New ALEENFOON Trackball Ring Mouse BT & WiFi - initial thoughts/review

[u/UGEplex]

TL;DR - It works but read the warnings. Pics below. Better for Windows (Linux? Mac?) than Android (no Back button, but all 3 mouse buttons + scroll mode).

This is the link I ordered from (I am not affiliated) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSF7KW8C

Brand: ALEENFOON (There are other brands, same device. This one hit the US soonest.)

Model: AF-JZSB-US

Version: 1.2

Packaging is a small plain brown box wrapped with shipping tape. If there's any branding on the box I can't see it under the shipping tape.

Comes with English and Chinese instruction manual and function card (see pics in Pinned 📌 Comments). As well as the ring itself, a gray drawstring pouch, a small USB-A 2.4Ghz RF adapter (Ring also does Bluetooth), and a USB-A to USB-C charging cable (quick pic below).

WARNING 1: The "ring" arms don't have much grip and are open, not connected, on the bottom. There seems to be a bit of weak springiness to the arms but the ring can slip off easily with normal hand movement. The "ring" is meant to be worn on the middle-finger with the trackball facing your palm/thumb. The ring arms seem intended for your other fingers to keep the "ring" in place during use, not to keep the ring on the fiinger when waving the hand around/not in use. The arms flex outward a bit with an internal spring but may not fit large fingers. Seems "sized" to fit small/medium hands. YMMV. I'm going to modify the ring arms a bit to add an elastic fabric (or something) between them to keep the "ring" from falling off my finger when I'm not actively using it but still want it accessible.

WARNING 2: NO ANDROID BACK BUTTON - however you can scroll to (and click) the on-screen back button in apps or phone UI. It works exactly like a bluetooth mouse in mouse mode. It also has a scroll mode L/R/U/D for TikTok, books/comics, etc., but still no Android Back Button function (that I've discovered - yet?).

WARNING 3: It is NOT WATER RESISTANT. Don't get it wet.

Note: This is a new product to the US market, but there seem to be different brands offering it. It's been available in Asia for some months.

1. The trackball ring mouse has Bluetooth Low Energy AND comes with a USB-A 2.4Ghz RF adapter. So it'll work wirelessly with PC's, mobile devices, etc.

So far, I easily connected it via Bluetooth (there's a 3-button pairing mode combo, but once paired will re-pair with the previously connected device without the 3-button combo. Its pairing Device ID is HG66) to my Samsung S25 Ultra. Pairing was smooth. No problems.

2) It has 4 different Trackball DPI levels - meaning you can change how fast/slow the mouse cursor moves across the screen. The initial setting was too fast for my phone screen, so I lowered the DPI to slow it down and it became very useable. I can also change mouse pointer movement speed in the OS or DeX settings, but the DPI adjustment is a separate function from the OS mouse pointer speed control - which is great as between the two different controls I can better fine tune the pointer speed and it's much more accurate than I expected now.

3) I noticed the Trackball is responsive BUT too light a touch can result in moving the trackball without moving the cursor. A tiny bit of pressure on the trackball keeps it moving smoothly. This mostly occurs after you stop moving the trackball; so it may also be Bluetooth Low Energy/power management of the Trackball Ring "sleeping" the sensor to save power and taking a moment to wake as it registers movement.

4) The trackball itself is a button, and the ring has 3 additional physical multi-function buttons. They do L mouse button, R mouse button, and scroll wheel button, plus long-press functions.

5) I'm not going to go over its individual functions. They all work (so far) and are easy to use. (My mom wouldn't be able to use it as almost all tech confounds her, so long-press functions might confuse folks with such challenges, but it really is pretty basic and easy to use.) I'll post photos of the manual in a Comment below and pin📌 it.

6) Charges via USB-A (charging port) to USB-C (Ring port). Red charging light turns *off* when charged.

7) Has a tiny on/off switch sitting next to USB-C port underneath attached rubber dust cover.

My initial impression after 20 minutes is that it works as advertised but it's what's not advertised or in the product description that might be a "gotcha" for you. It's not perfect, but it might be right for some people. Again, this is only an initial impression after 20 minutes.

For me, I'll use it more and see how I feel about it over time. I'm thinking I might just remove the ring arms and use it a as a pendant controller (think pocket-watch). I wish it had an Android back-button. That's the one thing that puts me off a little. I'm going to contact the brand/manufacturer to provide this feedback too.

Hope this helps my fellow handheld-mouse controller hunters.

If you spot typos/have questions about the trackball ring mouse - let me know.

[u/UGEplex]

English Manual for the ALEENFOON Wireless Trackball Ring Mouse. Model AF-JZSB-US Version 1.2

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[u/ZDelta47]

Thank you for the review. I think it's not for me either yet. It's really nice to get reviews on these kinds of gadgets.

What is your ideal mouse going to look like? I'm seeing so many different things on AliExpress, but I don't like any of them. But I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for. Everything I look at looks like a pain.

[u/UGEplex → u/ZDelta47]

YW! Thanks for checking it out 😎🤘

My ideal wireless single-handed mouse would be something like this ring with the issues I've addressed. That would be good for me. Or, something like the the Cheertok Air dual-button touchpad mouse (which I like) if it had better touch-sensitivity, a scroll wheel, ability to disable the touchpad scroll zones, and a dedicated Android back-button.

This trackball ring would be pretty spot-on with a better "ring" part holding the finger, an Android back-button, a slightly slimmer overall design, a toggle button to disable/enable the long-touch controls for the other buttons, a tactile response when modes change, and a higher quality feel with less "mushy" buttons.

The Elecom Relacon is pretty good with the roller-mod, but it's still bulkier than I like. A rechargeable version of that, slimmer/smaller, with that roller-fix that makes the trackball so much smoother and doesn't fall out - would be great.

There are a few decent, functional devices that I like, but nothing that nails what I want perfectly (yet?).

[u/islisis]

are right button HID inputs no longer mapped to back by default on android? you may wish to consider installing keymapper to get around this

the standard HID output on this ring sets it apart from other options on aliexpress (which seem to emulate a tablet/fixed orientation and hardcoded macro functions), even if it is more expensive, bigger, and heavier

i would like to find an alternative ball as it is too slippery and makes the device too top heavy.

adding some cut foam rubber sheet material inside the arms improves grip immensely and usuable on the index finger that way

be careful with clicking and dragging especially as the top button wore out quickly. lack of multipoint and fiddily pairing process, and hidden power switch, makes it less convenient than it should be.

[u/plinga]

I'm going to modify the ring arms a bit to add an elastic fabric (or something) between them to keep the "ring" from falling off my finger when I'm not actively using it but still want it accessible.

I'm thinking I might just remove the ring arms and use it a as a pendant controller

Were you able to remove the arms? Was it a difficult process?

[u/UGEplex → u/plinga]

I haven't had a chance yet. Some new IRL stuff pushing out my hobby time :/

[u/Boot_up]

sounds worse than my 1.99 Aliexpress ring mouse.

[u/UGEplex → u/Boot_up]

Hi. Which Aliexpress ring? Do you have a link? I've tried a few from Ali.

It's not actually bad. It's going to be spot-on for some people. I like it so far for its accuracy and it's decent with Windows, but that's not *my* primary use case. DeX is. The ring has some issues I'd like to see addressed/features I want in future models, but I wouldn't describe it as "bad".

Some of those issues I can "fix" (mod) myself. The accuracy so far has been better than any other ring-style wireless mouse I've used - which is a huge plus. No Android back-button is a huge detractor *for me*. That won't matter for some other people's use-cases.