Both products were released this month and I was surprised to hear that both are made out of a fabric and not some type of plastic, alloy, metal or glass.

Moreover did I read that Everglide is actually the OEM for Razer pad and that Razer only prints their logo onto the surface and repackages it. This can clearly be seen on the packaging.

For the benefit of the online gaming community I decided to buy both products and find out if there are any differences between the two and how good the products are for actual gamers.

The packaging:

As you can see both products come in a tube as the fabric mousepads are rolled up. As you can see Razer decided to pack their products in a plastic tube whereas Everglide decided to use a black tin can… which I might add makes for a great “REAL” weapon at any LAN party.

Inside the tubes you will find the mouse surfaces and some product sheets with various information and usual market hype.

The mousepads

Ones you open both cans you are greeted with two HUGE mouse surfaces, which both have dimensions of 444mm x 355mm x 4.3mm. Just to give you an idea how big this is here is a shot with the Razer ExactMat and the Copperhead, the Mantis and underneath the Mantis the Titan. This should make any low sensitivity gamers very happy.

I analyzed both surfaces and there is no doubt that both mouse pads use exactly the same fabric called Fibertek. Even the underside is the same, that being a very sticky rubber which will make accidental mousepad slips on any surface history. I found this on the Razer website:

“The Razer MantisTM Mat is the next generation of precision gaming surface created For Gamers, By GamersTM. A premium cloth mouse mat engineered for top of the line tracking and enhancing gaming performance. The intricately woven fibers of the FibertekTM surface ensures precise targeting and tracking without limiting the velocity or acceleration of mousing movements.”

Another thing to mention is that the pad is slightly thicker than a stnadard mousepad. The mousepad can be squished slightly since between the woven mouse surface and rubber underside there is another layer of foam.

The mousepads are exactly the same except from the Razer logo on the Mantis. I will be testing the Razer Mantis more since the print might affect the tracking of the laser.

Testing:

The Rig:
• Abit NF7-S Rev. 2.0
• Barton 3000+
• 1024MB 333DDR
• Sapphire X800XL 256MB
• Creative X-Fi Music Soundcard
• And a Razer Copperhead and Diamondback

After playing Battlefield 2 and Counter Strike for a few hours on the Mantis I am happy to say we have a winner. To my surprise the glide feeling is nearly exactly the same as the Razer ExactMat Speed side, which I found very odd since the material is a fabric and not some hard plastic coating.

The huge surface area means you will never run out of space on your mousepad even when doing 360 degree turns. Laser and LED tracking issues where not experienced ranging between very low and very high sensitivity. The material is very nice to the touch and I never had any issues like I normally have with my hand or arm rubbing against the edge. Since the pad is so large my whole arm can rest comfortably and I still have more then enough space to play.

I also played with the Everglide Titan and it comes to no real surprise that it gives an identical experience.

Since we have a fabric/cloth I thought I might do a quick test to see if the pad soaks up water, and yes it does, but only a little and it does dry very quickly. Cleaning should be done with a lint-free damp cloth as chemicals might damage the fabric. I am really not sure how a softdrink spill would affect the mousepad, but I am sure if you run water over the pad and try to clean it will be fine.

Conclusion

Your selection of mousepad will be a personal choice like always, however after having owned a Ratpad, Icepad, MTW pad (german CS clan) and an Exactmat I am happy to say that I prefer this new kind of fabric pad over the traditional mousepads. The sheer size, the comfortable glide, the cushy feel, the lack of sharp edges and fair price make these two products stand out.

Deciding on which one to choose is a personal opinion. Both the Razer Mantis Speed and Everglide Titan are the same apart from the logo and a small price difference depending on the location you buy it from… personally I am using the Titan since I don’t like the huge green logo covering most of my desk. On a final note there is also a Razer Mantis Control mouse surface which is similar to the Control side of the ExactMat, this offers more resistance and a slower glide. I have not seen a similar product from Everglide yet.