Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Ploopy Launches Bean, an Open-Source TrackPoint-Style Mouse

The pocket-size wired device targets tinkerers through open designs with QMK/VIA customization.

Overview

  • Ploopy opened preorders for the Bean on its website at CAD $69.99, or about US $51.
  • The Bean is a small external pointing stick that uses a Texas Instruments magnetic sensor rated to detect movements as fine as 3 microns.
  • The stick offers up to 11mm of travel and sits between four Omron D2LS-21 buttons that users can map to any function.
  • Customization is central, with Ploopy’s QMK firmware, VIA-based remapping, a Raspberry Pi RP2040 controller, a 3D‑printed case, and open hardware files for modding.
  • The device connects over USB‑C and lacks wireless, a tradeoff that reviewers say limits the original TrackPoint benefit of staying on the keyboard but could suit niche uses like a compact presentation remote.