Product test
This mouse pad is as smooth as black ice
by Kevin Hofer
Firefly V2 Pro mouse pad review: a luxury for your desk
26.6.2024
Translation: Katherine Martin
Light-up mouse pads belong squarely in the «nice to have, but not essential» category. With a price tag totalling over 100 euros or francs, I want to know exactly what I’m getting for my money. And Razer truly does deliver.
Although mouse pads with light-up edges have been around for a while now, having lighting across the entire surface is new. In my review, I’ll aim to demonstrate whether the lighting really looks as nice as the ads suggest. I’ll also give my impression on other aspects of the mouse pad.
LED backlight? Not quite
Razer calls the Firefly V2 Pro the «world’s first LED backlit gaming mouse pad». A potentially misleading statement. As a matter of fact, the surface of the mouse pad doesn’t light up on its own. It’s indirect lighting that makes the surface appear to glow.
Like on the previous model or the Goliathus Chroma (which I have myself), the 15 LED zones are located on the edges. They only occupy the back half of the mouse pad.
The light beams from there into the other edges and the milky-coloured surface of the pad. This results in sometimes intense, sometimes very soft lighting effects – something I already liked about Razer’s ads. There are no visible, abrupt transitions between the lit and unlit edges.
Doesn’t take a complicated setup to look great
The first thing that strikes me when unboxing the Firefly V2 Pro is that it’s quite a bit larger than my own Razer Goliathus Chroma. It measures in at around 36 × 28 centimetres. Instead of being flexible, the pad’s as stiff as a board. It has a slightly rough plastic surface.
The USB-A to USB-C cable that comes with the mouse pad is 180 centimetres long and easily reaches my computer under my desk. I really like the fact that you can remove it from the mouse pad.
After plugging in the pad, you’re met with a spectrum effect almost immediately, the zones slowly transitioning through different colours one after the other. It looks really pretty. But there’s definitely more to it. I open the Razer Synapse software to have a look at the pad’s RGB settings.
Fiddly RGB settings
Using Razer Synapse, you can manage any compatible devices and coordinate their lighting. For instance, I can set the slowly rotating colour wheel of my keyboard to be extended to the RGB zones on the mouse pad. As a result, both devices mesh really well together.
However, the Synapse software isn’t quite self-explanatory. It takes a bit of playing around before I understand the system of effect layers and their application to the different RGB zones. But that has nothing to do with the mouse pad. Eventually, the software starts doing whatever I want it to at all times.
I discover my inner poet as I’m trying to describe the lighting effects. They make me think of a glowing aquarium. Or light shimmering through a sheet of polar ice. Or a portal to another world.
Usability
Before my review, I was curious to see whether the mouse cursor would be easy to control. The surface of the mouse pad is milky transparent, which I was concerned would be a problem for the mouse sensor. However, that fear turned out to be unfounded. The potentially scattered laser light coming from the mouse didn’t cause my optical mouse any precision issues.
Quite the opposite, in fact. The mouse glides smoothly and easily over the pad, even slightly better than over the fabric surface of my Goliathus Chroma. The firm, slightly rough plastic seems to help the mouse glide. When I test the mouse on the smooth tabletop, it feels a little more cumbersome.
The downside to the pad’s solid surface is that mouse movements are clearly audible. It sounds similar to using a mouse on a tabletop, albeit slightly quieter. On my own soft mat, mouse movements are barely audible. All that being said, the sound doesn’t bother me. The mouse is still very quiet compared to the rattle of the keyboard. Not only that, but I almost always wear headphones, so I can’t hear the mouse anyway.
Unfortunately, after just 40 hours of everyday use, I’m still unable to tell whether the surface of the Firefly might eventually develop unsightly traces of use and whether they would affect the lighting.
I also use the mouse pad’s additional USB-A port to plug in my mouse’s Wi-Fi adapter, as suggested by Razer. As expected, it works perfectly.
In a nutshell
Beautiful lighting effects for a pretty penny
I really like the combination of glowing neon edges and soft colour effects in the middle. What’s more, the real-life product does, in fact, come very close to Razer’s marketing photos.
The only question remaining is: do you actually need a mouse pad like this? If you’re simply looking to protect your desktop, the answer’s no. Any other significantly cheaper pad will do that just fine. The lighting is a sheer indulgence. Unlike keyboard backlighting, which makes keys easier to identify, mouse pad backlighting serves no practical purpose whatsoever. If you see RGB lighting as a needless extra, you certainly won’t need the Firefly V2 Pro.
But if bright colours make you feel good, you’ll definitely enjoy this mouse pad. As for whether the hefty price tag outweighs the joys of colour, you’ll have to make up your own mind.
Pro
- gorgeous lighting
- offers slightly better mouse mobility than a fabric surface
- one computer USB slot for mouse pad and mouse instead of two
Contra
- mouse is slightly noisier when moving over this pad than a fabric mat
- high price tag
Header image: Debora Pape
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
Computing
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