Kensington Expert Wireless Trackball Mouse Review
Once you go trackball you won’t go back
Here’s something I definitely never used before. I’ve reviewed so many keyboards and mice of all sizes and shapes, but to completely alter the way I interact with a computer interface was not something I anticipated liking. Yet here I am, half a year later and still operating my work PC without a normal mouse. So how exactly do I get things done with the Kensington Trackball mouse? It’s much easier than it looks.
Purchase Price: $66.11
A New Kind of Hamster Wheel
Better With Time
A switch flipped and I actually found myself better about scrolling with this trackball mouse than with normal mice.
A trackball mouse is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of a photocell with a lens reflecting the motion you use with your hand like a regular mouse, a trackball rolls to navigate a computer screen. Think of a hamster on a wheel, now remove the hamster and put human fingers to do the running on the ball. If it seems like a lot of work to move a cursor around, I was with you there. That is until I used the Kensington every single day for about a month. A switch flipped and I actually found myself feeling better about scrolling with this trackball mouse than with normal mice. I’ve used some of the best consumer mice people can buy too.
So the big question is whether it takes more effort to bring my cursor over to point on my screen using a ball? If it does, it’s a minimal difference in time. What the ball does help with is my hand posture. Instead of spreading my index and middle finger apart to accommodate a scroll wheel in between, the Kensington allows my fingers to rest in a more natural position. It really is oddly comfortable to use. In fact I also felt like I was navigating my screen cursor more gracefully while rolling the ball than I do with my mouse. It took a little getting used to, but I’ve become a pro at moving my cursor directly to where my head is telling it to go.
Anyone see HAL-9000?
The large ball can be removed from the hole and fiddled with when I’m bored. It’s heavier than it looks. The smooth texture of the red sphere allows me to either use one or two fingers to roll. Either of them work to navigate precise movement too. I’m pleasantly surprised at how smooth it operates. It’s deceptive for my brain to process rolling with the actual cursor movement on my screen, yet it somehow became the more natural movement the longer I utilized the unit.
The other function that might be an even bigger benefit than even the ball itself is the scroll ring. Like a majority of people in the world, I normally scroll through pages using a scroll wheel on my mouse. The motion of spinning down and up was ingrained in my mind as the natural action to move a page up and down.
Ergonomic Friendly
Kensington uses a rather large sized scroll ring housed around the track ball. With ridges that give the finger texture to grip while spinning, I found the scroll ring to be a joy to use. I never realized how much wasted motion is used on a scroll wheel until I transitioned to a scroll ring. Looking closely at my finger motion when using a mouse, I now realize that my index finger flexes and flicks in an abnormal motion. It’s no wonder I find my fingers to be stiff after a long day behind my computer.
With the scroll ring, my thumb is resting on a natural spot and rolling in a natural motion. There’s a lot less tension on my hand than when I’m using a mouse. It’s something that isn’t noticeable to your body until about a month or so using the different form factor. I didn’t buy this product anticipating a magical health benefit many people associate with the word “ergonomic.” Still, I am pleasantly happy that I will claim to be converted into that segment as I do find the Kensington to fit into that category well.
The mouse comes with a large wrist rest
The trackball mouse even comes with a curved wrist rest that perfectly slides into the shape of the mouse’s body. The way the company describes this included add-on is that it cradles the hand into a comfortable resting position. That's exactly how I would describe the wrist rest. It’s so good that I can’t even begin to fathom not using it anymore. There’s a hump right at the bridge of where the wrist rest connects to the body of the trackball mouse that the palm and wrist sit on. Since the trackball mouse is built slanting upwards, making it back heavy, the wrist rest begins at the lowest position of the two units. This acute angle is perfect for the resting position of a human hand. That just happens to also be the position I’m operating my computer with too. It’s brilliant and I don’t know why I didn’t give trackball mice a shot earlier.
Serves A Functional Purpose
It’s not like the Kensington isn’t cool either. I’ve had so many co-workers wowed with the appearance of the odd tool. If you don’t know what HAL-9000 is, you should probably do a Google search. Once you see it you can’t unsee it. I think the Kensington stands out in a sea of familiar products. It’s just purely different and that’s a good thing in a tech setup sense.
The Kensington certainly has a unique look
Surrounding the trackball and the scroll wheel are four customizable buttons. They flank out of the ball like a TIE Fighter from Star Wars. Once again, once you see it you can’t unsee it. The buttons have shallow input but they’re satisfying to click into. My bottom left button is my traditional left click, while the bottom right button is my left click. The top right button is my page back button. Finally the top left is my spare button to set for miscellaneous needs depending on what I feel like using it for. I do occasionally click on a button by accident as my fingers anticipate the next operation I want to partake in. In my case, it’s often clicking the page back button when setting up for the scroll wheel that gets me. Still, I find it acceptable to operate my everyday needs with.
The Kensington connects to my PC via a USB dongle using 2.4 Ghz wireless connection. However, it can also connect directly with a Bluetooth connection to bypass the need for a USB receiver. Connection is reliable and the auto-sleep function seems to be right on the money. This is important because this model doesn’t charge with a cable connection to power. Yep, this mouse requires alkaline AA batteries. It’s not the end of the world, but it would have been a better user experience if there were rechargeable soldered batteries. Still, it’s been half a year and I haven’t recycled the first set of batteries out of the unit yet so I’m quite satisfied with the overall battery department.
final thoughts
Finally, this thing is exceedingly accessible to just about anyone to use. It’s an ambidextrous design and perfectly symmetrical. I also don’t find that it operates any better or worse with a dominant or non-dominant hand either. Unlike a traditional mouse that still requires a certain technique that most people use their dominant hand to operate, the Kensington trackball mouse is just as easy (or hard) to use with a right hand or left hand. It either feels natural to use or it doesn’t, in which case if it is the latter, it will feel more natural the longer it's being used. I personally don’t find that to be the case when using a normal mouse with an off-hand even with prolonged usage.
While this was supposedly designed for the Microsoft Surface lineup, the Kensington works with all Windows computers, macOS, and ChromeOS as well. If you’re bored on vanilla looking mice or find yourself wondering if there are better options out there than your traditional mouse, I highly recommend trying out this trackball tool. There are lots of trackball mice in a traditional mouse body. This on the other hand, is something unique and not just unique for the sake of being unique either. It’s designed in a way that makes sense. The structure just cradles a hand perfectly into a position that isn’t straining. When I purchased this, I thought I’d give it a few weeks at my work computer and switch back to a normal mouse. Now I’m not sure I want to use anything but this on all of my computing devices.
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