Roughly a decade ago my career as a journalist took a turn when I started noticing sharp, shooting pains in my hands and wrists after a day at the computer.
Thus began my quest for a pain-free workspace, and in the years since I've switched out basically every element of my PC for a more ergonomic option.
I bought an Uplift V2 standing desk to replace my old particle board shell, for example, got my hands on a more ergonomic Mavix M9 chair and invested in a decent laptop stand for working more comfortably on the road.
These were easy switches to make, and they've paid off in terms of productivity and pain relief. But one of the harder decisions to make was how to replace my trusty ol' Microsoft IntelliMouse.
I loved that thing, but when my hand started cramping after a few hours of resting on its flat, rounded shell I knew I had to try something else. So I started buying and testing all sorts of mouse replacements: ergonomic vertical mice, trackball mice, trackpads and even a Wacom tablet.
Many have been great, but recently the folks at Elecom sent us the most comfortable trackball I've ever used and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to give it up.
Elecom's extra-large trackball has been a huge relief
I'm talking about the Elecom Huge Trackball Mouse, which I'm just going to call the Elecom Huge from here on out because it's a great name.
This beast of a trackball mouse comes in either wireless or wired varieties, and Elecom was nice enough to send us a wireless model to test out. After using it for weeks of work, I have to say the extra-large trackball and wide, sloped chassis are the most comfortable of any mouse I've ever used.
Of course, a big reason for that might be that my hands seem to be a bit on the larger side compared to most folks. That became acutely clear to me when I started reviewing laptops and peripherals here at Tom's Guide, because I quickly realized my hands feel a little too cramped on most tech gear.
The extra-large trackball and wide chassis don't force me to contort my hand to use them, and the rubber padding where the wrist rests helps support my wrist during marathon mousing sessions.
Lots of folks love 13-inch laptops like the MacBook Air M4, for example, and I'm fond of it too, but the keyboard on a 13-inch laptop is just too small for me to comfortably type on. A comfy keyboard is one of the top things I look for when buying a laptop, so I tend to buy larger notebooks like the MacBook Air 15-inch M4.
So while most trackball mice are good enough for me, they cause my hand to cramp up the same way any normal-sized mouse would because my paw is too big to comfortably to grip the device.
But with the Elecom Huge, I feel like I've finally found a trackball mouse built for my massive mitts.
The number one thing I love about this mouse is how comfortable it feels to use for hours at a time. The extra-large trackball and wide chassis don't force me to contort my hand to use them, and the rubber padding where the wrist rests helps support my wrist during marathon mousing sessions.
The Elecom Huge is highly useful, too thanks to its eight programmable buttons and scroll wheel. You can customize its functions to your liking using the free (and good) Elecom Mouse Assistant software, and you can flip between three DPI settings (500, 1,000 and 1,500) to fine-tune how it feels to whip the mouse cursor around.
Admittedly, the contoured buttons took me a little getting used to, especially the small thin ones that rest beneath your ring and pinky fingers.
Even after a few weeks of use I still sometimes mix them up or hit one by accident, though that probably has more to do with user error than poor design.
Bottom line
If it's not clear yet, I really like the Elecom Huge and think it might be the best trackball mouse I've ever used.
But again, I bet a big reason for that is that my hands typically feel too large to comfortably use most PC peripherals, so this extra-large input device probably isn't a great choice for everyone.
While researching it, for example, I stumbled across reviews from some users that criticized the Elecom Huge for not providing enough support to their hands or wrists. So if you're on the fence about whether to get one yourself, I recommend doing what you can to try it out before you buy.
But for $50 (or $55 if you buy through Amazon) I think it's not the worst product to take a flier on, especially if (like me) you've been suffering from hand and wrist pain due to feeling uncomfortably cramped by your current mouse.
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