Surface

The pad was tested with laser and optical mice. While some may still use an old fashioned mouse ball, it will certainly not be in a gaming environment where mice and mouse pads have become an important asset. The following mice were used to test the XTracPads Zoom mouse pad:

• Logitech MX Revolution
• Sharkoon Rush Laser Mouse
• Logitech MX518

The Logitech MX Revolution is one of the most advanced mice out there, but is not necessarily considered a gaming mouse. The Sharkoon Rush Laser Mouse on the other hand is geared toward gamers and offers a variable DPI setting between 400 and 2000 DPI. The Logitech MX518 is one of the most successful optical gaming mice and is still commonly used today as the weapon of choice.


The surface is made from
plastic and does feel quite smooth. When using the pad, the Zoom feels much faster than the Pro variant, but may not be the overall fastest mouse surface out there. It is fast enough to play fast paced FPS games and action games with a good amount of accuracy. The Zoom does move around quite easily. This is due to the very light weight and thinness of the pad.

Size

The size of the pad is identical to that of the Pro which measures 8.5" x 11". This is rather small. Due to the speed attribute which is geared toward fast games, it may be too small for most gamers of the sort. Only the ones using high sensitivity will find the Zoom pad to be large enough.

Comfort

Using the Zoom is very comfortable, but the hard surface and lack of soft material between the surface and the adhesive means that the XTracPads Zoom is unforgiving when it comes to uneven surfaces or slightly dirty desktops. You will notice these especially if these unclean areas are located on the edges of the pad, as it will feel noticably raised. The Zoom is by far the thinnest pad we have tested so far.

Durability

The mouse pad should be considered very fragile. Any sharp or pointy object pressing against it should be considered dangerous to the pad. You should be extra careful when taking the Zoom to and from a LAN party as it can bend out of shape or worse, get a fold. You should basically treat the pad like a printed, glossy picture, as it is just slightly thicker and you would not want the surface or edges to be damaged.