When it comes to PC gaming, I’m a pretty lenient gamer. It doesn’t matter if I’m using a mousepad or not, I can make do anyway I need to. What I haven’t tried though is the middle ground between the two. That is until I was approached about IOGEAR’s Kaliber Gaming SURFAS II PRO Extended Mouse Mat.

The SURFAS II PRO offers an extremely thin area of play that while imitating the feel of a textured desktop, gives you a more enhanced range of control over your mouse as well as adds some style to the top of your gaming setup desk. While I absolutely enjoyed my time with it, there is a glaring issue that needs to be pointed out as it really does a number on the experience overall.

What’s in the Box

Opening up the box for the SURFAS II PRO offers no frills or fanfare. You receive your mouse mat and a simple velcro strap that you can use to bind the SURFAS up like a scroll and take it with you wherever you may be going. Although there isn’t much to the unboxing experience, being that it’s a mouse mat it doesn’t really call for much more than what’s given. I’m kind of growing tired of finding useless stickers anyway.

Aesthetics and Build Quality

I really like the simple design that IOGEAR went with for the SURFAS II PRO. It’s appealing enough without having to toss in any random gimmicks. The focus is on creating a mouse mat that would fit into just about any desk setup and I feel that it hits its mark dead on.

The surface of the SURFAS (pun intended) is polycarbonate coated and both waterproof and abrasion-proof. The texture of it is quite nice and feels really premium to the touch. It isn’t a very expensive mouse mat ($29.95) and yet manages to make it seem as if it may be a bit on the pricier side.

The underside is non-slip silicone that does a fantastic job of keeping the mat from moving around while in use. My one complaint overall for the actual build of the mat though is that the edges have yet to fully come down to the desk. There’s a bit of billowing outwards due to it being rolled up in the box. It could also be due to the fact that this thing is extremely thin which at least is a positive.

Gameplay

Gameplay was just as smooth as I had hoped it’d be. Aiming in Fortnite was precise and felt even better than it had when using my regular mouse pad or bare desk. I definitely felt like I had more control over my gameplay because of the textured polycarbonate coating. It really manages to do a good job at making the mouse stick to it pretty well. I also never had any issues with any of my mices’ lasers losing track of what was going on either.

Not only did I use it for gaming though, but it also came in handy for doing work and navigating around screens easily. An aspect of where it fits into my daily life perfectly came down to just how thin it actually is. Moving my keyboard and mouse out of the way to write was a lot easier too because I didn’t have to worry about moving a thick mouse pad. I could easily write on top of this without the worry of it being an obstacle. Its length (35.43” by 12.6”) is also a favorite piece of mine because I can give or take any of the extra “slack” needed for my mouse depending on my need.

What It Could Have Done Better

My biggest issue with the SURFAS II PRO is the fact that this thing stinks like poison when you first take it out of the box. I’m not kidding. I had to let this thing off-gas for two days before I could really use it without my lungs begging me to make it stop. From what I could tell, the smell was coming directly from the silicone bottom side so I’m guessing it’s either the silicone itself or the bonding agent that they used to adhere it to the top layer. Either way, it’s gross and definitely smelt and felt toxic.

Verdict

Overall, the SURFAS II PRO is a pretty good mouse mat that I really like aside from the awful stink that lingered for the first couple of days that I used it. I can see the billowing fixing itself over time so that’s not a real issue. If you’re looking for a happy medium between bare desktop and mouse pad, the SURFAS II PRO is a genuine contender to try as long as you don’t mind letting it air out first.