Artisan zero
It comes sealed in a cardboard envelope with typical branding and descriptions adorning it. Pretty simple packaging, but it does the job. Obviously I won’t be able to test its durability over the course of a few hours, but if the durability of the Hien is anything to go by, this pad should get some good mileage. I expected it to falter early like the g2 did but it’s still going strong…today I received a new contender for the title, the Artisan Zero X Soft (Medium). I got this beast in December 2011, just in time for a ruthless Australian summer – the ultimate mouse pad sweat test. My prayers were answered in what is my current daily mouse pad, the Artisan Hien Soft (Medium) (HI-SF-JB-M). Other than that though, performance wise it was the best mouse pad I’d ever used so overall it was a bitter-sweet purchase for me and I really longed for another Artisan pad that addressed my issues. The first was that the corners would lift up over time, and the second was the dreaded peel issue at the front which really was a letdown for me.
![artisan zero artisan zero](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FGcAAOSwzb9i65QZ/s-l400.jpg)
My initial impressions of the mouse pad were good, but there were still some problems. I was lured in by the OP’s post about durability and quality and got myself a g2. So my G9 and I suffered with this Razer eXactmat for many years until I eventually heard about Artisan on this Geekhack thread. In winter it wasn’t too comfortable to use either. The reason was grit/sand/dirt would get on the mouse pad and it shredded the feet and scratched the bottom of the mouse.
![artisan zero artisan zero](https://costcofan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Costco-Keto-Ice-Cream-Bars-Stack.jpg)
Once Razer and all the gaming brands started making hard surface mouse pads I thought to myself “Finally! Mouse pads that won’t wither away on me within a few months”…alas, while this was true, hard surface mouse pads were not right for me.
![artisan zero artisan zero](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/SsQAAOSw3dtdSw2M/s-l640.jpg)
For a long time this has meant that cloth mouse pads are absolute rubbish for me because the front edge where my wrist sits gets eaten away as the adhesive that holds the surface down slowly succumbs to my acid sweat.