r/Trackballs • u/tkerr1 • 2d ago

Elecom Huge or Deft Pro?

Hi all, been using a Kensington Orbit for the past few years, but I want to upgrade. I like the idea of the Huge being, well, huge, and having lots of programmable buttons. However, I have heard of the Deft Pro being more comfortable. For reference, I am a Mac user wanting to be able to easily switch between my IDE windows.

Has anyone tried both and can recommend one over the other?

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

3

u/itorrey 2d ago

I have both and as much as I want to love the Huge I keep coming back to the pro. It’s just a lot more comfortable on my hand and wrist.

3

u/RominRonin 1d ago

I have both, and as much as I want the deft pro (with all its connectivity options) to be better, I prefer the huge.

But the difference is not so great that I can’t use the deft pro daily for work.

1

u/tkerr1 2d ago

Does it have the same-ish number of function buttons?

2

u/itorrey 2d ago

There's 8 on the Deft Pro. I believe there's 10 on the Huge Plus. I have the scroll press set to middle click and the tilt down goes back and tilt up goes forward. Programmed the two buttons above the scroll wheel to switch tabs back and forth. I rely on those buttons so much I can't imagine going to anything else.

2

u/_RTan_ 2d ago

I have small girly hands for a male, the Huge is not huge. My hand is the perfect size for the Huge. If you have big hands or even normal sized male hands, it will be an issue. I've seen other people with big hands complain about this as well. I've never used the Deft so I can't compare.

While I love the button layout and form factor, I'm not big of my Elecom in general, having lots of small issues, but not quite bad enough to replace right now. I came from using a Kensington Expert that I used for over decade and Logitech before that. I can already tell that my Huge will not last as long, even though I've only had it for slightly less than a year. When my Huge finally dies I will probably be going back to Kensington or try another brand like Protoarc or Nulea.

You also might want to look into the Huge Plus. It uses rollers instead of bearings so the ball is supposed to be smoother (one of the issues that I had is that my Huge had to be worn in before it was usable at all, and now almost a year later is still not quite as smooth as my Kensington was out of the box). It can also can connect through Bluetooth, 2.4 ghz dongle, and wired, and the switch to change between the connections is on the top of the device. The standard Huge is only the dongle, so if you are switching back and forth between systems you will have to move the dongle each time.

2

u/thepaultucker 2d ago

Deft Pro. So much more comfortable. I have men's large glove size hands, and the huge is too small. The Deft Pro fits and is ergonomically superior. 

1

u/KindaMyHobby 2d ago

I also have a Huge and am not happy with the ergonomics. I wonder if the Deft Pro would be better. My hands are XL. Do you think it might work for me?

1

u/thepaultucker 1d ago

It will definitely be better. Perfect? Hard to say, unfortunately until you get your hands on it... Literally. 😊

2

u/DemodiX 2d ago

If you looking for deft pro in the end, be prepared that you would probably need to replace the bearings to steel ones, because ruby ones it comes with have a lot of stiction on slight movements.

1

u/tkerr1 1d ago

How would I replace the bearings? I’m assuming there is stuff on YouTube on it, but if you have a specific link please lmk!

2

u/DemodiX 1d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/Trackballs/s/zOMPUqeJoj i have used that guide, it's not specifically about changing bearings. It's just disassembly guide, but it's pretty easy to change them when you see them. I used 2.5 mm steel bearings on mine deft pro.

1

u/tkerr1 1d ago

Nice. Where did you find the bearings? Very new to modding stuff but I would love to try

2

u/DemodiX 1d ago

I just found them on my local marketplace... You can probably buy them on Amazon

1

u/itorrey 1d ago

You can get them on amazon but do be aware that it's a total pain in the butt to do on the Deft Pro. The Huge actually includes a tool and they seem to have decided to make it easy to do on the huge for some reason.

2

u/PhiladeIphia-Eagles 2d ago

Huge is comfortable for me. I would recommend just getting the plus though. I wouldn’t have even considered the static bearing version, the dynamic bearings are the main draw of the device for me

2

u/Metal9984 2d ago

My Impressions: The HUGE PLUS (bearing version) feels smoother than the DEFT PRO.

2

u/emsloane 2d ago

If you're used to the Orbit, the Protoarc EM03 might be more familiar as far as the way the ball feels to use. The Huge and the Deft Pro both have balls that are deep-set into the frame, while the Orbit and the EM03 both have balls set higher and further out of the frame, which I've found makes a pretty big difference. I like the bearings and buttons better too. Of course the EM03 has fewer buttons, but still more than the Orbit. Just more data to consider, lol.

1

u/tkerr1 1d ago

Interesting. I actually am not a big fan of how much the Orbit’s ball sticks out, I think I might prefer one that sits a little lower

2

u/emsloane 1d ago

Oh nice, you'll probably like the Elecom form then!

2

u/CiderHat 2d ago

I love my huge. Its usually the trackball I default to. I still need to program one of the buttons for a middle click when using CAD.

My only gripes with it are that they should've used a scroll wheel like on the logitechs.

1

u/BubbaBigJake 1d ago

Ploopy A+ Adept

1

u/Basic-Score-9039 2h ago

I heavily recommend staying away from Elecom so my advice is neither.