Supernote, the company behind the A5 and A6 e-notes, have been obsessed with creating digital stationary products. The Heart of Metal series was released last year and provided the highest grade stylus on the market. Today, Supernote has just developed a new nib and it is only available from Good e-Reader.
Supernote is calling it, nib-free in their marketing material The Supernote nib is comprised of a high grade composite ceramic material, that is durable and structurally sound. It does not wear down, so you never have to replace the cartridge.
The company told Good e-Reader that “during countless experiments, we tested high-hardness materials such as stainless steel, nickel-titanium alloys, and finally found the flexural strength of zirconia ceramic 1100 with a hardness of 88 – 90 HRA (Rockwell hardness), which is close to the hardness of sapphire and is fit as synthetic material for the tip of electromagnetic digital pens. With Supernote’s original FeelWrite self-recovery film, the new nib material does not cause scratch nib worn out as well.”
High frequency of friction between soft nib and hard screen causes nib worn out easily. Many users who have a Remarkable or Sony Digital Paper and draw all of the time, have to replace the nibs every two months in average, and some users with heavy pen pressure habit need to replace the nib even every week. Replacement of nib or refill, with the continuously extra expenses, has deterred many people from using digital pens.
If you buy a Heart of Metal stylus or Classic Stylus, you are automatically upgraded to the new ceramic nib, for free. If you buy a bundle with the Supernote A5 or A6, and choose the stylus you want, it will also come with the new nib system. Do you have any existing Supernote stylus? There will soon be standalone cartridges you can buy, but they are not available during the initial launch.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.