The usefulness of a “gaming mouse mat” is one that’s subjective. Some people are happy with the standard mouse pad that you can get from an Office Depot or Best Buy, others look for a sleek, slim, and smooth surface to provide the best accuracy when gaming. It’s the type of thing you didn’t know you needed until you start using it.
The Corsair MM400 is a hard plastic, low-friction mouse mat specifically designed for accuracy, speed, and gaming. The Standard Edition (also comes in a Compact Edition) it is the perfect size for me, and I never felt like I ran out of real estate for the mouse to move around on. It rests almost flush as it is only 1mm in depth. Its minimal design almost all black with the bottom having the Corsair logo and a stripe of yellow. This mouse mat is a bit higher than many are willing to spend, but you are paying for the construction and quality of what this product delivers in terms of the aforementioned increased accuracy and detection. I do wish it was a bit cheaper for what it is, though.
The underside grips of the mouse mat make this stay in place and doesn’t slide around with any kind of pressure or mouse movement. To move it, you actually have to pick it up. The sound of a mouse, or in my case, the Corsair M65 Pro RGB moving across the mouse mat surface is generally quiet. Rubbing your hand across it feels somewhat rugged, but its microtextured surface is rather smooth, allowing the mouse to glide across it seemingly effortlessly.
While the mouse mat isn’t something you plug in, you can use the Corsair CUE software to calibrate against the surface. It does so against any, but I feel like using a Corsair mouse mat with a Corsair mouse helps with the calibration aspect, even though it doesn’t detect it directly.
The Corsair MM400 is simple, but yet highly effective. The MM300 Extended Edition is more like a traditional mouse mat, in terms of thickness and a cloth cover, is more about being a way to protect your desk. The MM400 on the other hand, is about having the most accuracy in movement with any mouse you’re using. I highly recommend it as being something that’ll last for a long time.
A hardware unit was provided for review purposes.
