Basically, when you have your trackpads configured as your mouse / aim, the red zones become disabled. I noticed this the second I tried aiming with the right trackpad. My aim would just go dead when my finger slid into the red zone. It's also reproducible on the left trackpad by configuring the left trackpad as your mouse. Demonstration of the issue [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/ymgpiu/the_mouse_trackpad_setting_has_an_absurd_deadzone/).

It's not a hardware issue. The Steam input tester shows 100% of the trackpad registering touch. It's an intentional software dead zone and the bad thing is that it's not configurable and you can't disable it. Same thing exists on the Steam Deck.

Apparently it's there to prevent "hooking" which happens when your finger flattens out as it nears the inner edges of the trackpads and causes your aim to hook. Demonstration of hooking [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZQXbDvLAcg&t=15s).

Instead of trusting users not to flatten their finger as they near the edge, they force this absurdly large dead zone which makes the tiny trackpads even tinier. I'm hoping more people become vocal about this and convince Valve to make the dead zone configurable.

More details in [this Steam Deck thread](https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/1/3757726160336816075/).

Steam Controller inherits same trackpad flaw that Steam Deck has