REVIEW – Each day, I spend a lot of time in front of a computer and apart from daily work at my job and from just surfing the net, I spend hours at a time editing photos and/or videos. Over the years, I have opted to use a trackball mouse and I am always looking for one that is better than the one I am using at that time. When I got the opportunity to try the Kensington Expert Mouse, I was delighted. Here we go!!
What is it?
The Kensington Expert Mouse is a wireless trackball mouse that is designed to connect via Bluetooth or via the included wireless dongle. It performs all expected mouse functions.
What’s in the box
1 x Kensington Expert Mouse
2 x AA Batteries
1 x Palm Rest
1 x Instruction Manual
1 x Wireless Dongle
Design and features
Features:
-
- Wireless connection via Bluetooth 4.0 LE or USB nano receiver
- TrackballWorks software lets you customize all 4 buttons, adjust cursor speed
- DiamondEye optical tracking technology for premium cursor control and accuracy
- Scroll Ring to scan up and down pages with ease
- Large ball designed as a perfect sphere to provide exceptional precision
- Detachable wrist rest supports hand and wrist for ergonomic comfort
- Ambidextrous design works equally well for both right-handed and left-handed users
- Auto-sleep helps conserve AA battery life
Specifications:
- Compatibility: Chrome OS 44 and above, macOS 10.8, macOS 10.9, macOS X 10.10 or above, macOS X 10.11, macOS Sierra 10.12, macOS 10.13 or above, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
- Controls: Customizable Buttons, Scroll ring
- Sensor: Optical
- Trackball Diameter: 55(mm)
- USB Receiver Size: Nano
- Wireless Type: 2.4Ghz, Bluetooth 4.0 LE
- Period of Warranty: 3 years
This trackball mouse has a nice large ball, and inside of the base, there are strategically placed contacts for fluid movement. The red ball and the finish of the base are both attractive. The entire mouse is lightweight but well built.
At the bottom of the base of the mouse, there is a battery compartment and 2 selection buttons.
The selection button on the left is for power on/off and the one on the right toggles the connection preference between the included wireless dongle and Bluetooth. At the right side of the battery is a slot for storing the dongle.
The picture below shows the trackball with the palm rest connected.
Performance
This trackball mouse performs very well, with easy Bluetooth pairing or the dongle, and is very easy to use. Since I am a fan of the trackball type mouse, I really enjoy using it. The large ball makes navigation very easy, and the removable palm rest makes using the mouse for a long time very comfortable. The TrackballWorks software makes customization very simple.
Here are some screenshots from the software:
For more information on the software customization, click here.
What I like
- The easy setup
- The size of the trackball
- The nice overall performance
- The option for use via Bluetooth or the dongle
- The palm rest
What can be improved
- For what the muse is designed to do and how it is designed to work, I can’t think of anything that can be improved, at least in my opinion and for my workflow.
Final thoughts
As I mentioned earlier in this review, I was already a fan of the trackball mouse prior to trying this model. While this mouse does come in a wired and wireless model, the wireless model is my preference. This mouse does everything that I want and need in a trackball mouse including the requirement of being comfortable to use for long periods of time when I am editing photos or videos. Kensington gets two thumbs up from me for the Expert Mouse.
Price: $70.89
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: This sample was provided by Kensington.
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What kind of sorcerery is this?
Did you see the position of the “middle button”?
It is a lovely desktop ornament (the ball should weigh more and be cold to touch) but I am completely flummoxed at the possibility of any use.
I am going to look for videos of this mouse in use.
The Microsoft wireless comfort desktop 5000 has the last great mouse anyone will ever need in my not so humble opinionated opinion.
I really want to see this mouse in use especially for photo editing.
So assign it someplace else if you use that button often. All the buttons and combinations are completely programmable.
I’ll admit I’m a bit biased – I’m on my second of the linage, having had one on my desk for over 20 years now. (The older design – before laser tracking – could fit a billiards ball, on steel bearings if you wanted weight.)
Oh My Goodness
https://youtu.be/e9QxYYGPhjA
You can be productive with a trackball.
But the guy says you get used to it “after a few weeks of using it”.
That sounds ridiculous. I think when you get used to it there is greater pointer accuracy for smaller movements but the learning curve must be stiff.
It think $70 is too high a price for a love it or leave it gadget.
Thanks Julian for introducing me to a more energy efficient way to (mouse? Mouse around?) interact with my computer.
The price of these puts me off and I am sure that the earlier Kensington Trackball mouse that I use wasn’t as expensive.
Apart from this a glaring absence to me as a Linux user, is the lack of indication of support for use with Linux, even if native Linux software allows for setting the options. It would be encouraging for me to know that just as my present trackball works for me very well, this one would as well.
If the argument is that Linux is not used by so many, I think that if sales is the way that use of OS’s Linux will always show up as not being used so much, but the fact remains that because it is a free operating system, there must be a considerable market for Linux users, if only peripheral and software developers would wake up to this. If the Windows software that presumably goes with this trackball also works using WINE, as many Windows software’s do, a mention of this would be very helpful as well, please.