Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Adonit ’s latest stylus work with many older iOS equipment , but it ca n’t liken to the Apple Pencil .
Adonit has been in the stylus game for five years , so when Apple declare it was release its own pad of paper pen last twelvemonth , I wondered how the company planned to vie . Now Adonit has a new Bluetooth stylus , the $ 80 Pixel ( available onAmazon ) , which is more accurate and antiphonal than its older products but still no catch for theApple Pencil .
So who might want to buy an Adonit style now that Apple has changed the secret plan ? Anyone who does n’t own an iPad Pro .
The stylus that works with (almost) all your devices
This style works with the 12.9 - inch iPad Pro , but Apple Pencil reign supreme .
The Pixel ’s selling point is compatibility . Apple Pencil works with just the 12.9 - column inch and 9.7 - inch iPad Pro model , while the Pixel is compatible with the iPhone 5 , 6 , 6 Plus , third- and quaternary - gen iPads , iPad minis from 1–4 , both iPad Air mannikin , and the 12.9 - inch iPad Pro . The Pixel does n’t wreak with the little Pro just yet .
Like theAdonit Jot Script , Dash , and Touch , the Pixel has a 1.9 mm Pixelpoint tip instead of a nub or saucer , making it easy to absorb or adumbrate in apps that support Adonit Cartesian product . It has pressure sensitiveness , decoration rejection , two shortcut buttons , and a grip sensor to detect when you pick it up , so you do n’t have to plow it on . It just screw when to come to animation . The charging dongle that comes with the Pixel is the exact same as the one that add up with the Script . The end of the penitentiary magnetically click into the charger , which you plug into a USB port .
The Adonit charging dongle plugs into a USB embrasure .
I tested the Pixel with the iPad Air 1 and the 12.9 - inch professional , and while there were some noticeable differences in Pixel performance between the two devices , this stylus is a huge improvement over Adonit ’s onetime pens .
How Pixel stacks up to the Pencil
I tested the Pixel in a note of hand - taking app , GoodNotes , and sketching app , Concepts , which were the only supported apps before the stylus ’s official launch on Tuesday . eminence Plus , Astropad , Medibang Paint , and Autodesk Sketchbook are expected to integrate the new style at launch , and Adobe Sketch , Adobe Draw , and Procreate will corroborate the Pixel presently after launching .
On the iPad Pro , using the Pixel in GoodNotes was almost as unseamed and light as the Pencil , though not quite . you could change the written material motion setting in GoodNotes to optimise the Pixel ’s ribbon rejection , and while I pick out the deal place that most resembles my born writing style , I still had to hold the pen awkwardly if I wanted to drop a line with my hand have-to doe with the display . With the Pencil , I can write naturally , with the total side of my correct hand touching the screen , and the upshot looks and feel like my handwriting on newspaper publisher does . That ’s all important , because I write promptly when I ’m taking line and need a style that can keep up .
But the Pixel is still a firm pen — at least on the Pro . Do n’t expect the same story of carrying into action on older iOS devices . Using the Pixel to pass in Concepts on the first - gen Air , there was a detectable meantime between when I started sketching and when lines appeared onscreen . On the Pro , the Pixel was as responsive as the Pencil , with almost no start . Adonit selling director Rafael Gomez said the Pixel works far better on the iPad Air 2 than the Script or Touch did , and that the novel stylus combines the better of both ware .
pair off the Pixel to supported apps like Concepts is simple .
I ’m no artist , so I enlisted the help of IDG pictorial designer Erik Swanson , who has experience sketching with a variety of styluses and lozenge . Not astonishingly , he preferred the experience of using the Apple Pencil on the Pro , but the Pixel was n’t far behind . Using the Pixel on the iPad Air , he struggled to make straight lines , even with Concepts ’ snap guide turned on .
I also compare the Pixel to Adonit ’s Jot Script on an iPad Air . The Pixel has improved pressure sensitivity so you may lighten or darken your shading just by altering the stylus ’s pressure on the covert . The Pixel also has a sleeker , more traditional pen figure with a more precise Pixelpoint bakshish . Adonit added tip drag to that Pixelpoint gratuity , so it feels more like writing or draw on theme than on chalk . And it has two shortcut buttons , which neither the Script nor the Apple Pencil have . While the Pixel is thicker and heavier than the Pencil , it ’s more pen - like than the Script .
Bottom line
From forget to right : the Adonit Pixel , Adonit Script , and Apple Pencil .
The Apple Pencil wins , hands down — literally . I wish to write with my hand catch one’s breath on the screen , like I would publish on a firearm of paper . I can only do that with the Pencil . But take the iPad Pro , and therefore the Pencil , out of the equality , and Adonit ’s stylus is a more compelling steal .
The Pixel is an affordable pen that wad a gross ton of features into a sleek , easy - to - use package that ’s compatible with a wad of iOS devices . The Pixel ’s improved tip is a boastful upgrade from the Script , thanks to tip drag . I also lie with the grip sensor , which meant I could just blame up the pen and bulge out writing ( ideally — you may have to pair your Pixel with the app you ’re using if the two are disconnected ) .
The Pixel needs more app integration to be as compelling as Adonit ’s onetime styluses , but the company told me it ’s working with all the app developers that have been on display board in the past to implement Pixel support as soon as possible . And Adonit has pulled off a vast exploit in produce a style that can be used with so many of Apple ’s intersection , though the iPad Pro ’s pen - friendly display is the obvious winner . If you ca n’t or wo n’t fling on a Pro but require a Pencil - like experience , the Adonit Pixel is a winner .
