All iPads Anyone tried the Wacom Fineline?

[jenn.y]

Hi everyone,

So, I've had trouble with my GoSmart 200 stylus breaking (twice, lasting around 4 months each), and while the customer service has been simply fantastic, I'm looking to upgrade to possibly an electronic fine-tip stylus.

Currently, I'm eyeing the Wacom Fineline, and I was wondering if anyone had experience with it? There's a mix of positive and negative reviews on Amazon, and not many reviews online or many demos on youtube. What I'd like to know about is:
-How does it work on the iPad Air 1 and 2? I have an iPad Air 1, but I'm likely upgrading when the iPad Air 3 comes out (I made the mistake of getting 16gb of storage and I'm really struggling through it), and my concern is, if I get the stylus that it won't be compatible with iPad versions after the Air 1. Wacom's website said that the Fineline (but not the Intuos Creative Stylus 2) is compatible with the Air 2 but isn't optimised. Anyone with first-hand experience?
- How bad is the offset on unsupported apps (as a 'dumb' stylus) AND supported apps? GoodNotes 4 is my preferred note-taking app, and it supports the stylus, but some other apps I use (e.g. PDF Expert, sometimes Notability, Sketchbook Pro) do not.
-How is the stylus with a screen protector on? I'm thinking of buying a 0.3mm tempered glass screen protector off eBay as my current screen protector needs replacing.
-General feedback/impressions of the stylus?

The other option I am considering is possibly getting the new Adonit Jot Pro and if I experience issues with skipping, switching the tip with a GoSmart one. Questions about that I had is:
-Does the new (all-metal) Jot Pro have the same size tip as the old one? So would the GoSmart tip work?
-Is the line off-centre? An issue I've had with my GoSmart is that there is some offset between the line and the centre of the tip which is annoying for accuracy, which is why I'm considering the adonit.
-How does the new stylus compare to the older 2nd Gen Adonit Jot Pro?

I'm also willing to consider other styluses, but I'm looking at Wacom's as it's cheaper than a lot of the other styluses (e.g. Adonit Jot Script & Touch) while being pressure sensitive (and it also has a shortcut button). Plus, it's Wacom. I considered styluses such as the Jot Script and Lynkec's Apex Rechargeable, but the former requires a battery (added ongoing expense), and the latter's tips wear down quickly, and there's no bluetooth support for the Apex. Additionally, neither are pressure sensitive. The Jot Touch pixelpoint meanwhile is out of my price range (up to ~$100AUD/$77 USD at most).

Oh, and my major use for the stylus is handwriting/note-taking.

I'll be grateful for any input/suggestions anyone can provide!

 

[Cptnodegard]

I have the Jot Touch Pixelpoint and know someone who has the Wacom, thus I've been able to compare the two directly. On my iPad mini, the only difference I really found was that the tip of the Wacom rattles around a bit more than the one on the Jot. The design is also a bit different of course, and the microUSB charger on the Wacom is rather unimpressive in comparison to the magnetic charger on the Jot - with a rubber cap that is not likely to stay attached for very long. Even so, if I were to re-buy my stylus, I'd probably go for the Wacom simply due to price.

I'm a teacher and use my stylus for grading on the iPad mini 3. I've spent many hours doing that with the Jot Touch PP, and the app I primarily use is Documents/PDF Expert (You unlock identical features/code (same bugs even) in Documents as in PDF Expert 5 if you have both). With the iPad mini at least, using the device in landscape mode eliminates the offset (which is very present in portrait) without the app being supported. Fineline behaved the exact same way. I still use it with the zoom box though when I actually do work though, to double up on accuracy enhancements. No clue how it behaves with an iPad Air, as no one I know uses anything but a mini.

A small note on PDF Expert though, Readdle purposefully introduced a bug with active styli in the update released a few days ago. They changed how palm rejection works in that update, utilizing a new method that makes active styli not register. The bug is that even if you turn off palm rejection, it still won't register in the zoom box, as they apparently forgot to make the setting for palm rejection work for the zoom box. I notified them of this bug when I first noticed it in the Early Access (beta) version of the app around Christmas, and they have responded and even fixed it in the latest Early Access version, but they decided to push that update to the App Store anyways, despite that and other bugs they knew about being present.

Point being, if you upgraded PDF Expert a few days ago, buy a fineline right now, and try to use it with the zoom box feature, I'd imagine you'll face the exact same issue. Considering Readdle took several months to push the latest update - a "bug fix" update that they "forgot" to tell people introduces several new bugs that they're aware of - it's anyone's guess when the current Early Access version (which still doesn't fix other bugs they know about) will make it to the App Store.

 

[jenn.y]

Thanks for the reply cptnodegard! I was wondering, since you have experience using the digital styluses, if you think they're worth it? Accuracy and price wise, I'm not sure if you've tried styluses such as the Adonit Jot Pro, but, given the chance, would you still pick the digital stylus? Also wondering if you use a screen protector with your stylus? Thanks!

 

[Cptnodegard]

I've owned and used dozens of styluses of all shapes and technologies, Jot Pro included. I intentionally broke my Jot Script in half out of fustration back when I had that, and went back a rubber nib one, but I'm quite happy with the Jot Touch PP. In other words, I wouldn't pick any active stylus over passive ones, bit given it's a good active stylus, I would.

Even with the improved accuracy, I don't find it worthwhile writing directly on the screen though, like I said. Pair it with zoombox writing, however, and you have amazing accuracy that actually far surpasses paper. Having an active stylus is half of that equation.

I don't have any experience using screen protectors with these styli. I used to put screen protectors on things years ago, but with gadgets that have glass screens, screen protectors are really so utterly pointless that the only real reason to use one is if you might accidentally spill glue or paint or something onto the screen. I've yet to be able to make a single scratch in any glass screened device, of which I have many, and some of them I just throw in my pocket or a bag with no protection. Glass is hard, and really, really, really difficult to scratch.

I imagine you might see some sensitivity loss if using one, but not necessarily. Might depend on the protector too.