Keychron's T1 HE Trackball Lets You Reposition the Ball for Your Hand
Keychron has opened preorders for the T1 HE Wireless Adjustable Trackball Mouse at $59.99, in black, white, or translucent finishes. The Verge reported the launch on 13 November 2026. Shipping is expected to start in early December.
The defining hardware choice is the ball. The T1 HE uses a 34mm trackball mounted on the side of the body, which you roll with your thumb instead of sliding the whole device across the desk. Two dials on the underside adjust the ball's position vertically and horizontally, so you can place it relative to your thumb and the desk surface. The ball can also be extended or retracted, with travel limited to a few millimeters in either direction.
The pointing sensor is optical, meaning it tracks movement with light. Sensitivity, measured in DPI (dots per inch, which sets how far the cursor moves for a given physical motion), is adjustable from 100 to 2,400 DPI. You can cycle through presets with a dedicated button or set values in Keychron Launcher, the companion configuration software. The device has six customizable buttons in total.
Power comes from a 600mAh battery, a measure of charge capacity in milliamp-hours. According to The Verge, the battery is rated for up to 106 hours in Bluetooth mode, or 98 hours with the included 2.4GHz wireless receiver. The mouse can also run wired over a USB-C cable.
The broader context here is the ergonomic argument that has long surrounded side-mounted trackballs. Thumb-operated balls move fine motor work away from the wrist and forearm, but they work well only when ball placement suits the individual hand and desk height. Fixed-geometry designs make the user adapt to the hardware. Mechanical adjustment of the ball's position, combined with extension and retraction, is an attempt to shift that burden back onto the device.
The announcement does not answer several open questions. Repositioning dials on a ball housing can introduce play or drift over time. The few millimeters of extension range will matter for users with larger or smaller hands. Sensor behavior at the 2,400 DPI ceiling, and how Keychron Launcher handles per-profile settings, will only become clear once units reach reviewers and buyers.
In my view, the practical appeal lies in a single device that accommodates different hand sizes, desk heights, and connection modes, switching between Bluetooth, a 2.4GHz receiver, and wired USB-C. Those constraints usually call for separate products. Whether the adjustment mechanism holds up under daily use will determine how well the design serves that purpose over time.
Preorders are open now, and shipping is expected to start in early December. Buyers who want to test the ball placement for themselves will get their first chance once the units arrive.
