Hi guys! My good friends at Maxgaming sent me the Talongames Hydrogen a while back and I figured to give my thoughts about it in a written format, since my video schedule is quite full with mouse releases. Hydrogen is part of the Talongames Element series mousepad lineup and it is a very interesting speed pad option with some quite unique characteristics. The black XL variant is available on Maxgaming for 44,90e which makes it quite competitive pricing-wise as well. The size is the tried and true 490x420mm with a total thickness of 3mm. The base is proper INOAC SlimFlex aka Poron in the mid firmness and it provides a nice firm base for your mousing action. Stitching is nice and tight and below the surface. Overall I’d say the build quality on the pad is exceptional and well worth the price. The surface on the pad is quite interesting and unique. The weave consists of visible horizontal lines that are easily felt by your fingertips. The lines do make the X-axis a tad bit quicker than the Y-axis which can feel jarring for some people, but personally I do like these kinds of pads for games with a lot of horizontal plane aiming. For games that require a lot of verticality or diagonal movements, I would not really recommend this that much. The speed is overall in the same ballpark as the Raiden. The feeling on the skin is pretty similar to the Pulsar eS Neptune, so not the smoothest but I would not call it abrasive either. Like a nice matte surface. Due to the lines on the surface, some sensors do not seem to like the pad that much. The main offenders are surprise surprise, Logitech’s mice. They do not track on the pad at all and it almost feels like they are trying to track “trough” the weave in a sense. I did also encounter some spinouts on the Pulsar X2F CL with their newer XS-2 sensor but those seemed to be a more of a rare occurrence. So overall I would say the pad is a nice unique offering in the sea of speedpads. Firm base, fast glide and overall impressive build quality are fantastic things to have with this kind of price. For a little bit more, you can also get the version with an anime-style design if it's something you like.