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Kensington SlimBlade Pro Review

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Kensington SlimBlade Pro Review

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The Kensington SlimBlade finally got a tuneup. The company’s low-profile trackball design has been around since 2009, making it one of the older mouse alternatives on the market. Considering how long it’s been, you might expect Kensington to go back to the drawing board and reinvent the wheel (or ball), but the new SlimBlade Pro merely adds a few modern features to justify a modest price increase to $119.99. Most notably, the Pro adds 2.4GHz and Bluetooth wireless support, dual optical sensors for increased precision, and more customization options. These are strong improvements, but revisiting the SlimBlade design after many years reveals a few flaws that the update doesn’t address. The extra comforts in the SlimBlade Pro keep the venerable trackball from feeling too outdated, but there’s more work to be done. The company’s own wireless Expert Mouse trackball remains our top trackball pick.


Low Profile, Big Trackball

At a glance, you’ll have a tough time spotting the difference between the old SlimBlade and the new. Measuring 2.7 by 5.3 by 6 inches (HWD), the device has the same shiny, graphite-colored plastic base and large ruby-red trackball. True to its name, the SlimBlade Pro is thinner and more compact than most desktop trackballs, particularly for one with a large 55mm ball. Aesthetically, that’s a blessing: Most trackballs are bigger and bulkier than the average mouse. So is the Kensington, but its sleek design doesn’t look like an eyesore on your desk or take up a ton of desk space.

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Of course, that attention to aesthetics takes its toll on ergonomics. The flat, tapered bottom edge of the base provides very little support for your wrist and arm. When using the trackball, your wrist naturally sits flat on your desk, tilted slightly upward. In theory, you could choke up on the trackball to put your wrist on the base, but that would make it harder to move the ball precisely. Realistically, you should still use a wrist rest with the SlimBlade Pro, and it would be nice if Kensington would provide a basic one in the box. After all, what’s the point of using a trackball to minimize your lateral wrist movement if you wind up flexing your wrist all day?

Kensington SlimBlade Pro with trackball removed


(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

The top of the base is divided into four clickable quadrants: left click, right click, center click, and back, by default. You can also set four “combo clicks”—both left panels, both right panels, both top panels, and both bottom panels—using the KensingtonWorks configuration software. That gives you eight inputs to which you can assign media controls, keyboard shortcuts, and other functions. In lieu of a scroll wheel, you can simply twist the trackball to scroll up and down in documents and webpages. It lacks the satisfying tactile click you get with a scroll wheel, but it feels very natural and reduces the need to move your hand from the trackball.

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The physical design of the click panels, however, is unchanged from the old SlimBlade and leaves a lot to be desired. The bottom panels are very large and don’t click consistently, requiring more or less pressure depending on where on the panel you click. If you press near the bottom, where you need the most force, you can feel the plastic bend a bit under your finger. If you click in the ideal spot, near the edge of the ball, clicks feel snappy, but finding those spots takes a little time. More important, there’s no point in having jumbo click panels if you only want to press certain parts of them.

Kensington SlimBlade Pro sensor


(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

That said, moving around with the trackball feels fluid and responsive. Like the original SlimBlade, the Pro has two PixArt PAW3220 optical sensors in the base to track the ball’s movements. They deliver very tight, responsive tracking. It’s not enough to overcome the trackball’s natural limitations—I wouldn’t recommend any trackball for precise tasks like gaming or image editing—but I was impressed by how quickly I adjusted from using a mouse to feeling comfortable with the trackball for everyday productivity and web browsing.

Kensington SlimBlade Pro dongle storage


(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

The biggest change to the SlimBlade Pro is wireless connectivity. You now have three connection choices: a USB wired link, a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection via a USB dongle, or a Bluetooth wireless connection. This lets you connect up to three devices to the trackball and swap among them at will. On the left side of the base, you’ll find a switch that lets you choose a connection or turn the trackball off. On the right is a Bluetooth pairing button that also lets you quickly swap among four preset cursor-speed settings.

Kensington SlimBlade Pro connectivity switch


(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Kensington SlimBlade Pro DPI switch


(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

According to Kensington, the SlimBlade Pro’s battery will last for as much as four months on a charge, so you’ll rarely need to plug it in if you don’t want to. Like the company’s other wireless products, the USB dongle link features 128-bit AES encryption, providing additional protection for workers concerned about possible cybersecurity flaws.


The KensingtonWorks App

As I said, Kensington provides configuration and button remapping for the SlimBlade Pro via its configuration software, KensingtonWorks. It’s a straightforward app that provides access to a basic set of functions including button mapping, cursor-speed adjustment, and scroll speed when you twist the trackball. You can save different button maps for different programs such as Chrome or Zoom, so you have different shortcuts for each app. You can also specify an alternate speed, accessed with a keyboard shortcut, for either extra-fast scrolling or high-precision mousing.

KensingtonWorks

(Credit: Kensington)

All the functions in KensingtonWorks are simple to set and easy to control, but some obvious configuration options are missing. You can’t change the cursor-speed presets that you access using the button on the side of the base. (Even if you could, Kensington does not provide numerical DPI values for cursor-speed settings.) Nor can you save separate trackball profiles for different users (though you could, theoretically, do so by backing up specific settings to cloud storage in case you switch devices). Though KensingtonWorks’ simplicity makes things easier for office workers who don’t care about precise customization, the baseline standards for mouse software are simply higher than this in 2023.


Verdict: Everything Old Is…Well, Mostly Still Old

Even with the jump to wireless, the Kensington SlimBlade Pro feels dated—or, perhaps more accurately, it’s a design that’s always had flaws despite its longevity. Some aspects of the trackball work very well: It is precise, looks great on your desk, and has a small footprint. But the lack of a wrist rest undercuts its ergonomic value, and its inconsistent click panels make using it feel wonky at times. I’d strongly endorse Kensington’s Expert Mouse wireless trackball, which prioritizes ergonomics and costs slightly less, over either SlimBlade model.

That said, the SlimBlade Pro succeeds in its way. Adding wireless support and other upgrades for only $10 more than the original makes the SlimBlade Pro more appealing if avoiding a bulky-looking trackball is your top priority. Hopefully, however, Kensington won’t wait another decade to take a bigger swing with a new compact trackball design.

Kensington SlimBlade Pro


3.0

Kensington SlimBlade Pro Image
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$119.99 at Kensington

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MSRP $119.99
Pros
  • Compact ambidextrous design
  • Wired and wireless support
  • Twist-to-scroll
  • Dual optical sensors
  • Great battery life

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Cons
  • Large click panels can be tough to press
  • Low-profile base offers little thumb or wrist support
The Bottom Line

The updated wireless version of Kensington’s SlimBlade trackball still looks great and takes little desk space, but it’s no more comfortable to use than the original.

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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/kensington-slimblade-pro