We take a break from the cases with a review of a more general use item. It is the Staples Pencil Stylus. I picked it up on sale at their local B&M stores. As the name truthfully suggests, this is indeed styled like an actual pencil. But it’s only a stylus. There’s no eraser, no ink, no writing tip.
It is shrink-wrapped as shown in the picture. That’s all you get, the stylus and the paperwork and the clear packaging. Basically you use the stylus and recycle the rest 🙂
Being a Staples brand product, it comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so you can take it back to their stores for a replacement or refund or store credit if you don’t like it [depending on when you bought it, receipt, etc].
SIZING IT UP
Even though it is shaped like a pencil, it is shorter than a standard #2 pencil out of the box and sharpened. It is approximately five inches tall. As you can see in the picture below, it is shorter than a pencil, but slightly taller than some of the typical budget styluses you find at bargain basement prices.
The blue thing you see in the picture above is the Inkjoy Stylus which is both a pen and a stylus. That too is shorter than a pencil but taller than the Staples “pencil”.
Here they are with a ruler for more accurate sizing up:
THE TIP
The tip has been of the “so far so good” variety. It hasn’t loosened up or fallen up after months of intermittent use. It is pictured next to the Inkjoy stylus whose tips fall off after a few months of use.
IN USE
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this. I thought it was just a pencil-looking gimmick, but for short and intermediate range of stylus-ing, this is pretty good. It feels solid in the hand, the main body’s angular shape of a pencil (albeit a bit thicker) is a familiar holding pattern.
Touchscreen presses are pretty good for a general use stylus. Obviously if you have an S-Pen or Surface Pen and such, the general use styli like this one hold no candle to them.
Given its size, it’s better suited for smartphones and smaller tablets, eg 8-inch kind. It is probably too short for the iPad PRO and Surface PRO types, but then again, it depends on how you use it.
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