Digital Stationary for E INK based e-notes has been a growing segment for the past few years. There have been many new entrants to the field who have developed WACOM and EMR compatible styluses. Many of these products would be considered premium and do not come for free, with the purchase of an e-note, such as an Onyx Boox, Remarkable or Fujitsu Quaderno. With so many options now available, what are the best styluses on the market? Today, we answer that question and give you a comprehensive ranking.
10) Staedtler Noris Jumbo – This is a pen made in Germany that looks like a real pencil and is made of wood. It has a plastic nib and has an eraser. It incorporates passive EMR Technology, so there is no charging required.
9) Bigme Pen – The pen has 4,096 degrees of pressure sensitivity, which means the lighter or harder you press, the thicker/thinner the lines will become. Many pens for Wacom screens are battery free, but not the Bigme one. The top of the pen is removable, with a USB port, you can connect up a USB cable to your MAC/PC and charge it. The cap is magnetic, so it is easy to remove. The design of the pen is grey, it has a power button to turn on or off, helps conserve battery life. It also has a back, forward and eraser button on the sides. I think the stylus has a very interesting design.
8) GVIDO Pen – The stylus pen was designed exclusively for GVIDO. Developed jointly with Wacom the Stylus Pen allows comments to be added to a score, an important element for musicians. The Stylus Pen is very lightweight and weighs about 8 grams. It can be used when GVIDO is upright on a music stand or flat on a table. the Stylus Pen does not require charging. Just like writing with a pencil on paper, a newly developed eraser function is located on the opposite end of the Stylus Pen tip. The eraser is sensitive and requires only a light trace so that it can be used even when GVIDO is placed upright on a music stand.
7) Lamy Al-Star – The LAMY Al-Star EMS stylus offers perfect ergonomics and the feeling of a natural writing experience. With its exchangeable nibs and more than 4,000 pressure levels, it is suitable for composing long texts as well as for making complex sketches and drawings. Thus it combines the advantages of writing manually with the unlimited possibilities of digital processing. It has no battery and has 4,000 degrees of pressure sensitivity.
6) Supernote Heart of Metal – Heart of Metal Series comes in 10 different colors. The stylus are made of a high grade brushed aluminum and have metal lapel clips and they weigh around 21g. They have cermamic nibs, which never need replacing and are very hard, this stylus is only compatible with the Supernote lineup, unless your e-note has a glass based screen and screen protector.
5) Mitsubishi WACOM Hi Uni Digital Stylus – It uses the same wood as the Staedtler pencil, and it has a hexagonal axis with a soft smell that only applies to wood. In the same manufacturing process as the pencil, the traditional Japanese colors maroon and wine red are combined. A gold ring is placed on the “monochrome” axis, and the Wacom’s digital pen technology is integrated into a shiny and smooth housing like lacquerware that is created by repeated painting. Inspired objects are born. The pen pressure corresponds to a maximum of 4096 levels of pen pressure recognition and, in addition to the ease of holding a pen, offers a natural feeling, a highly precise character taste, lightness and thinness.
4) Remarkable Marker Plus – The Marker Plus has an aluminium body and is black. There is an eraser on the top, which is perfect for drawing, annotating PDF files or ebooks. Instead of using a capacitive eraser, it actually has a button, which presses down and you hear an audible click. The Marker Plus has a magnet inside and will automatically attach itself to the Remarkable 2, and it’s very strong. Not only does it snap to the side of the device, but anywhere you want, even the screen.
3) iReader X-Pen – This stylus features 4,096 degrees of pressure sensitivity. The outer layer is made of a highly durable plastic and the nibs are made of plastic. The core of the stylus is made of aluminum, if you twist top of the pen off, there are replacement nibs stored inside the canister. There is a aluminum clip on the pen, perfect to attach to a case or in a pocket protector. This pen was originally designed for the iReader e-note product line, but it is compatible with virtually any digital note taking device.
2) Onyx Boox Note Air Stylus – BOOX Pen, as the specialized stylus made for Note Air, features a magnetic body, 4096-level pressure sensitivity, ergonomic design with a large diameter, and a stiff nib that brings you excellent writing experience. But how different is it from the other BOOX styluses？What makes BOOX Pen unique? Unlike active Bluetooth pens, BOOX styluses are the passive capacitive ones that don’t require a battery to write on E Ink screens. But what makes BOOX Pen stand out is its Shinonome GII refill. The refill and the pen shaft design are the two most significant factors when considering to buy a pen. This also applies to styluses. The Shinonome GII refill features a compact body, a buffer, and a small, stiff nib. The similar size of a ballpen refill makes it perfectly fit into the BOOX Pen’s shaft with a 9.5mm diameter. And the buffer can not only absorb shocks but also provides a better writing experience.
1) iReader X-Pen Gen 3 – The 3rd generation iReader X-Pen is one of the best stylus on the market. It has a nice heft and comes in Blue and White. It has 4096 degrees pressure sensitivity. This is an all new design and has hexangular pattern, which makes it easier to hold. This stylus has new eraser, it does not press down, like most styli, instead it is sort of like a capacitive eraser, has to be seen to be believed.
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.
