Kensington has announced a new version of its Expert Mouse wireless trackball with a major facelift and some new functionality. The Expert Mouse TB800 EQ features a slimmer design than its predecessor with a new built-in wrist rest making it look more like the sleeker SlimBlade Pro that Kensington launched in 2022. But the svelter profile doesn’t come at the cost of features. When it’s available later this year with a price bump from $109.99 to $129.99, the new Expert Mouse will include even more buttons, and three scroll wheels.
The new Expert Mouse maintains its predecessor’s dedicated scroll ring around the base of the trackball, while adding two additional vertically oriented scroll wheels found on either side. By contrast, the cheaper SlimBlade Pro has you scrolling by twisting its trackball.
The ring’s functionality can be toggled between smooth vertical scrolling or stepping line by line for when you’re reading websites or documents, while the side wheels facilitate horizontal scrolling and zooming which can be useful for navigating the timeline interfaces of video and audio editing apps. If you don’t have a use for the scroll wheels, they can be disabled individually using three switches on the underside of the mouse.
In addition to keeping the original Expert Mouse’s set of four large programmable buttons surrounding its trackball, the new one has four additional buttons along the top. They come pre-programmed for controlling media playback and volume, but their functionality can be customized using Kensington’s desktop software.
Instead of running on AA batteries, the new Expert Mouse comes with a rechargeable battery that Kensington says will keep it powered for up to four months. It connects to devices wirelessly over Bluetooth or using an included 2.4GHz USB dongle, but its USB-C charging cable also facilitates a wired connection to a computer if you’d rather not stress over battery life.
Update, October 28th: Kensington has updated its pricing for the Expert Mouse TB800 EQ which is now $129.99 instead of $149.99.
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