Review on 🖱️ Kensington SlimBlade Trackball Mouse (K72327U): Effortless Cursor Precision and Sleek Design by Jonah Koehnke

I've been using Kensington trackballs for 30 years, since ADB. Kensington manufactures the heaviest ball required for fast mouse rotation and movement. Like many others I was a little dismayed at the general drop in quality and fluidity over the years but they are still the best I could find. My last two Expert trackballs weren't working properly. One had a sticky scroll ring (even after it was cleaned and lubricated with graphite) and the other had electrical issues that caused items to "drop" from time to time. I decided to combine the two to get the last good one and decided to try the SlimBlade to replace the lost one. Needless to say, I'm very picky about these things - I need to be able to navigate my desktop quickly and intuitively. , and if the trackball is generally buggy, then it pisses me off all the time. I was pleasantly surprised to see the SlimBlade design - it eliminated many of the problems the old Expert had and reduced the number of moving parts. Instead of captive gems, bearings are now fixed. But the ball still moves perfectly - it's still a good size and weight. The keys are part of the surface, but still move easily and predictably. They made a hole in the bottom so the dust would fall and not accumulate - very nice! At first I was a little confused by the "ring" - I thought it was some kind of sensory part (no, I don't read the instructions). Instead, it detects when the two sensors are moving in the same direction and converts that into a scrolling motion. very smart! And it eliminates another moving element that always felt sticky. It took me 10 minutes to get used to it, but I can already bounce the ball horizontally and get the same or better speed than I had with the Expert models (which were rarely fast or smooth). In addition, this action is almost silent**, in contrast to the gritty friction of the Expert model. I record my screen and voiceover as I record, so the still motion is a definite plus. Overall, I think this is a significant improvement over the expert model. it immediately became smoother, more predictable, and more intuitive. Just hoping this lasts long (Expert balls were pretty solid) ** By default there is a synthetic click when scrolling. For day-to-day use, it's not disruptive at all, but definitely for the record. To make it completely silent you need to unscrew the 7 screws from the bottom (one under each rubber foot and then three arranged in a triangle under the rubber ring). The disassembled noise generator is on top of the board. It's a short cylinder with a hole in the top. You can gently pry off the top of the noise generator and remove the disk inside. I just took the top off and assembled everything else. Now it's quiet and perfect for recording.