iPad stylus recommendations
Long story short, if you have an iPad Pro do yourself a favor and get an Apple Pencil. If you have an older (or non-Pro) model below are all the styli I’ve had experience with.
| Stylus | Quick Impressions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple Pencil | Best stylus I’ve used hands down. Paired with an iPad Pro it’s the closest thing to drawing for real. |
| 2 | Pencil by FiftyThree | Super reliable, well designed, and long battery life. Tips tend to tare quickly, but they’re replaceable. |
| 3 | Adobe Ink stylus | Great build quality, light weight, and easier to adapt to as the tip is hard like a real pen or pencil. |
| 4 | Ten One Design Pogo Connect | Connectivity issues and hardware flaws are maddening to deal with. Ignoring these problems, apps with pressure sensitivity support perform well. |
| 5 | LunaTik Alloy Touch Pen | My trusted sidekick for a long time. Tip (not replaceable) took some serious abuse and kept on licking. Has a refillable roller ball pen if you need a traditional writing instrument. |
| 6 | Just-Mobile AluPen | Wears out after a few months of use. Nice solid construction. Tips aren’t replaceable. |
| 7 | ZEN 3 in 1 | Precision disc tip dead on arrival so I couldn’t test that. Rubber nib seems well made and slightly smaller than others giving a bit more precision to your draws. |
| 8 | Chalkee Series Kids Stylus | Good for kids with small hands. Tip isn’t replaceable and wears out fast. |
| 9 | Universal Touch Screen Pen | Cheap, small, light, and pretty crappy. Comes in a 3 pack that are good as backup styli. |
The first iPad stylus I purchased was a Just-Mobile AluPen and used it for some time before the rubber tip wore out. Following it I ended up with a LunaTik Alloy Touch Pen after winning one in an art competition.
I like the Touch Pen because of its solid construction. The tip isn’t a squishy rubber nib and is super durable. I’ve drawn close to 400 portraits with it and it works as flawless as the day I got it. I’d still be using it if I hadn’t been lured over to the dark-side of smart Bluetooth styli.
Speaking of Bluetooth styli, before Apple’s Pencil, FiftyThree’s Pencil was my go to when using Paper. Before that, I was all about the Pogo Connect Smart Pen — even if it’s a piece of crap.
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