Razer Gigantus V2 Mouse Pad Review: You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Desk

Gigantic spacious mousepads are quickly becoming the norm for both office workers and gamers. Their utility versus a standard mouse pad is kind of questionable—it’s not as if you’re sweeping your mouse across three feet of desk at once—but they’re certainly appealing as a nice accessory. Razer has made them before, but none as big as the Gigantus V2 3XL.

How big, exactly? As big as 47.24 inches by 21.65 inches, big enough to almost completely cover the average computer desk. There’s not much to it beyond that, but the execution and price are both spot-on. It’s earned an Editor’s Choice pick for being a simple quality desk pad that’s bigger than almost anything else from a major brand, and it comes in at a reasonable price to boot.

Hardware

It’s a big-ass mouse pad, whaddya want?

Okay, so there’s a little more to it than that. If you hear “Razer mouse pad,” you might assume that it’s covered in snake logos and unnecessary USB-powered lights. Not so with this version of the Gigantus.

Either because Razer is moving towards more of a lifestyle brand than a gamers-only club, or because making a mousepad this big with those kinds of features doesn’t make sense, this desk mat is flat black and has almost no adornment. It’s just black cloth, green foam, some rubber underneath for stability, and a small surprisingly subtle Razer tag on the corner.

As someone who likes to keep his desk low-key (aside from the ridiculous monitors, toys, and Star Trek-themed keyboard, I guess), I appreciate it. The flat black goes with everything and makes it easy to spot the odd tool or knick-knack I happen to be using. Of course, those who want something a little more “gamer” might not appreciate the subtlety, but there’s no accounting for taste. If you want something louder, Razer offers a range of branded and game-specific designs, and will even print your username on it if you like.

Fit and Finnish

I can account for something else, though: the cloth surface of the mat is surprisingly durable. I tend to track a fair amount of dust and crumbs as I have a bad habit of eating at my desk. The Gigantus shrugged them off, much more easily than the cheap mat I’d been using before. Some kind of coating treatment on the surface seems to be doing a lot of extra legwork.

Underneath the surface is lime green-colored rubberized foam. This has a little give to it, like all mousepads, but it’s surprisingly firm for all of that: it’s “harder” and thicker than any cloth mouse pad I’ve ever used. That means it’s not much use as a cushion, if you’re used to using a larger mat as a rest for your wrist—I’ve got separate cheapo wrist rests along the front of my desk for that purpose.

At the very bottom of the pad is an all-green texture pattern. Between the rubber material, the pattern, and the simple weight of the enormous mat, there’s so much friction that this thing won’t budge an inch without a very hard yank. It works very well. There’s one omission here that I found strange: a stitched edge. The anti-fray stitching seems to be standard for almost all mousepads these days. That said, I didn’t notice any particular fraying on this model, even after giving it some intense and intentional rubbing during the testing period.

As a surface for my mouse (a Logitech G604, if you’re wondering), I found the Gigantus more than up to the task. The mouse glides quickly, with enough friction to stop immediately. Those who are looking at this primarily as a gaming accessory will find it serves exceptionally well.

Square Feet Per Dollar

Oh, and again, this thing is just massive. My desk is 60 inches wide and 30 inches deep, with a curved cutout at the front. It pushed almost too far in the back, forcing me to reposition my speakers, Overwatch LEGO sets, and Switch dock. And, it still has to “tent” over my monitor stand. (I don’t have the option of simply setting the monitor on top of it, as most do.)

Honestly, the 3XL version of the Gigantus might be too big for your setup—I recommend cutting a piece of cardboard to size if you’re thinking of picking it up over the more manageable XXL version (37 inches wide, 16 inches deep). But considering the size and quality of the mat, I’d say that $50 is a bargain. Consider that you’ll spend at least $10 on a mousepad smaller than one square foot, and this one is about seven times that size.

So, if you want an absolutely massive desk mat for a reasonable price, and you’d prefer to go without crazy printing or RGB lights, the Gigantus V2 is a winner.