I now have what I would consider to be a collection of iPad / capacitive touch stylus’ each with their own unique “style” for lack of a better word. They vary in size, weight and capacitive nib so that using each brings on a different effect and has strengths and weaknesses in different areas. You may have read up on different stylus styles before, but in this article I want to focus on how these specific three are best used. Oh, and I did I mention, that each of these stylus’ are incredibly affordable and available on amazon.com for less than $10 each? Well, they are, which is why I wanted to review them, because I think there are so many stylus’ out there that are two to three times the price and work similarly that consumers should know how to get the most bang for their buck.
Design
Pogo Sketch
The Pogo Sketch was one of the first stylus’ I had ever heard about, and it was the first I ever purchased for my Apple products. Initially, I had purchased this stylus to use with my Macbook Pro’s touch pad, but it ended up getting much more use on my iPad. This light weight, slim stylus has one unusual feature that sets it apart from other stylus’ and that is the foam nib which I will describe in more detail later. This stylus comes in a variety of colors to suite your tastes, but for review purposes I will be using my hot pink Pogo.
BoxWave Stylus
The BoxWave stylus has a popular look and feel that many are already familiar with. It’s short but hefty metal shaft is heavier in hand and more reminiscent of the weight of a fountain pen. It’s nib is a wide rubber half moon that has a bouncy feel like a rubber ball when you push on it. There are many similar stylus’ available that are much more expensive, such as the Targus and Griffin branded stylus’ that share the BoxWave’s size and nib style. Again, this one comes in a variety of colors as well, but I am using a silver one for review.
AYL/Acase Stylus
The final stylus I am going to review today is almost a hybrid of the first two. The AYL stylus (also known as Acase stylus) is the longest of the three but with a mid-width and mid-weight that reminds me more of a stick pen. Like the BoxWave, the AYL has a rubber nib, but the size is about a third smaller, much closer to the size of the Pogo Sketch’s nib. This nib is also not as resistive as the BoxWave and has a lot more give to it. Finally, this stylus too comes in a range of colors, but today I am using a black model for review.
Writing
Pogo Sketch
The dense cushion nib of the Pogo Sketch gives the stylus a unique balance when in use that juxtaposes the feather light weight of the shaft. Writing does not always feel fluid but you definitely get the sense of the connection of the nib to the screen of the device, like one gets with the nib of a pen against paper. The Pogo Sketch writes well if you have large handwriting, but its real strength is sketching and drawing. The dense nib gives sketching more of a painterly feel. Although there are not many stylus’ with this unique nib, the Nomad Brush is another stylus that is geared towards iPad artwork such as drawing and sketching but with a much higher price tag, so if you’re looking for a stylus to help you draw on your iPad, you may want to test out a Pogo Sketch first.
BoxWave Stylus
The large rubber nib of the BoxWave stylus is sometimes difficult to write with. Hand writing is often skewed with this stylus and it is best if you write larger as compared to smaller hand writing which is often unreadable. The nib does move with a fluid motion across the screen, which is good, but sometimes writing will not show up depending on the angle of the nib on the screen. The style of this stylus is very generic and not very well thought out as its length causes you to need to scrunch your hand in order to get a good grip, however, it does very well as a replacement finger if all you need your stylus for is selecting icons and navigating the internet. Also, sketch noting and annotation is decent on this stylus. Overall, however, the nib is just too large and impractical for writing or any detail work.
AYL Stylus
The small rubber nib of the AYL stylus gives the most natural and effective writing experience out of all three of the stylus’. The smaller nib size means you can write smaller much more effectively and the flexible tip gives an almost floating feeling as it moves across the iPad’s screen. The balance of this pen is by far the best and it feels the most like a real pen or pencil in hand. The length is perfect in hand, which means you can use a natural writing posture or grip with this stylus and still get an excellent result. You can compare this stylus to the Bamboo Touch stylus whose high level of craftsmanship and smaller nib size make writing or drawing on the iPad a much more natural experience. This stylus, however, is about a quarter of the price of the Bamboo Touch but still remains much of the same superior craftsmanship and materials as the higher priced stylus.