So, as the title says, I haven't had Adonit's Pixel very long, but I thought I would post my initial out-of-the-box thoughts!
First things first - the Macworld review is... Somewhat accurate.
My Gear:
I have three active iPads at the moment: an iPad Pro (12.9), an iPad Mini 4 (my daily carry), and an iPad Air (1st gen which I use for work). I also have a Dell 8" Windows 10 tablet I tend to carry as a mobile sketchbook - it has an active stylus.
My Dilemma:
The iPad Mini is great as an all-around, everyday device but it lacks a stylus for drawing and writing notes. The iPad Pro is an amazing device and, paired with the Apple Pencil, is a dream come true... But big and awkward to carry around all the time. The Dell is not as "at the ready" as the iPad Mini (and has poor battery life), but is small, portable, and had an active stylus.
My Goal:
With the Adonit Pixel, can I shelve the Dell and still have the ability to draw whenever I want?
Short answer... Probably not.
When I read about Adonit's Pixel, and read the Macworld review, I was excited. I knew the experience wouldn't match the Apple Pencil, but could it be "good enough"? After all, I wasn't expecting to have an amazing artist tool - just something I could use to do sketches, not high precision art.
The Out-of-the-Box Test
The Apps: Sketchbook (made sure it's up-to-date) and OneNote (I realize it's not on the supported list, but that's my note taking program)
Parallax Test:
My BIGGEST complaint against previous iPad Stylii is the Parallex effect - I place the pen on the screen expecting it to draw a line at one point, but the line shows up on the screen in a different place. This was what, for me, made other stylii un-usable and the Apple Pencil so great.
How is it with the Pixel? Yep. Still an issue. A BIG issue. I tried drawing on both the Air and the Mini 4. Parallax seems to be worse on the Mini 4 than the iPad Air. Parallax seems to be worse the closer you get to the sides (which stands to reason). On the Mini 4, it seems only slightly better than previous models. On the Air, it seemed to be better, but not by enough.
Tested in Sketchbook
Rating: 3.5 (out of 10)
Result: Failed
Lag:
Another big complaint for me was lag. The lag was terrible on most of the previous stylii (with the exception of Pencil by 53), especially some of the Adonit stylii (The Wacom stylii didn't seem to have as big of an issue).
How is it with the Pixel? This is where there's a big difference between the Air and the Mini. The Mini still lagged a bit, but it wasn't too bad - certainly usable. On the Air, the lag was VERY noticeable. Sketching was a big issue. In fact, the lag was almost worse than previous stylii on the Air.
Tested in Sketchbook
Rating: 8 (Mini), 4 (Air)
Result: Passable (mini), Failed (Air)
Taking Notes:
Taking Notes never needed to be as accurate as drawing so the writing test has a LOT more leniency. I did my testing in OneNote. I know it's not officially supported, but it's the only note taking app I will ever use (unless MS decides to discontinue the app - then... Apocalypse for me). Also, OneNote supports other stylii without "official" stylii.
I wasn't expecting much - just to be able to jot some quick notes and to have those notes appear where I expected them to be. As you can guess, my friends Parallax and Lag showed up BIG TIME again! Tried to write on the mini and, despite me writing full characters, my text appeared scrunched and unreadable. Lag was also an issue. On the Air, I was able to write more legibly, but the lag was terrible! I couldn't write slow enough for it to not be an issue.
Tested in OneNote
Rating: 5
Result: Meh... (Leaning toward Failed)
Overall
So, my out-of-the-box experience was fairly poor. Adonit is right - it IS better than previous stylii, but it's NOWHERE NEAR the Apple Pencil - still not even close to being in the same class.
It's hard for me to reccomend the Pixel to anybody. If you're looking for basic stylus functionality, I think you'll be more frustrated with it's shortcomings than it's ability. I suppose if you liked some of Adonit's other Bluetooth Stylii, this will be a (slight) improvement. I did notice that the drag (the paper-like feeling) has improved, but the Parallax effect makes this such a miserable stylus that I would recommend you stay away from it.
I will continue to use it for the next week and see what I think, but, even keeping my expectations low, I don't think they will be met.
First things first - the Macworld review is... Somewhat accurate.
My Gear:
I have three active iPads at the moment: an iPad Pro (12.9), an iPad Mini 4 (my daily carry), and an iPad Air (1st gen which I use for work). I also have a Dell 8" Windows 10 tablet I tend to carry as a mobile sketchbook - it has an active stylus.
My Dilemma:
The iPad Mini is great as an all-around, everyday device but it lacks a stylus for drawing and writing notes. The iPad Pro is an amazing device and, paired with the Apple Pencil, is a dream come true... But big and awkward to carry around all the time. The Dell is not as "at the ready" as the iPad Mini (and has poor battery life), but is small, portable, and had an active stylus.
My Goal:
With the Adonit Pixel, can I shelve the Dell and still have the ability to draw whenever I want?
Short answer... Probably not.
When I read about Adonit's Pixel, and read the Macworld review, I was excited. I knew the experience wouldn't match the Apple Pencil, but could it be "good enough"? After all, I wasn't expecting to have an amazing artist tool - just something I could use to do sketches, not high precision art.
The Out-of-the-Box Test
The Apps: Sketchbook (made sure it's up-to-date) and OneNote (I realize it's not on the supported list, but that's my note taking program)
Parallax Test:
My BIGGEST complaint against previous iPad Stylii is the Parallex effect - I place the pen on the screen expecting it to draw a line at one point, but the line shows up on the screen in a different place. This was what, for me, made other stylii un-usable and the Apple Pencil so great.
How is it with the Pixel? Yep. Still an issue. A BIG issue. I tried drawing on both the Air and the Mini 4. Parallax seems to be worse on the Mini 4 than the iPad Air. Parallax seems to be worse the closer you get to the sides (which stands to reason). On the Mini 4, it seems only slightly better than previous models. On the Air, it seemed to be better, but not by enough.
Tested in Sketchbook
Rating: 3.5 (out of 10)
Result: Failed
Lag:
Another big complaint for me was lag. The lag was terrible on most of the previous stylii (with the exception of Pencil by 53), especially some of the Adonit stylii (The Wacom stylii didn't seem to have as big of an issue).
How is it with the Pixel? This is where there's a big difference between the Air and the Mini. The Mini still lagged a bit, but it wasn't too bad - certainly usable. On the Air, the lag was VERY noticeable. Sketching was a big issue. In fact, the lag was almost worse than previous stylii on the Air.
Tested in Sketchbook
Rating: 8 (Mini), 4 (Air)
Result: Passable (mini), Failed (Air)
Taking Notes:
Taking Notes never needed to be as accurate as drawing so the writing test has a LOT more leniency. I did my testing in OneNote. I know it's not officially supported, but it's the only note taking app I will ever use (unless MS decides to discontinue the app - then... Apocalypse for me). Also, OneNote supports other stylii without "official" stylii.
I wasn't expecting much - just to be able to jot some quick notes and to have those notes appear where I expected them to be. As you can guess, my friends Parallax and Lag showed up BIG TIME again! Tried to write on the mini and, despite me writing full characters, my text appeared scrunched and unreadable. Lag was also an issue. On the Air, I was able to write more legibly, but the lag was terrible! I couldn't write slow enough for it to not be an issue.
Tested in OneNote
Rating: 5
Result: Meh... (Leaning toward Failed)
Overall
So, my out-of-the-box experience was fairly poor. Adonit is right - it IS better than previous stylii, but it's NOWHERE NEAR the Apple Pencil - still not even close to being in the same class.
It's hard for me to reccomend the Pixel to anybody. If you're looking for basic stylus functionality, I think you'll be more frustrated with it's shortcomings than it's ability. I suppose if you liked some of Adonit's other Bluetooth Stylii, this will be a (slight) improvement. I did notice that the drag (the paper-like feeling) has improved, but the Parallax effect makes this such a miserable stylus that I would recommend you stay away from it.
I will continue to use it for the next week and see what I think, but, even keeping my expectations low, I don't think they will be met.
