When it comes to competitive gaming gear people often like to talk about which mouse they should use, which headset offers the best value for money, and so on.
Not a lot of people seem to be talking about which mousepad you should choose, which is a shame. It might not be the most important part of your setup, but there are definitely big differences between the various types of pad, not only in appearance but also in performance and feel.
The Steelseries QcK line has been a steady performer in the world of mousepads, with it being both widely available and offered at a reasonable price, so it’s no wonder that this pad is one of the more popular ones out there and the next pad to be featured on our list of popular gaming mousepad reviews.
At a Glance
SteelSeries QcK Heavy
Used by 139 players (Jun, 2023)-
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❝The SteelSeries QcK Heavy is a thick mousepad with a medium gliding experience. It can be ideal for people who have a lot of inconsistencies on their desk, as the thickness will cover up most surface-level bumps and dents.❞
Specs
| Height | 39.7 |
|---|---|
| Length | 44.5 |
| Thickness | 6mm |
| Stitched edges | No |
| Glide | Medium |
Pros
- Thickness covers up uneven desk surfaces
Cons
- Thick pad can get irritating on the skin for some
- Very strong rubbery smell initially
First Impressions
The Steelseries QcK Heavy is definitely that; heavy. That’s due to the fact that it’s a very thick mousepad. It’s around 6 mm thick (0.23 inch) and it’s made that way to ensure that you don’t feel any imperfections in the surface you decide to put it on, which can be an issue with thinner mousepads.
Due to the overall size and weight of the QcK Heavy it lays flat on your desk almost immediately after unpacking it (it comes packaged in a rolled up fashion), which is definitely nice if you want to use it instantly. The pad obviously won’t cover up any gaping holes in your desk, but due to its thickness it does indeed cover up minor imperfections rather well, making it a good choice for players who travel to lans often or play on shoddy surfaces.
A weird quirk with this pad is that it has a rather defined smell to it. After unpacking it the pad will definitely fill a small room with the smell of the materials that were used for a couple of days. That’s solved by leaving it to air out for a bit or by simply not caring about the smell, but it’s definitely weird for a mousepad to elicit ‘what’s that smell?’ responses from people who quickly entered the room.
Performance
The QcK Heavy is a large mousepad, so people who play on low sensitivity will find plenty of real estate to execute their large sweeps. The pad itself is finished with a white Steelseries logo in the bottom left corner, but is left completely black otherwise. The logo didn’t interfere with the tracking as far as my testing goes (I tested with a variety of different sensors and mice) so should you find yourself frolicking about at the edge of your mousepad in the heat of the battle you won’t see any issues.
The QcK Heavy has a rubber base in order to make it stick to the surface it’s placed on. I’ve been using the Heavy on and off for months now and I’ve yet to catch it slipping even a bit, even though I play on a rather low sensitivity and do some rather aggressive flicking from time to time.
The pad sadly itself isn’t finished with stitched edges, which gives it a less premium look than its stitched counterparts, and the edges have started fraying a little bit, though it’s definitely nothing too bad.
The QcK Heavy has a rather tight texture, resulting in a smooth and medium (to fast, for a cloth pad) glide. It doesn’t have the most stopping power as a result, so if you have a tendency to overshoot you might want to think twice about buying this certain pad.
A very small downside of choosing a pad this large is that it’s going to take a while to completely dry off if you decide to wash it (which you should, every once in a while) but that just comes with the nature of the product.
SteelSeries QcK Heavy – Conclusion
The QcK Heavy is a great pad for users who want to have plenty of real estate to move their mouse around.
It’s built like a tank and offers a very smooth, medium-fast gliding experience. It might not be to everyone’s taste due to the thickness of it, but if you can get past that (and the smell during the first few days) the QcK Heavy is definitely a very good and reliable pad which can easily be used as a LAN pad on its own as well.
If you like to have your pad ‘rein you in’ a bit you should be wary though, as there isn’t a whole lot of stopping speed to the QcK Heavy.