ELECOM IST PLUS Trackball (M-IT11MRS): Specs, Pros & Cons
ELECOM sells more trackballs than anyone, and the IST PLUS is the current thumb-operated one that sits between its cheap M-XT models and the flagship IST PRO. The model number on the box matters: M-IT11MRS is this version with a bearing ball support, M-IT10MRS is the identical trackball with ELECOM's ball-transfer support, and the support is a small part you can swap yourself with the tool in the box.
Everything else is shared. A 36 mm ball sits under the thumb, read by an infrared LED sensor that defaults to 500 dpi and can be set anywhere from 100 to 4,000 in ELECOM's Mouse Assistant software. There are five buttons including the wheel click, all on silent switches, and the wheel is a single plain wheel with no tilt. Three profiles of button assignments and DPI live on the trackball itself, so they follow it between computers.
Connectivity is the reason to pick it over an older ELECOM: it pairs over Bluetooth Low Energy and over a 2.4 GHz USB-A receiver, registers three devices at once, and switches between them with a side button and an LED channel indicator. The receiver stows in the base when it is not in use.
Power is one AA cell – alkaline, manganese or rechargeable NiMH – which ELECOM rates at about two years and one month. There is no built-in battery and no USB-C. The body is 96 by 126 by 52 millimetres and 120 grams without the cell, sculpted for the right hand only.
The buyer it suits is someone moving to a thumb trackball for wrist comfort or desk space who wants quiet clicks and multi-device switching, and is happy to keep a AA in the drawer. It is not for left-handers, for anyone who wants a tilt wheel, or for a gamer who needs a stated polling rate.
Category strengths
Where the ELECOM IST PLUS Trackball (M-IT11MRS) beats the average
- Has onboard memory ?
- Has software customisation ?
Where the ELECOM IST PLUS Trackball (M-IT11MRS) trails the average
- A much lower max sensitivity ?4,000 DPI vs 20,759.06 DPI (avg)
- A heavier build ?120 g vs 95.68 g (avg)
- Fewer buttons ?5 vs 7.75 (avg)
- No USB-C charging ?
- No quick charge ?
- No free-spin scroll wheel ?
- No wireless charging ?
Editor’s note
The thing to understand about the IST PLUS is that ELECOM has finally built the thumb trackball people asked it to build for years, and then made it confusing to buy. The two part numbers are the same device with a different support piece under the ball – bearings on this one, ELECOM's ruby-style ball-transfer on the other – and since the part swaps out with a supplied tool, the choice is a preference, not a specification. Buy whichever is in stock and swap later if you care.
What ELECOM got right is the everyday stuff. Silent switches on every button matter more on a trackball than a mouse, because a trackball tends to live on a shared or quiet desk. Three-device switching over Bluetooth and a stowable receiver make it a proper laptop-and-tablet device, which Logitech's thumb trackballs only manage at a higher price. Onboard profiles mean the DPI and button map survive a machine change without reinstalling anything.
Two years on a AA cell is the other argument, and it cuts both ways: no charging cable ever, but no battery gauge you can trust until the LED complains, and no USB-C if you had hoped to standardise.
What would make me hesitate is the plain wheel. No tilt, no free-spin, one wheel: for spreadsheets and timelines that is a real limitation, and the ELECOM way around it is a button assignment, which is not the same. ELECOM also publishes no polling rate or latency, so anyone who wants to game on a trackball is buying blind.
I would buy it for an office or home desk where quiet, comfort and switching between two or three machines matter. I would pay more for Logitech's MX Ergo S if a tilt wheel or a rechargeable battery is a must, and choose a fingertip trackball instead if thumb operation has ever bothered a thumb joint.
Specifications
Quality bars are generated automatically against 78 other mice.
Sensor & tracking
Design & handling
Switches & latency
Connectivity
Battery
Features
Sources and verification
Where the specifications come from
- Datasheet or manualelecom.co.jp
Verification
- First published
- Specifications last checked
- Sheet completeness
- 20 of 34 specifications verified; the rest show as Unknown and are never estimated or scored
- Basis
- Research-based: specifications and editorial text were compiled from the documents listed here and the manufacturer’s published data. We have not tested this unit ourselves; where independent measurements are mentioned they belong to the linked publication.
Where to buy
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Price history
Mice with similar specs to the ELECOM IST PLUS Trackball (M-IT11MRS)
Ratings & reviews
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The bottom line
The ELECOM IST PLUS Trackball (M-IT11MRS) earns a VS Score of 29, trailing most of the 79 mice we compare here, at least on the spec sheet.
- Who it’s for
- Someone moving to a thumb trackball for wrist comfort or desk space who uses two or three machines, wants quiet clicks in a shared room, and would rather change a AA cell every couple of years than charge anything.
- Who should look elsewhere
- Left-handers – it is sculpted for the right hand only – anyone who needs a tilt or free-spin wheel for wide spreadsheets, and gamers, since ELECOM publishes no polling rate or latency.
- The trade-off that matters
- You get multi-device switching, silent switches and onboard profiles at a price where Logitech offers none of them, but the wheel is a plain single wheel and the power is a AA cell rather than a rechargeable pack.
- The main alternative
- Logitech MX Ergo S – the thumb trackball with a tilt wheel, a rechargeable battery and an adjustable-angle base, for buyers who want those three things and will pay the premium.
The VS Score is calculated from the weighted specifications above, compared with every other mouse we track — a shortlisting guide, not a substitute for your own priorities. See how we score.
