Introduction
Mousepads are an often overlooked piece of gaming equipment. They’re not necessarily the most important piece of equipment, but a decent pad will definitely improve your gaming experience and performance.
Much like other peripherals mousepads have their own characteristics; one pad will feel faster than the other, for example. It’s up to you to find out what you are looking for in a pad, but in order to help you on your way we’re going to be reviewing a variety of pads.
The Zowie G-SR is the first pad that’s featured in our upcoming lineup of pad reviews since it’s one of the most commonly used pads out there. Read on to find out how our reviewer liked the Zowie G-SR.
At a Glance
ZOWIE G-SR
Used by 71 players ()-
sh1ro
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sushiboys
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DD
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SirMaza
The ZOWIE G-SR is still one of the best control pads out there. If you want your mousepad to rein you in with plenty of stopping power and a controlled glide then you should look towards the G-SR.
Pros
- Stitched edges
- Very consistent surface and foam
Cons
- Sensitive to dust, sweat, and oils
Specs
| Height | 39cm |
|---|---|
| Length | 47cm |
| Thickness | 3mm |
| Stitched edges | Yes |
| Material | Cloth |
| Glide | Control |
First Impressions
The Zowie G-SR is a relatively thin and large sized mousepad. It’s a lot wider than it is ‘high’ so the G-SR (as a logical consequence) is more rectangular than some other mousepads out there. That’s neither positive nor is it negative, but it’s an observation. There’s plenty of room for low sens gamers in all directions though, and if you don’t need all this real estate you can go for the Zowie P-SR which is the same pad in a smaller form factor.
Straight out of the box (the G-SR comes rolled up in the package) I almost felt worried that the pad wouldn’t stay where I put it due to it not immediately laying flat on my desk and the pad being so light. Once it’s ‘broken in’ and laying completely flat it’s almost impossible (everything is possible if you just try) to get it to move though, which is a sign that the rubber base is doing its job perfectly. I never had an issue with the pad slipping away or otherwise doing stuff it shouldn’t be doing.
The G-SR isn’t the thickest pad out there, so if you’re playing on a massively uneven surface you might encounter some issues, but it’s thick enough to cover up small imperfections on the playing surface that you would normally encounter when playing in most conditions.
Performance
Zowie has always made a point out of not adding any unnecessary drivel to their products, and although they have released some rather ‘gamer-y’ mousepads in the past the G-SR would not look out of place in a more formal setting. The pad has stitched edges and is finished with a small stitched on Zowie logo on the side of the pad. That logo does technically interfere with gameplay if you glide your mouse over it, but if it comes to the point that this becomes a problem ingame then you were probably going to get fragged either way, so this is a non-issue really.
It needs to be said that the materials and the finishing on the Zowie G-SR are top notch. I’ve been using this pad for the past couple of months and it doesn’t look a day older compared to when I first got it.
I play on a rather low sensitivity, so I’m often doing big and fast sweeps and what I found was that the G-SR felt rather controlling. That is not an issue at all, since the speed of a mousepad is mostly personal preference, but it’s something to note regardless. The G-SR has a remarkable amount of stopping power, so if you tend to overshoot your targets or want to get a bit more control you should definitely take a look at the G-SR. If you want a very fast and speedy glide this one should probably be a hard pass though.
Speaking of glide: even though the G-SR feels pretty ‘controlling’ (which is in part due to the pretty wide texturing, you can click the image to the right to see a closeup) it has to be said that it glides smoothly everywhere. There are no inconsistencies in tracking or performance, and the dozen or so mice that I used to test the tracking performance of this pad all performed perfectly as they should.
One small negative thing to note is that this pad tends to lose its initial feeling pretty quickly when compared to other pads. I found that it needed a wash after about 1.5 months of medium usage (which means some hours of work and an hour or two of gaming each day in this case, so your mileage may vary) because the accumulated dust, sweat, and what have you managed to influence the glide on the pad. A thorough washing will largely fix this, so this isn’t a massive issue, but if you live in a dusty environment or something like that you may want to take note.
Update 2nd of March, 2023: ZOWIE has provided us with a link to their recommended way of cleaning their mousepads. You can find the video here.
Conclusion
The Zowie G-SR is a premium large sized pad which offers a very smooth, though very controlled glide with plenty of stopping power.
It’s finished with high quality stitched edges so it’s going to be plenty durable as well as extremely comfortable due to the quality of the stitching. You’re going to need to wash it quite often, however, since the accumulation of dust, sweat, and so on affect the glide of the pad in a pretty large way. That’s not a big deal, but it is something to take note of.
Concluding: the G-SR is a relatively thin and large sized control pad which does what it sets out to do perfectly. Everything about it feels very premium, and the stylish and timeless design provide perfect performance. If you want a fast pad you’re better off skipping this one, but if you’re looking for a little more control I can only recommend the G-SR.
This product was received for free from the manufacturer and given to our reviewer to test and review. Brands and manufacturers have no editorial control over our reviews. For more information, check out our review FAQ.
Is the G-SR good for PUBG?
800DPI
Logitech G pro superlight
If you want a very controlling/slow pad, yes. Otherwise I’d look somewhere else.
is G-SR good for micro adjustmens and precisions flicks at 800 dpi and 1 sens because sometimes im over-flicking and my precision is not that great as i want.
Well your actual sens depends on what game you’re playing so I can’t really answer that. That being said: the G-SR is a very controlling pad so if you feel like you need a lot of control this should be right up your alley. If you are on a ‘regular’ pad and you just want a touch more stopping power and control I can recommend something like the Razer Gigantus V2, Zowie G-SR-SE, or the VAXEE PA.
Hey, i have a question i don´t find a any perfect sens for Valorant can someone help me
My Mouse: G PRO x Super Light Mousepad: Zowie GS-R
That’s something very personal but we do have a guide that outlines various methods to find your personal best sens, so feel free to check that out!
Do you know Pro Players who play my gears? also the Zowie GS-R not SE and the g pro x super light
g-sr or qck? (I played pubg dpi 800) using zowie s2 and ec2 mousepad now gsr-se i think it’s too slippery.
If the G-SR-SE is too slippery for you I’d definitely recommend the G-SR, as that’s a slower, more control oriented pad than the G-SR-SE.
Which Zowie gsr or Qck heavy has more stopping power?
Zowie G-SR has more stopping power if you’re asking me.
Hi, I am looking for a new mouse pad, mainly for cs. I have a Logitech g640 or call g-sr and I do not know what to choose, I currently have Qck but it annoys me that it is so muddy after a year of playing on it. I am using 400 dpi and make 1.8 sense in cs go
The G-SR can feel quite murky on its own so perhaps that’s not the best option. Out of those two the G640 should be the closest match. You can always try to wash the QcK that you have but if that doesn’t help you can also try something like the Razer Gigantus V2 (the custom/printed versions should match the speed of the QcK quite well) or HyperX Fury S. Sadly mousepads don’t last forever so depending on how often you use them they’ll need to be replaced every once in a while if you desire that brand new feeling.
Hi ive been using the hyperx speed edition fury pad for about 2 years now i mainly play fortnite at a sens of 800dpi 10% x and y ive stumbled across both the gsr and the qck my aim is very good on the current mouse mat however sometimes i miss i shot by swiping too fast i aim train pretty much everyday and feel a new pad will help any recommendations i also use a gpro wireless
If you consistently overshoot you might want to go towards a pad that’s less focused on speed if you don’t want to adjust your sensitivity. The G-SR is by far the most controlling out of the two but the QcK should also be (a bit) slower than what you’re using now so it depends on how much slower you want the pad to be.
hey, i have never tried a top quality mousepad, im between the G-SR and the QCK heavy, i play csgo on 1.77 @ 400 dpi, im getting a zowie ec2 so which one do you think will be good?
Depends. If you would like your mousepad to control you a little bit it’s a good idea to go for the G-SR, if you want some more speed the QcK is a good pick. Both are great pads though, so it kind of depends on what you prefer.
i am a low senstivity arm aimer & currently use the Zowie EC2 & S1.
amongst the qck heavy & g-sr which mousepad shall i go for according to you ?
thanks
It depends what you want. If you feel like you want more control/grip when using your pad I’d recommend the G-SR; if you like a pretty ‘normal’ (not super fast but not slow either) glide the QcK is a really good pad. If this is your first pad I’d recommend the QcK since it’s a great ‘middle of the road’ kind of pad at a very digestible price.
Hello!
Is this a good combination for my Roccat Kone Aimo (400dpi and 2.40 sens in CSGO)? Or is the SteelSeries QcK Heavy a better fit?
Thanks!!!
Depends on your preferences to be honest. If you feel like you tend to overshoot your target and you want some more control you can go for the G-SR, otherwise the QcK Heavy is a good fit.
Hello, can you please specify the way to perfectly wash this G-SR mousepad, without disconnecting its layers?
We actually have a guide on how to clean your mousepad here: https://on-winning.com/how-to-clean-your-mousepad/. That should work perfectly for the G-SR!
Hello my mouse is G pro. I am hesitating between Zowie GSR and QcK Heavy which do you think is better for FPS games
It depends on your preferences. If you like more stopping power then you should go for the G-SR since it’s a pretty controlling pad. The QcK Heavy is more of al ‘all round pad’ though.
Qck+, Qck or G-SR
For me, the QcK+ takes the cake.
I had a question. I have the QCK Heavy and I’m thinking about trying this mouse pad. The G-SR sounds great but there is so much information out there on “get this mouse pad if this” but I wanted to try explain what I’m looking for to know if this mousepad is a good pick for me or not. With the current set up I use a Zowie S1, I originally had the black zowie skates. It seemed with the QCK Heavy to produce pretty good friction. I have done a lot of aim training and playing on the mouse pad, it is quite worn and I can said the surface has definitely roughen quite a bit, I haven’t washed it, there is not considerable dust buildup either but I’m saying this because I may not even have the correct surface for comparison. I have seen through playing and aim training that my tracking and somewhat my changing directions suffers some on this pad. I was thinking about the slower S-GR pad because it could help with the stopping but at the same time I’ve heard that it makes transitions even harder. Is this really the case? I have heard that faster gliding mousepads or harder mouse pads help with tracking but at the same time I recently changed my mice skates to see what the fuss is with the hyperglide feet and the extra speed they brought made my tracking and flicking worse so that is why even though I’ve heard tracking can be made worse in slower cloth pad (with the GSR being one of the slowest) but at the same time faster doesn’t seem to work too well for me either.
I think I know what you mean. I play on a pretty low sensitivity so I like to have that balance between smooth and easy swipes with a touch of control so it’s not easy to find that when you also have to take the mouse you’re using into account. As far as tracking is concerned: I think it comes down to preference (and sensitivity) as opposed to saying ‘this or that pad is best for tracking’ and of course your sensitivity plays a role as well (I wouldn’t say a control pad such as the G-SR is ideal for people with an extremely low sensitivity, but opinions vary).
That said, from what I’m reading it could be a good idea to perhaps take a look at the G-SR-SE? It has some of that control element of the G-SR but isn’t as restricting. Of course the G-SR can also work, but do bear in mind that this is a pretty controlling pad. Obviously you also have to take into account the fact that you have to get used to these new mouse skates; your muscle memory has gotten used to the way your old skates feel so it takes a bit of time to retrain it.
I currently use an ec2-a and hyperx fury mousepad, I’m going to switch my mouse to a divine ec2-b and would like to know which mouse pad to get. Sensi usage 3.3 currently. The problem that I keep changing the sensitivity to the feeling that I have days that is too slow other days is fast, depends on the weather. Which mouse pad do you recommend? gsr / gsr up / qck-heavy?
The G-SR is a pretty slow pad whereas the QcK is on the faster side, so I’d say it depends on whether you prefer a faster feel or a slower feel. If you are extremely sensitive to changes in glide you can also always go for a hybrid pad like the GTF-X by Zowie or a hard pad such as the Helios by Glorious, these are less affected by humidity and dirt and so on but they might take some time to get used to since they’re gonna be faster than most cloth pads.
Which is the most controlling pad. Is it the gsr or is there more
I’m pretty sure some niche brands have even more controlling pads out there, but as far as the mainstream brands go the G-SR is probably gonna be your best bet. From what I’ve seen and/or tested, of course.
thanks for the awesome review and the help in the comment section!
No problem! Always really glad to help out!
Amazing review! i’m a lover of SteelSeries QcK but wanna change. Do you think that the Zowie GSR is pretty similar?
It’s actually not that similar. The G-SR is quite noticeably more controlling than the QcK so it’s not gonna offer a super similar feeling.
all i play is pubg with 800 dpi all 50 sensity and 1 vertical. what mousepad your reccommend ?
Depends. If you like a grittier, more controlling mousepad you can definitely go for the G-SR. Otherwise there’s a bunch of cloth pads with a medium to fast glide, or the Glorious Helios if you’re looking for a hard pad.
I have one issue with this mousepad its about feel. Sometime it feel slower sometime faster, depend on weather. Its sound funny but its true. Did u hear something about that ?
That happens with just about every pad (except for hard pads). Moisture can affect the way the pad glides so humid weather can definitely have an influence on the way the mousepad behaves. Pads with a coarser texture (like the G-SR) can be affected by this more than others as well.