Slimblade Pro

Having used the traditional trackball for more decades than I can easily remember I decided to switch to the slimline version about 3 months ago.The "wheel" on the traditional always made an annoying sound and the weakest point on it.The "wheel" on the slimline is not physical but senses when your finger is close to the circular area around the ball, meaning there is no ring anymore and you simply get close to or touch where it used to be and spin the ball to get the same effect, and it works well once you realize how to control it. It is smooth and easy to use.The track ball is the same size and are interchangeable.The socks the ball its in has some nice improvements, gone are the tiny balls use to give it a smooth roll and always collected dead skin and dust and replaced with simple indents doing the same without as much collection. Then at the bottom you now have a hole where dust will fall out through. This makes it less sensitive to collecting particles and easier to clean.You have a choice to use bluetooth or USB cable.The buttons can be harder to click on since you now have to click closer to the center unless you press a lot harder than normal. Not a huge deal but a change.The only real issue I've started to run into namely battery life. The specs lists 4 months or charge, that was good until 2 weeks ago and now it drops to 25% and gives a flashing red-light to let me know the charge is low. Now I charge it once a week. Though annoying it does charge up pretty fast.For all that use this brand of track ball you know they are well made and this is no different and maybe even better.Inserting the USB C connector does require a much harder push, something probably made to ensure it does not fall out easily.And for everyone else, if you ever had an issue with your mouse, try a track ball mouse but one with a large ball. Small ones do not give the same control (more sensitive).---UPDATE: Called support and they are shipping a new one, can't complain about that!

I came across the Kensington Trackball about 35 years ago and it was just a very simple plug-in device. I have not gone back to using a regular mouse, or a trackpad since I started using the Kensington Trackball.It cuts down on hand fatigue, is much more precise in its movement and I’m sure it helps to prevent future issues surrounding carpal tunnel syndrome.The Trackball remains stationary and you gand works the ball & buttons. Everything is faster & easier with the Trackball.The Trackball has two left-keys & two right-keys, which can be programmed as left-click/right-click, with the remaining keys able to be programmed to snap to websites, email, etc.This is a very versatile product and as I said, I’ll never go back to using a regular mouse or a trackpad again. They are a pain.It’s the perfect merging of a keyboard and the ability to move your cursor around your page , highlight, cut/paste, etc. with speed and precision.FIVE STARS FOR THE PAST 35-YEARS & MOVING FORWARD.

In a world dominated by standard mice, the Kensington Trackball Mouse offers a refreshing — and highly functional — alternative. Designed for users seeking precision, comfort, and space efficiency, Kensington’s line of trackball mice (particularly the Expert Mouse and SlimBlade models) has earned a strong reputation among graphic designers, video editors, accessibility users, and anyone looking to reduce wrist strain. After several weeks of use, I can confidently say this mouse is more than a niche tool — it’s a productivity powerhouse.Ergonomic Design & ComfortThe most immediate difference is how you interact with the device. Unlike a traditional mouse, the Kensington trackball stays stationary. You control the cursor by rolling the ball with your fingers or palm. This design is a huge win for ergonomics — it eliminates constant wrist and arm movement, reducing the risk of repetitive strain injuries (RSIs), especially during long work sessions.The included wrist rest (on models like the Expert Mouse) adds another layer of comfort. It’s soft, detachable, and encourages a neutral hand posture. Over extended use, I noticed significantly less tension in my forearm and shoulder compared to using a regular mouse.Precision & ControlThe large, smooth-rolling ball is surprisingly accurate. Once you get used to the motion (which takes about a day or two), fine control becomes second nature. Whether you’re navigating through spreadsheets, editing photos, or simply browsing the web, the trackball allows for quick, pixel-level precision — especially useful for design work.Customizability is another standout. The KensingtonWorks software lets you program each of the buttons (typically four on the Expert Mouse) to suit your workflow — from copy/paste shortcuts to opening apps or executing macros. Scroll ring functionality is also intuitive and surprisingly satisfying. Rotating the ring around the ball allows for fluid, smooth scrolling that quickly becomes second nature.Build Quality & DurabilityKensington devices are built like tanks. The materials feel premium, with a sturdy plastic body, high-quality ball bearings, and tactile buttons that hold up well under daily use. Unlike many traditional mice that begin to degrade after a year or two, a Kensington trackball can last years with minimal maintenance — just an occasional cleaning of the ball and socket.Learning CurveThere is a brief adjustment period if you’ve never used a trackball before. It may feel awkward initially, but within a few days, most users adapt quickly. The payoff is worth it — less movement, better posture, and surprisingly faster navigation once you’re accustomed to the motion.Final ThoughtsThe Kensington Trackball Mouse isn’t just an alternative pointing device — it’s a serious upgrade in terms of comfort, control, and customization. Whether you're managing multi-monitor setups, working long hours at a desk, or dealing with wrist issues, this mouse delivers reliable performance with thoughtful design.Rating: 5/5 – Ergonomic, precise, and built to last. An excellent investment for professionals and power users alike.

Update 03-03-25I have purchased several SlimBlade Pro trackballs now. My wife has switched to the Nulea trackball as she finds the ball placement more comfortable (the ball sits closer to the buttons). I prefer the SlimBlade, but I do have an issue with the balls. Two of the balls have a flaw (a small bubble in the plastic perhaps) a small cavity maybe 2mm in diameter that catches in the bearings. This is very annoying. I replaced one ball with a LYDD replacement. The LYDD ball is smooth with no flaws (yet, at least). I will probably buy another LYDD ball but I should not need to.---Update:One problem with the scroll wheel on the Expert is that design means stuff can get into the mechanism. My current Expert has a balky scroll. I decided to give the SlimBlade a second look. This one has a stable frame so that is good. The scroll on the Expert, when not gritty is better. I hope that the open bottom under the ball on the SlimBlade means that grit falls through and not into the trackball. The older ball from my Expert works better for me on the Slimlade, it is not so slick. Some people hate the scroll click, I do not mind it but it would be nice to have an option in KensingtonWorks. The lower profile of the SlimBlade is preferable for me. The buttons on the Expert are a little stiffer which I prefer. The built in battery on the SlimeBlade is a nice feature.It has been five days and I am comfortable with the little differences between the SlimBlade and the Expert. I think the scroll is slightly better on the Expert (so long as grit is not in the mechanism. Since the Expert can get gritty it is a toss-up with the SlimBlade giving a slightly less capable but more consistent feel. The clicky noise does not bother me like some others. The buttons are too soft, lots of miss-fires. But I like the lower profile a lot. You cannot make a lower profile for a 55mm ball. I also like the built in battery. The Expert was a battery eater. I will see how long the SlimBlade runs on a charge. I can run the SlimBlade on a cord if needed the Expert will not do this.With Expert, I would occasionally lose the point with the computer wakes up. This usually required a power cycle to fix. I have not seen this with the SlimBlade (this may be a function of the latest KensingtonWorks).---I have used an Expert wireless for years. But I never liked that high ball placement. I thought that I would give this a try. Well, the lower ball placement is great but the scroll is so-so. I live in NV which means dry, and a dry finger tends to slide on the ball rather than scroll the window. This is not a problem with normal tracking since I can get two or three fingers on the ball. The other annoying issue is that the frame in slightly twisted so the whole thing rocks (in a bad way). A 1mm shim solves this but for such a pricey device, this is not a reasonable solution. I returned it.

This is at least my 4th Kensington Trackball. I began using a trackball more than 25 years ago due to a shoulder injury. By the time my shoulder healed I was used to this input method so I've stuck with Kensington Trackballs since then. I've always used the Kensington Expert Mouse which has a similar form factor but not quite the same.Those all had mechanical scroll rings which worked just fine. I've always liked the programmable button function on these trackballs. It's easy to use and while I could surely make better use of it I still find it very helpful for several of the apps that I use frequently.I wanted to try this trackball because it's rechargeable and wireless. Their other Kensington wireless trackball of this general form uses AA batteries and I am tired of having needless wires so that led me to this model. I tried one of the wireless ones a few years ago but felt the batteries needed replacing too frequently and in any case I really don't want to keep using batteries when I can avoid them so I went for this SlimBlade Pro.I had problems with this scroll mechanism from the start but assumed I would get the hang of it after I worked a while with the Kensington software and found the optimal settings. Unfortunately this unwarranted confidence took me well past the return date so here I am stuck with a $100 trackball with a frustrating, virtually useless scrolling mechanism.I cannot get it to scroll smoothly. I've tried every speed setting turned on and off inertial scrolling updated the Kensington software but no matter what I do it jumps to the middle then end of long documents and the same when I scroll back up. I can only move properly by selecting the side bar and moving that.I know it's not the computer because the scroll function on a couple of different mice and my old Kensington trackball all work correctly. It's just this one device.Apart from that it's a decent trackball and it doesn't need to be recharged too often but I would almost certainly never buy it again or recommend it except to someone who doesn't use the scroll ring at all or who would make copious use of the programmable buttons. If I were buying now I'd either get the wired version or the version that uses AA batteries or something from a different company. It's simply too frustrating not to be able to scroll properly with a $100 input device.In case it matters I'm using this with a relatively new MacBook Pro connected to a 4k display but I don't think that plays any role in this problem as my other Kensington trackball worked well, two mice with scroll rings and the trackpad all scroll correctly.The 3 stars reflect that the trackball function works well, the programmable buttons work well and the fact that it's rechargeable and doesn't need to be recharged too frequently. It can be used with bluetooth or a dongle (which lives in the base when not in use) and it has 4 dpi settings beyond the speed settings in the app. Finally, though I haven't used it long enough to be certain the mechanism seems less likely to be prone to problems with dust/dirt collection than on the old style trackballs. If the scroll ring worked correctly this would indeed be a 5 star device but I've spent so much time and frustration on this issue that knocking off only 2 stars is a kindness on my part.

Difficult product to review.On the one hand it is new, fresh, an exciting departure from the norm, an attractive piece of tech that looks stunning and gets interest from anyone who hasn't seen it before. On the other hand it is a very flawed computer peripheral that isn't good at doing the job it is actually designed for.In summary, what could have been the best pointing device I've ever used turns out to be one of the worst. It is let down by small overlooked functionality issues, that should have been obvious during testing before releasing the product, and should easily be rectified by the devices software. Poor design choices regarding the location of settings buttons on the trackball are just that, very poor functional design. It is almost as if it is a BETA version prior to the official release.Setting up the Slimblade is easy. Plug in USB and it's detected and usable immediately, or pressing the Bluetooth button connects just as quickly. I have not tried the 2.4Ghz wireless. The trackball is usable without installing Kensington Works software but to take advantage of button programming the software is required. BTW I am using Windows 11.Buttons can be assigned different actions within Kensington Works, allowing up to 8 user programmable actions. However, this does little to alleviate the biggest issues with using this trackball especially as the software doesn't have any way of disabling, either temporarily or permanently, the twist ball scrolling system. That is just plain stupid, and I cant help thinking that no one at Kensington has even tested their own product! Twisting the ball delivers a very annoying and again totally uncontrollable artificial speaker generated click click click noise. WHY? and why can it not be turned off? On top of that the Twist to scroll cannot be disabled making the trackball useless in environments that require consistent accurate movement of the cursor. The Trackball will often interpret a diagonal slight rotation of the ball as a twist and start scrolling, totally ruining the current design being drawn on screen, for instance. When playing 1st person shooter games, again the trackball will interpret your input as a request for scroll, destroying gameplay. You are just trying to look around or navigate a character when all of sudden the view point changes or zoom changes or head up display appears, or whatever is assigned to the scroll function within the game happens. This is NOT acceptable. It renders the trackball unusable and quite frankly unfit for purpose. There should be a software switch, as Kensington have not provided a hardwired switch on the device itself, to suspend the scroll twist function in addition to turning off that incessant click click click click click etc. so the trackball is of no use in most user cases already, but it gets worse........The buttons on the side of the unit to select DPI or pair bluetooth could not be in a more inconvenient position. Again, I believe there is no way anyone properly product tested this before release otherwise it would have been addressed. In order to pick up the large footprint trackball unit your hands/fingers grab the unit exactly where the DPI button is located. Instantly changing DPI settings or worse, messing up bluetooth connection.It is disappointing that an expensive and often assumed quality brand Kensington is happy to sell this beautiful ornament as a trackball when it clearly isn't ready for use, despite being available for years now. I cannot use this trackball, neither can my partner nor my work colleagues and all for the same reasons. It is not just me being difficult! This trackball really is a waste of money, effort, time etc.A quick bit of software development to enable useful features such as disable the DPI switch and disable the twist scroll and associated click click click click click click click would completely change this useless trackball into a very good product. WHY has it not been done?My more than 20 year old Logitech Cordless Trackman is way better than this Kensington effort.I do not recommend this Kensington Slimblade Pro at all. The only users likely to be happy with it as a pointing device are ones that are wealthy and don't mind overspending on a useless device and would very rarely use it, or have another pointing device anyway. There are more issues with the trackball but enough is enough, this is just a quick Amazon review.

I've only been using this a few weeks but given I have a hand injury and the other styles of ergonomic mouse weren't much help, this has been really nice and my hand does not ache much if at all by the end of the day like it had been. I can easily roll this light trackball without cramping my hand unlike typical mouse having the positions of gripping or moving or even the vertical style that I had previous to this that I was happy with before injury. The other styles with small thumb based trackball also weren't an option for me based on the grip and position of movement and repetitive stress on the thumb. I was very excited to find this and that I could keep my palm open and more flat most of the time, and that I didn't have to grip and hold to move it either. The twist to scroll feature was easy to adjust to and it takes such little effort and is little to no strain for me, and hand injury or not, I think the scroll mechanism is a really nice feature that anyone could be happy with. The buttons are big too and everything just feels relaxed and not stressing my hand. I haven't yet experimented with setting up custom buttons as my company doesn't allow downloads without admin access to use that feature. It's so easy to just connect and use out of the box, if you're ok with their default placement, I haven't felt the need beyond standard use functions or to change the button setup. It works either by wireless USB or Bluetooth. I've used it both ways without a problem between two laptops. I can't really comment on battery life after only a few weeks, but I haven't charged it at all since I initially got it; though I was OOO several days but otherwise using it everyday all day. I am really pretty happy with this and how my hand feels much better now, when before I had daily aches or cramps with others. Well worth the money!

As an owner of a much older, wired Kensington Slimblade trackball (the one with the little tab for magnetic attachment to the Slimblade keyboard), this is a major upgrade! I was hesitant at first, thinking "how much better can it be"? Well, I can say it is a LOT better.The trackball looks better, cleaner, and just looks more quality than the first one. No ugly tab sticking out, the trim ring around the ball is a darker color, just all around better appearance. I had the old one in the wired version, I've always been cautious about wireless peripherals, but I went ahead and tried this one in 2.4 Ghz wireless, with the provided dongle. I will say, at least in my case (24" iMac, Ventura), it has been absolutely flawless. No delay when waking from sleep, no skips, just perfect, one would not even think it is a wireless connection. I will also mention that the 4 buttons have a much better feel, and click, not so obnoxious and clunky as the original.Now for the best part. I never got used to the twist to scroll action on the old one, it seemed most of the time, it would be an annoying mix of scrolling, and moving the cursor around. I'm not sure what Kensington changed, or if there was something wrong with my old one, but this trackball is lightyears better than the old one in this regard. I use the twist to scroll all the time now, and it has become my favorite trackball, and I have a LOT of them, Kensington Expert, X-keys L-trac, and a host of Elecom, HUGE, Deft Pro, etc.I will mention that I do not use Kensington's software, but rather an excellent program for mice and trackballs called "Steermouse". It allows for much customization, and works very well with this trackball.I can say I am 100% satisfied with this purchase. Given some of the other reviews, I was hesitant. SO glad I tried this one out, despite having owned the older one. My confidence in Kensingon products has been 100% restored!

Wygląd kosmiczny, niski profil, duża kulka, precyzja użytkowania bardzo duża, a scroll wheel jako Ruch kulą to game changer.

This trackball is simply top notch, as far as I am concerned !Very comfortable to use, low profile, ball is so easy to spin and use, I love the way to scroll while spinning on its axis the wheel while my fingers turn around the base, switches are lovely, nice click, nice sound, nice feeling, glossy finish is nice to touch in the hand ...Bluetooth works great for me (better than my previous 2,4GHz dongles for my older trackballs).Everything on it has been well thought out and the result is an excellent product, well worth its price.Highly recommended (for trackball lovers) !

Durable , and also satisfying to scroll with

Recensione riferita al modello Slimblade Pro Wireless (ricaricabile, wifi / bluetooth). Trackball estremamente scorrevole e piacevole da usare: trovando l’equilibrio giusto tra software Kensington, risoluzione dpi e settaggi mouse del computer, si raggiunge un’esperienza d’uso senza pari.I tasti ampi si raggiungono e si cliccano agevolmente, con grande naturalezza: la mano è chiamata a fare movimenti organici, mai forzati. Comoda la possibilità di assegnare funzioni a combinazioni di 2 tasti: non solo tasto Sx + tasto Dx superiori e inferiori, ma anche tasti superiore e inferiore su ciascun lato, per un totale quindi di 8 funzioni assegnabili. Questo è un aspetto che non ho trovato illustrato in modo chiaro mentre valutavo l'acquisto, quindi allego schermate (a rischio di essere ridondante).In qualsiasi momento durante l’uso, ruotando orizzontalmente la sfera si entra nella modalità di scroll (con aggiunta di rumore meccanico sintetico, a simulare il cliccare di una ghiera). Il passaggio tra la modalità di tracciamento e quella di scorrimento è liscio come l’olio, il suono di clic è l’unico segnale che si è passati da una modalità all’altra. Lo scroll ha luogo sia ruotando la sfera con due dita come fosse la manopola di una cassaforte, che facendola scorrere con un solo dito. La naturalezza con cui si torna al tracciamento (e viceversa) è davvero sorprendente, il tutto si svolge nella massima scorrevolezza.Il design forse è un pochino troppo futuristico e al contempo la scocca è molto plasticosa, ma la sfera sembra di ottima qualità, con un bel peso e piacevole sensazione al tocco. Il prezzo è sicuramente elevato (si trova spesso usato se si vuole risparmiare qualcosa), ma sono molto soddisfatto dell’acquisto.

Esta de lujo