Buying Guide to Digital Pens and Stylus Pens

Digital pens and stylus pens are becoming more and more popular, but they can be complicated, and the terms can be used for different things. The wrong type may not work with the device you’re using, so it’s important to make sure you know what you’re looking for.

What’s the Difference Between a Stylus Pen and a Digital Pen?

The terms aren’t well defined yet, but in general:

• Stylus Pen - a pen that writes on the screen of a digital device, usually without any electronics inside it. In the case of old pressure-sensitive, or ‘resistive’, screens, they were just plastic sticks. With modern touch-screen devices, they’re ‘capacitive’, so they can take the place of your finger. They could be seen as unnecessary, as your finger should work fine instead, but they can feel more natural to use, and they keep working when you’re wearing gloves.
• Digital Pen - anything more complex than a stylus. The pens used on Wacom graphics tablets have some electronics inside them to register pressure levels, what angle they’re being held at, etc. Same goes for the Apple Pencil. You’ll sometimes see these referred to as stylus pens, but the term ‘digital pen’ seems to be taking over gradually. For extra confusion, the term ‘digital pen’ is also sometimes used to refer to actual pens for writing on paper, which scan the paper you’re writing on to digitise your notes or drawings as you go. But these are also often referred to as…
• Smart Pen - could refer to almost any pen with ‘extra’ functionality. Pens that digitise your writing as you write on paper, pens with voice recorders built in. And no doubt soon, magical AI-powered pens that will do several impossible things at once, just as soon as the crowdfunding campaign has gathered enough money.

Which Type Do You Need?

It depends on what you want it for:

• Operating a very old touchscreen device, one that responds when poked with a bit of plastic. For that, you need an old-school stylus pen. These aren’t as common as they were, because the devices they work with are becoming quite rare now. Look for a stylus with a conical plastic tip, sometimes in the form of a refill for a little multipen. But these won’t work with modern devices like iPhones, iPads, or Android phones and tablets.
• Using a modern touch-screen devices without taking your gloves off, or without touching the screen. For that, you need a stylus that acts like a finger, as far as the device is concerned. These usually have rubber dome tips, but some use conductive cloth. These types of screen are called ‘capacitive’ touch screens, so you’ll probably find that in the description of the stylus pen.
• Writing or drawing on an iPad screen. While a simple capacitive stylus will work, if you want to draw, or you want more responsive writing, something with some electronics inside can do a better job with more precision. The Apple Pencil is the obvious choice here, and they are very good. If you’d prefer something with more of the feel of a real pen, though, Lamy has the Safari Note+ - a real Safari digital pen that works like an Apple Pencil. It doesn’t support all the features of the Apple Pencil, but it does all the basics while actually being a Lamy Safari, so it looks and feels like one of the best-loved pens around.
• Writing or drawing on an Android tablet. In this case, you need to check if your tablet supports Wacom EMR technology. Some tablets have, essentially, a Wacom graphics tablet built in to their screen. If yours is one of them, you can also use a Lamy - the AL-star EMR - or even a Kaweco Sport.
• To write on paper, but making a copy of what you write or draw digitally. There are a few pens that can do this, like the Moleskine Smart Writing System. They use special paper, with tiny pale markings that let a little camera in the tip of the pen work out where it is on the page at all times. Once you’ve done with your writing or drawing, connect the pen to your phone, tablet, or computer, and it should transfer your work.

How Do They Work?

We’re not going to go into much depth here, if you want to understand the details, you’ll need to look elsewhere, but hopefully we’ll cover as much as most people will want to know.

Stylus Pens for Resistive Touch-Screens

The screens just sensed where pressure was applied to them. There are two layers over the screen, which can detect where they’ve been pushed together. The stylus itself doesn’t actually do anything. It’s just a convenient way to apply pressure to a small spot on the screen. A fingernail can work just as well.

Stylus Pens for Capacitive Touch-Screens

A capacitive touch-screen, as used in most modern touch-screen devices, doesn’t detect just anything, they seem to specifically detect our fingers. They’re actually detecting something conductive, and will work with many other things that are about the right level of conductivity.

Stylus pens for these screens don’t need to have any electronics in them, but they do need to somewhat replicate the conductivity of a finger. This can be done with the right types of rubber or fabric, but it does mean these styluses are usually relatively thick.

Digital Pens for Tablets

These include electronics, and have to be made to work with the electronics and sensors in the tablet screen. They won’t work unless the device has the right internals, so you need to check before buying. Wacom EMR digital pens will work with some Android tablets, but not all, and won’t work at all with Apple devices. Lamy now have a digital pen that works with Apple devices that can use the Apple Pencil.

Features can vary, so make sure the digital pen you’re buying supports the features you want - there are different levels of pressure sensing, for example, and an artist may want more precise control than someone using it for taking notes.

Smart Pens for Paper

These use specially printed paper, with a tiny pattern of dots. The pen has a tiny camera near the tip, watching the tip as you write or draw. From the pattern of dots, it can work out where it is on the paper. Your writing or drawing is recorded inside the pen, so you can sync it with your phone, tablet or computer later.

The need for special paper means you have to buy the special notebooks, or print your own patterned paper, rather than using whatever notebook you have, but many of them use a reasonably established standard called Ncode, which means there are a fair few options.