 in the series, the only difference being the size (25x20cm / 30x25cm / 45x40cm).
The packaging is simple cardboard box with design and the details on it. The initial feel is pretty nice and they seem to be of high quality. From experience, the surface feels like a cross between that of SteelSeries QcK and Everglide Titan pads.
I tested the pads with different mice with different types of sensors and feet for a bit over 2 weeks. The glide was quite consistent, and was that way for the entire time i was testing them, there was pretty much no surface degradation at all. That can be considered a good point, but maybe I need to use them for another week to make sure.
The mouse feet make a difference too, but I will point out that even with fresh teflon hyper-glides the glide never became too fast. The highest speed I got was still rather controllable and wasn't slippery at all. This means that the pad is more on the slow side, and whether this is good or bad is ofcourse up to personal preference.
Tracking was great, as was expected. All sorts of opticals worked perfectly, including infrared sensors but the usual lift-off distance issue was present i.e. it was high enough to be annoying at times. Laser mice tracked fine too, but one thing I noticed is that instead of the cursor losing traction and going berserk, it just stopped tracking after a certain distance was covered. Let me give you an example: when I usually swipe my hand about 15cm+ horizontally at high speed, the tracking on the lasers would fail and the cursor would be all over the place. But on this surface, the cursor did move towards the direction but would just stop midway instead of jumping in every direction. I am not sure what this means and whether it has any significance, and I didn't have the time to investigate this further. Maybe using the latest third gen improved lasers could help.
When new, the touch of the pad under your arm is extremely comfortable. Agreed, that it's because they're cloth pads which are 5mm thick and that any thick and heavy cloth pad will feel this way, but it was just way too nice on these pads. Over the period of usage that feel was still there, but it wasn't as pronounced as it was on the first few days.
Durability is decent. As I mentioned before the surface was as good as new after the 15+ days that I used the pads. I also tested to see what would happen against spills. Water is no issue at all. As for drinks etc. the pad absorbs some liquid but most stays on the surface which means you can simply wipe it off. I will point out though that these are major lint magnets. Although this is a problem with most cloth pads, on these it is worser than others. You could wipe it all off using a moist towel though.
Overall, these pads are not very different from other cloth pads, apart from a few minor differences. They perform well and are of high quality. Not clear winners in their category on the market but certainly worth considering.
badben25
