We say it all the time: the mousepad is an often neglected piece of equipment when it really shouldn’t be. There are tons of different pads out there, each with their own unique characteristics, and finding the right one for you can really enhance your gameplay and comfort.
In that sense we’ve been hard at work reviewing the most popular and most exciting pads over the past couple of months, and of course the MM350 can’t be ignored then. With a 5mm thickness and stitched edges it’s already a bit of an outlier, but is it worth your hard earned cash? We’ve sent one over to our reviewer to find out all that and more!
At A Glance
Corsair MM350 Champion Series
Used by 15 players (Jun, 2023)-
REDSTAR
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s1n
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Jeorge
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Krimbo
❝The Corsair MM350 is a great pad if you’re looking for a middle-of-the-road type pad when it comes to the glide. The smooth texture on the surface allows you to execute big swipes with ease as there’s very little resistance and once you get down to the micro movements it manages to provide just enough resistance to allow you to make those without it feeling as if you’re on ice so to speak. A lot of cloth pads offer this type of glide, however the MM350 distances itself from the competition somewhat by offering a thickness of 5 millimeters and stitched edges.❞
Specs
| Height | 40 |
|---|---|
| Length | 45 |
| Thickness | 5mm |
| Stitched edges | Yes |
| Glide | Medium |
Pros
- Smooth, stitched edges
- Dense foam material
Cons
- Stitching isn’t perfect everywhere
First Impressions
Small note: I received Champion Series pads as well as regular MM350 pads (with the grey graphic on them) but I mostly used the Champion Series pads for this review. I did however ask Corsair if there’s supposed to be a difference between the Champion Series and the regular version as far as glide and texture goes and they told me they’re the same.
One of the first things that I noticed when I first unboxed this pad is that it has a bit of a smell to it. This isn’t a big surprise since a lot of mousepads have this but it was pretty apparent here. It doesn’t actually bother me (it’s just a smell of rubber that, perhaps oddly, reminds me of chain clothing stores for some reason) but if it does annoy you I recommend putting the pad near a window for a couple of hours to get rid of it entirely.
Speaking of unboxing: the MM350 comes rolled up in the box and there’s a little cutout in the box itself so that you can feel the texture of the pad in the store. In this current COVID-19 situation I wouldn’t recommend going around and touching all sorts of things in the store but I always like it when there’s a way for people to experience the texture of a pad before buying so this is a nice touch in my opinion.
Aside from that there’s nothing super remarkable about the MM350, aside from the fact that it’s pretty thick when compared to most other cloth pads and that it has stitched edges, which is something that you don’t often see on thick pads. Props to Corsair for that, as I’m definitely someone who prefers stitched edges.
The logo is applied so it isn’t part of the texture but luckily it’s sufficiently small so that you won’t ever accidentally run into it whilst gaming.
Performance
The Corsair MM350 isn’t really advertised as being specialized in either speed or control and that’s also what I got from it when testing the pad. The glide is in that very familiar medium-fast territory that a lot of cloth pads fall into, though it’s (in my opinion) just a tad slower than the ‘usual suspects’ in this speed range making me almost want to classify it as a ‘medium’ when it comes to the glide speed.
What you get here is a pad that allows you to execute large, sweeping motions without it trying to rein you in but it’s not so slippery that smaller movements become difficult to do, with the pad having an interesting surface that seems to mix some grittier elements in with a relatively smooth overall surface. That relatively smooth surface is also what makes it feel very accommodating towards large and fast movements.
All in all I really do like the gliding experience here: there’s enough resistance for me to perform any small movements without error and when I do big swipes the pad seems to ‘let go’ a bit. Again: there are plenty of other cloth pads that (try to) offer this type of glide, but the MM350 does it really well.
The MM350 does set itself apart from the competitors in a number of other ways. With a thickness of 5 millimeters it’s significantly thicker than most other pads of this type. Such a thick pad (the only other common pad that’s thicker is the QcK Heavy at 6 millimeters) isn’t for everyone, but it does come with the advantage that it covers up surface imperfections a little better than thin pads. What’s great here is that the foam feels pretty dense. I never had the feeling that the feet of my mouse dug into the surface causing a spongy feeling even though I mainly used it with a Glorious Model D which uses 4 smaller feet.
And then there’s the stitching. I personally prefer stitched edges -if they’re done well- and while this isn’t the best stitching job I’ve ever seen it’s perfectly serviceable. There are a couple of imperfections here and there but those aren’t perceptible and it never feels coarse or annoying when in use.
The textured rubber base does exactly what it has to do. I almost never have any issues with mousepads sliding around and that’s a good thing because it’s an awfully annoying thing to have happen to you in the midst of a sick clutch, so luckily the MM350 does exactly what it has to do: it stays put. I always do my best to move the pads that I test by applying pressure on top of the pad (as you would when gaming) and I’m happy to report that I practically could not get it to move. That probably also has something to do with the weight and thickness but nevertheless it performs perfectly.
Corsair MM350 Champion Series Review – Conclusion
The Corsair MM350 is a great pad if you’re looking for a middle-of-the-road type pad when it comes to the glide. The smooth texture on the surface allows you to execute big swipes with ease as there’s very little resistance and once you get down to the micro movements it manages to provide just enough resistance to allow you to make those without it feeling as if you’re on ice so to speak.
A lot of cloth pads offer this type of glide, however the MM350 distances itself from the competition somewhat by offering a thickness of 5 millimeters and stitched edges. It’s all done to a high standard as well: the foam is nice and dense, the stitching feels smooth to the touch despite there being some minor imperfections here and there, and the rubber base does a perfect job at keeping the pad in place.
If you’re looking for a thicker pad with stitched edges and a glide experience that’s focused on providing what I can only describe as a ‘medium speed experience’ this is a very good choice. It’s not the fastest pad out there, nor is it the most controlling one but plenty of people are looking for something in between and as far as I’m concerned Corsair delivers a great ‘in between’ experience with this pad.