Trackball stans, rejoice! Kensington, one of many few remaining producers of premium trackball mice, has introduced two new choices for the ergonomic diehards on the market. Kensington launched a pair of extra budget-friendly choices at CES 2023 with its new Professional Match Ergo Trackball lineup, the $69.99 TB550 and $49.99 TB450. They be part of the $119.99 wi-fi SlimBlade Professional Trackball in Kensingtons’ trackball lineup, however the place the SlimBlade Professional is manipulated by the person’s fingers, the brand new choices depend on the thumb to get the cursor transferring.

Each the TB450 and TB550 provide the identical ergonomic form with the trackball stationed underneath the thumb and are suitable with Home windows, macOS, and Chrome OS through both Bluetooth or 2.4 GHz wi-fi connections. The similarities finish there, nonetheless, with the TB450 geared up with 5 programmable inputs and the TB550 utilizing seven. The dearer TB550 additionally features a tilt-capable scroll wheel and might be recharged through USB-C, whereas the TB450 is reliant on disposable batteries for energy.

Inputs for both trackball might be custom-made by way of the KensingtonWorks software program, which permits customers to regulate components like DPI sensitivity, acceleration, and button mapping.

Whereas trackballs undoubtedly fell out of favor with the arrival of extra superior optical sensors for mice, trackballs nonetheless take pleasure in a modest however extremely devoted following. Getting anybody to ditch their present mouse for a trackball in immediately’s surroundings is a tall order, particularly contemplating how few choices exist on the market.

Kensington isn’t the one place that also makes trackballs, with Logitech nonetheless providing devoted trackball peripherals with the $49.99 Ergo M575 and $99.99 MX Ergo and Ploopy providing open-source trackballs that require just a little soldering know-how. Right here’s to hoping that with the TB450 and TB550 coming into the market someday in Q2 2023, we’d see a number of extra individuals adopting trackballs into their residence workplace.