Kensington SlimBlade™ Pro Wireless Trackball, Rechargeable battery, Bluetooth 2.4GHz connection options (K72080WW)

I got this to use with my left hand after I broke my dominant right hand, and it works great for this use case. I'm a longtime user of Logitech thumb trackballs, which are better for avoiding repetitive strain on wrists, elbows, and shoulders than these finger trackballs because thumb trackballs allow you to keep your whole arm stationary while only moving your thumb. However, obviously they're not good for people with thumb joint or more commonly thenar eminence problems. So pick your poison.But then I was suddenly faced with not being able to use my right hand and my trusty right-handed thumb trackball. So I had to scramble. First, I looked for a good trackpad for Windows, since I'm familiar with the Apple Magic Trackpad that I use with my MacBook, which is even more ambidextrous than finger trackballs. But after some research, I learned that there aren't really any slam-dunk, go-to trackball options for Windows like there is for Mac. All of them seemed to have some disadvantages, and many people just use the Apple Magic Trackpad with special software for Windows. This seems janky to me, so next I started researching finger trackballs, and this led me to the Kensington SlimBlade Pro, which is one of the most highly recommended options. I chose this over the other top recommendation I kept seeing because that other option has a rough, porous 3D printed surface that seems to me would be a lot harder to keep clean--being easy to keep clean is very important to me for something that I handle for many hours every day.For my primary goal of ambidextrous use, the SlimBlade Pro is great in terms of physical design. But software is a different story. You don't have to download any new software if you only need to use it with your right hand. But it has 4 large buttons arrayed in quadrants around the ball, so ideally, I wanted to be able to remap the buttons to their mirror image when switching to my left hand. You can do this in Windows, but it'll affect all your mouse input devices and is a hassle to switch. And unfortunately, both versions of the Kensington software that let you remap buttons--KensingtonWorks and Kensington Konnect--are garbage, so I had to uninstall them after struggling with one after another (and even removing them was painful because they leave a lot of residual junk in the PC that I had to clean out with Revo Uninstaller). I finally settled on installing X-Mouse Button Control to reprogram the buttons, although I had to vibe code a small script and shortcut to remap the buttons after every startup.As I mentioned, the physical design is fine. Among the few things I would change would be to make the case perfectly rectangular instead of the tapered and rounded outline. Straight lines and 90 degree angles would let me fit it right next to the edge of my keyboard and my wrist rest, instead of having a lot of free play due to uneven gaps (yet another example of looks over practicality). Also, you have to be careful when you pick it up because the large and heavy plastic ball is only held down by gravity, so it'll easily fall out if you accidentally hold the unit at an angle. Fortunately, the ball just fell a couple of inches onto my desk. I'm guessing it would easily survive a fall onto a hard floor, but I wouldn't want to risk it. But because the ball is so easy to remove and almost every surface is a smooth, shiny plastic, it's very easy to keep clean, even easier than my Logitech thumb trackballs. And so far I haven't experienced any of that annoyingly gritty scratchy feeling that the Logitech thumb trackball eventually develops. After several months, the ball rotates just as smoothly as it did when out of the box. But every couple of weeks, I wipe the ball with a soft cloth and spray compressed air into the open cavity.Lastly, I want to mention that I've been getting just a fraction of the advertised 4-month battery life on a single charge. It's been more like a couple of weeks for me. I wish the battery was user-replaceable.

Have been using the Kensington Expert Wireless version with desktop PC. Wanted a lower profile version to pack with a laptop. Was concerned that the lack of a scroll wheel on the Slimblade would make it less appealing.Since receiving and using, have found the Slimblade as good or better than the Expert. Easily adapted to the scrolling function and find the accuracy/sensitivity of the device every bit as good. Seems to hold charge well. Button action feels slightly different but still comfortable to use.Use with Capture One for photo editing and find the custom programming of the buttons to be very helpful combined with keyboard keystrokes. Would recommend as an easier to use option than Tourbox type editing tools.

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.

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!

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.

This is a solid well made piece of equipment. The operation of the buttons has some clanking, but I rather like that feedback. The function of the 4 buttons & button-combination is completely customizable with many options for the action that's taken. I just love the twist-&-scroll ability, where you twist the trackball & whatever page you're in slides up or down. It's so much faster & easier than shuffling over to the slide bar at the right of the page, & sliding down manually. For me, this alone was worth the purchase. After a month of using the trackball for many hours, the charge level is still at 100%. I use the trackball on a Bluetooth connection. It's fast & reliable. I am very pleased with the smooth & silent operation of this trackball. Having a large ball is really useful for me to keep control of the mouse over a very large screen. If you've only ever used a mouse, expect a period of adjustment for you to get used to the operation & feel of a trackball. But, this is the best. A little regular practice, & you'll find this fast & more accurate than anything you could have done with a mouse.

I always loved trackballs and this is the best ever. It sits a little lower than the original one so it is easier on my hand. The ball glides smoothly and is easy to clean. The buttons are big and easy to hit in many different areas. I love being able to switch to my left hand since I have occasional problems with my right arm.The ability to connect in different ways makes to compatible with everything.

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

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

Pour comprendre mon parcours avec les trackballs que j'utilise depuis déjà au moins 8 ans, je vais lister ce que j'ai eu :- une Kensington Orbit qui était tombée HS- une Kensington Slimblade filaire depuis au moins 5 ans : je l'utilisais chez moi puis je l'ai transférée au travail- une Elecom Deft Pro achetée par curiosité il y a on va dire 3-4 ans pour chez moiJ'avais bien aimé la Kensington Orbit qui avait d'ailleurs certaines qualités par rapport à la Slimblade qui est cependant supérieure sur beaucoup de points (nous allons y venir).La Slimblade filaire est devenue naturelle pour moi grâce à sa prise en main quasi parfaite pour ma prise/pour la forme de ma main. Bien sûr, la spécificité de la Kensington Slimblade est le défilement avec la boule, là dessus c'est très naturel et agréable avec le bruit de retour satisfaisant. On peut même jouer avec la boule pour se détendre. Elle est également facile à nettoyer et la boule est grande.Si maintenant on ne vient à l'Elecom Deft Pro, j'avais remarqué dès le départ des points assez peu satisfaisants :- elle fait assez cheap à pas mal d'endroits, du moins elle est assez "rugueuse"- la boule n'est pas fluide et accroche souvent- revenir au scrolling à l'ancienne type souris vs l'anneau de l'Orbit ou le défilement naturel avec la boule de la Slimblade est un gros downgrade- le scrolling est fatiguant comme l'accès à certains boutonsCependant, je l'avais gardée histoire de ne pas avoir la même chose partout. Cependant, après une mésaventure hier sur le changement de DPI malencontreux qui semble avoir rendu le trackball encore plus imprécis avec beaucoup d'accroche (et un temps mort au changement de DPI pendant lequel la trackball ne marche plus), je me suis dit que cela suffisait que j'allais acheter enfin une trackball qui me plaît.En premier lieu, je me suis demandé si je n'allais pas prendre une Ploopy (d'autant plus que l'Elecom a rendu une partie de JV pénible et que Kensington n'est pas cité par les gamers), cependant je n'ai pas trop eu envie d'attendre une livraison de l'étranger avec de la douane. Cela me serait sans dout revenu aussi cher que la Slimblade Pro mais on verra une autre fois.J'ai voulu également prendre l'Expert pour varier les plaisirs et économiser un peu, puis je me suis dit que ça serait dommage de revenir à un scrolling mécanique, puis je me suis dit "zut allez je la prends même si je n'aurais aucune surprise".Une fois reçue, le verdict est sans appel : je retrouve bien ce confort, cette fluidité, ce geste naturel que je n'ai pas avec l'Elecom, c'est flagrant, tout est plus fluide et agréable. j'utilise l'index et le majeur à peine courbés et le pouce clique sur le bouton gauche. Le petit doigt touche le bouton droit. Sur l'Elecom, le pouce et les deux doigts sont courbés, ce qui fatigue. Globalement, je peux la manipuler sans tension, presque négligemment du bout des doigts.Mais comble de tout, alors que je m'attendais à avoir la même expérience qu'avec la Slimblade filaire, je me rends compte que cette nouvelle version semble avoir été améliorée aussi en termes de capteur et de précision générale.En effet, même si je ne fais pas vraiment de travaux de précision, il arrive parfois que je doive bien cliquer assez rapidement (je ne joue pas à des jeux rapides, mais je ne peux pas me permettre de trop foirer non plus) et cette version semble à cet effet un peu meilleure. Ce n'est pas le jour et la nuit, mais c'est assez significatif ; c'est peut-être parce qu'elle est neuve également, je mettrai à jour cet avis comme d'habitude.Il arrivait parfois en effet que la Slimblade filaire ait une sorte d'"arrêt" quand on ralentissait. Cet effet est bien moindre ici même s'il semble exister. Le bouton DPI aide également bien à personnalisé son expérience.Autre nouveauté de ce modèle, la possibilité de l'utiliser sans fil avec au choix du BT ou du 2.4Ghz avec le dongle fourni (sous la trackball). Je ne suis pas un grand utilisateur de souris sans fil, surtout vu la forme du produit qui est clairment taillée pour le bureau, mais le 2.4Ghz répond bien (cela a bien marché sur un switch USB Ugreen également), pas testé le BT mais je suppose que oui (je n'en vois pas l'intérêt avec le 2.4Ghz pour ma part mais si c'est là on ne va pas cracher dessus.Pour finir, l'esthétique de cette Slimblade est réussie, plus sombre que la filaire (qui a un anneau chromé et des couleurs un peu plus claires), ce qui fait plus "pro" et élégant si j'ose dire (bon cela ne va pas changer la face du monde). Enfin, Kensington fourni un adaptateur USB A vers C pour le branchement sur le PC, ce qui est un plus.Concernant le software, je ne l'utilise quasiment jamais, les touches par défaut me conviennent (contrairement au deft pro) mais il y a à peu près tout de basique (choix des actions des touches, sens de défilement, accélération...et quand même ce que j'aime bien, la possibilité de ralentir le pointeur, mais n'est-ce pas déjà dans Windows ?). Je ne vais pas m'étendre davantage là dessus car au mieux je vais faire un petit réglage et ne jamais y retoucher.Je ne vais pas non plus revenir sur l'avantage des trackball à mes yeux par rapport à une souris : pas besoin de bouger physiquement l'objet, détente avec le toucher de boule, plus précis pour ma part, gros boutons avec un usage de doigts que je préfère.Pour conclure, je suis content de retrouver ce modèle amélioré, globalement c'est la trackball qui me convient le mieux et de loin même si dans le futur je me laisserai probablement tenter par une Ploopy ou équivalent (si c'est le cas, je posterai une mise à jour ici). Si je devais peut-être déconseiller un achat sur ce modèle, ça serait pour un produit vraiment mobile. Cette trackball a clairement un design pour être posée sur un bureau ou en station prolongée, même acheter une housse pour ça me semble peu pratique, d'où mon désintérêt relatif pour le sans fil (même pour le mouvement , le principe d'une trackball c'est de ne pas bouger). Là dessus, même si elle était moins bonne, la Elecom était plus "portable". (petite, légère, compacte).