The Artisan Hien is essentially the Zero’s counterpart in the japanese company’s mouse pad lineup. Artisan’s reputation is well known in producing some of the best mousepads for gaming, the Hien is no exception to this.
The Hien might just be the ideal threading of the needle of good speed without giving up control.
Is this Artisan mouse pad worth waiting for stock, shipping from Japan and maybe paying a slight premium over local mainstream options? Yes.
Pros
- Premium speed mouse pad
- Textured surface provides amazing speed with control
- Durable as far as cloth pads go
Cons
- Texture can irritate some people
- Harder to get
Performance
Tracking and Aiming
After playing with it a bunch I can conclude that the Hien delivers a fast and consistent tracking experience. Its unique grainy hybrid surface helps the mousepad maintain a low static friction, it’s all as Artisan claims.
The pad comes with three softness levels, XSOFT being the slowest, SOFT is the midrange and MID with the fastest overall speed.
I found the Soft Hien plenty fast, but not insanely fast like the SkyPad 3.0 for example. There was still plenty of stopping power to play tactile shooters like CS:GO and Valorant.
Faster games excel on this, flicks and tracking shine on the Artisan Hien, games like Apex Legends are an absolute blast to play.
I didn’t notice any significant difference on the pad comparing X and Y axis, all good on that front. The mousepad is perfectly consistent across all areas, just be sure to keep it clean.
I think this is the perfect mousepad for gamers that want to get out of the muddy control mouse pad world, but don’t want to go all the way to glass level speed.
Consistency
The Hien held up very well over the 30 hours I played with the pad. I don’t expect the Hien to degrade much over time as long as you clean it.
I was worried how the texture would trap dirt and grime, but so far so good.
Design & Dimensions
Surface
The Artisan Hien FX is a stitched pad with a hybrid texture. There’s an Artisan logo printed onto the bottom right of the pad. The logo has no texture or performance impact.
Some people do find the texture too much for their skin or that it snags on sleeves, I didn’t find that an issue at all, I love the texture.
Stitching
The stitching is definitely high quality, all of the stitching sits below the mouse pad surface level so avoid any collisions on the sides of the pad. I have some little fray I think from where they start the stitching, but I don’t expect it to get any worse.
Colors
The Hien FX comes in either black, wine red, sakura pink and navy blue. I gotta say I’m a fan of the wine red option.
Size options
The Artisan Hien comes in small mediu, large and extra large, here are the corresponding dimensions.
| S | 24 x 21 x 0.4 cm * MID is 3 mm thick. |
| M | 31 x 24 x 0.4 cm * MID is 3 mm thick. |
| L | 42 x 33 x 0.4 cm * MID is 3 mm thick. |
| XL | 49 x 42 x 0.4 cm * MID is 3 mm thick. |
Rubber base
The underside of the pad does a good job maintaining a strong grip on my wooden desk and white ikea desk equally as well.
I don’t suspect the underside will cause any issues as long as its kept clean.
Quality
Artisan’s reputation is one of quality. While no cloth mousepad will last forever, you should get really good mileage out of the Artisan Hien. The pad should maintain its plushness and the stitching should generally hold up.
Hien Vs. Other Artisan Pads
Zero
The Zero is Artisan’s control pad offering with a lot smoother of a surface. This is the pad to get if you think the Hien might be too fast for you.
Otsu
The Otsu is slightly slower than the Hien with a smooth texture for the folks that find the Hien texture too much.
Kou
The Kou is a medium speed pad with a large X-Y differential, the Y-axis is much faster than the X-axis on this mousepad. Finger tip grippers might like this aspect of the mouse pad, but I think it’s more a niche pad.
Raiden
The Raiden pad is the speed demon of the family. This pad is even faster Hien’s mid-speed. For the folks that really want that glass-pad experience.
Classic vs FX
Classic Artisan pads don’t have a stitched edge while FX Artisan’s do. I recommend spending the extra money for the FX version to prevent any potential fraying on the mouse pad. The stitching on Artisan pads is excellent and do a great job of staying out of the way.
Conclusion
The Artisan Hien is a mouse pad to consider if you don’t know if you want to go super fast but know you don’t like control pads.
At approximately $35 USD from Artisan directly, the mouse pad easily commands it’s price point.
This is a top tier mouse pad with not much to complain about other than if you find the textured surface irritating.
Artisan ships worldwide and is priced in Yen, but you can also find local resellers, but usually at a much higher price.
