Astropad Debuts Screen Protector and Apple Pencil Tip for a Realistic Paper Feel on iPad

[LogicalApex]

Just got mine today. It works very well and I am happy with the product! The paper like feel works very well. And solves my biggest challenge.

I hate screen protectors as they impair the display quality and this does the same as all others. But it is removable so you don’t need to have it on when you aren’t using the pencil. The storage cover is decent quality.

I’d say this is a great value.

 

[KiraV]

Just got mine today. It works very well and I am happy with the product! The paper like feel works very well. And solves my biggest challenge.

I hate screen protectors as they impair the display quality and this does the same as all others. But it is removable so you don’t need to have it on when you aren’t using the pencil. The storage cover is decent quality.

I’d say this is a great value.

That sounds great. How are the pencil tips?

 

[christophermdia]

Got mine today as well. I do love these magnetic protectors as they are so easy to remove when you want the purity of the screen, but the anti-glare on this is very good. The pen tip is amazing, writes in a nice fine point and really does feel great. Not a very smooth writing style but a bit of a rougher point with the precision of a ball point. Comes with 2 tips and screen protector for $30 so you can't beat it really. As someone else pointed out the storage cover is a nice plastic folder which is quite sturdy, so its quite nice for storing the protector or other papers if you wish.

Overall, agree, great value and a great pencil tip, if you dont mind the anti-glare properties and keeps the screen protected without worrying about bubbles and that you missed a few dust particles.

 

[LogicalApex]

That sounds great. How are the pencil tips?

They are high quality and give a pen like feel on the screen protector.

 

[KiraV]

Thank you both! I'll wait until they (hopefully) lower the international shipping prices.

(Also does anyone know if the Darkboard is worth it, or if there is there something better? The Sketchboard pro is a bit too big for my taste, and most other drawing stands I've seen either don't support portrait mode or they do but only fully vertical, which is not ideal for drawing)

 

[neutrino17]

Just got mine. Another thumbs up. It is easy to apply and remove as it is held in place with magnetic strips. The matte finish only slightly affects the image. For daily use I think I’ll just leave it on. Just for viewing special photographs I might remove it. We’ll see.

The feel of the pencil on the surface with the special tip is pretty good. It maybe like a No. 2 pencil on slightly rough paper. It glides along rather well but you can feel just a bit of resistance which helps to control the Pencil. So far I like it.

FYI, there is a notch in the sheet to expose the cameras. The first time I put it on I didn’t notice this and had some issues with FaceID. It was super easy to take it off and turn it around and re-attach because of the magnets.

 

[hoodafoo]

What was the shipping to US for this astro pad?

 

[aevan]

Exactly. I am trying to order to the Czech Republic and the shipping costs are even higher: $33, which more than doubles the price. I contacted their support and asked if there are perhaps any plans to ship them from within the EU in the future and was told this:

We offer $10 flat rate shipping worldwide. For European customers, we work with a carrier called Passport to handle VAT taxes and duty rates; these rates vary depending on what country you live in. The shipping charge you see at checkout is the $10 flat rate, plus taxes and duties for your country. Passport allows us to ship to Europe and abide by EU tax law.

Which is simply not true. Let’s break down the shipping rate to my location:

Shipping: $20.43 (more than twice than the $10 “flat rate”)

Tax: $11.93 (VAT in the Czech Republic is 21%, so for a $31.99 product the tax owed would be $6.72, so the quoted rate is, again, twice as much)

Duty: $0 (which is correct, there are no import duties in the EU for orders under €150)

The rates for other EU countries are very similar, they just differ in the exact tax quote due to different VAT rates in different countries. The huge markup is the present everywhere, though (even though it seems altogether a bit lower for you in Germany, again, for no clear reason).

This is clearly more than just “abiding by EU law”.

I just cannot justify paying $66 for this if the advertised price is that much lower.

Either the Astropad support is lying to me about their shipping rates or they are being lied to by Passport.



Can I ask what country you live in? There is a huge discrepancy between your rate and what they're trying to charge me.

Serbia. It’s really strange. Since we’re not in the EU, shipping is often more expensive then the rest of Europe. Not sure why this is only $10.

Also we don’t pay import fees if the price is below around 100 euro or so, ant the VAT is 18% so I’ll probably end up paying additional 6-7 euros (though, for some reason, sometimes they charge even less)

 

[KiraV]

Just for reference, these are the respective shipping prices that I get for my country (Italy). It's already high, but adding the Darkboard too makes it skyrocket to absurdly high shipping rates.
I really hope they lower them like they said...

 

[Juvencus]

Duty: $0 (which is correct, there are no import duties in the EU for orders under €150)

The rates for other EU countries are very similar, they just differ in the exact tax quote due to different VAT rates in different countries. The huge markup is the present everywhere, though (even though it seems altogether a bit lower for you in Germany, again, for no clear reason).

This is clearly more than just “abiding by EU law”.

Since 2021, this is false.

"From 1 July 2021, import VAT is payable on all goods entering the EU, irrespective of their value. The VAT relief for consignments of €22 or less was removed from 1 July 2021. VAT will always be collected, irrespective of the amount due. If you ordered goods valued at €22 or less before 1 July 2021, that arrive after that date, you may have to pay VAT."

 

[valdikor]

Since 2021, this is false.

"From 1 July 2021, import VAT is payable on all goods entering the EU, irrespective of their value. The VAT relief for consignments of €22 or less was removed from 1 July 2021. VAT will always be collected, irrespective of the amount due. If you ordered goods valued at €22 or less before 1 July 2021, that arrive after that date, you may have to pay VAT."

No no no, VAT is separate from import duties (a.k.a. customs clearance fee). Yes, VAT is now charged to all goods. For some goods above 150€, customs clearance fees (a.k.a. duty) are due IN ADDITION to VAT.

Se here, for example:

https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/buying-goods-online-coming-non-european-union-country_en

"When you buy a product from a non-EU country, VAT is payable on your purchase irrespective of the value of the goods. In addition to VAT, you may also have to pay customs duties for goods above €150 and excise duty for specific goods."

 

[Juvencus]

No no no, VAT is separate from import duties (a.k.a. customs clearance fee). Yes, VAT is now charged to all goods. For some goods above 150€, customs clearance fees (a.k.a. duty) are due IN ADDITION to VAT.

Se here, for example:

https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/buying-goods-online-coming-non-european-union-country_en

When you buy a product from a non-EU country, VAT is payable on your purchase irrespective of the value of the goods. In addition to VAT, you may also have to pay customs duties for goods above €150 and excise duty for specific goods. If the terms of sale do not specify another arrangement, the goods can be held by the customs authority at entry, pending the payment of duty and tax, amongst other reasons (if the goods are prohibited in the EU, for example).

And the Passport shipping option says "Duties and Taxes". I calculated the import tax for my EU country and it matches what the Passport option states.

 

[valdikor]

And the Passport shipping option says "Duties and Taxes". I calculated the import tax for my EU country and it matches what the Passport option states.

Yeah sure, you can say that VAT is part of "import charges". But technically tax and duty are two different things and if you're in the EU and get charged for anything beyond VAT for an order below 150€, it is not legitimate and not levied by any authority.

 

[valdikor]

OK, so they got back to me and said they are talking to Passport about lowering the shipping rates. I was advised to hold off ordering and they expect to have it sorted out by the end of next week. So let’s see!

That's great news, I was on the fence about buying that bundle + the darkboard because shipping to Italy was absurdly expensive, but if they lower the shipping rates I will very probably purchase both.

I looked at the checkout page today and all of a sudden shipping costs to my country are like one third of what they were before (the Passport taxes/duties paid option). Check if it changed for Italy too, but they seem to have adjusted the shipping costs as promised (though without any sort of announcement at least for now).

EDIT: OK, I was curious and checked the prices for Italy and sure enough, it is just $10 as well. So it seems to be EU-wide!

 

[KiraV]

I looked at the checkout page today and all of a sudden shipping costs to my country are like one third of what they were before (the Passport taxes/duties paid option). Check if it changed for Italy too, but they seem to have adjusted the shipping costs as promised (though without any sort of announcement at least for now).

EDIT: OK, I was curious and checked the prices for Italy and sure enough, it is just $10 as well. So it seems to be EU-wide!

Oh that is WONDERFUL news, thanks for checking!

edit: update! The rock paper pencil's shipping got lowered by 10 usd for me (new cost is around 10 usd instead of 24), and the darkboard's by 20 usd. Darkboard's shipping cost is still way too expensive though (still 78 usd for a board that costs 120 usd...) which is unfortunate. I will definitely buy the rock paper pencil, but I'll unfortunately have to skip on the darkboard.

 

[Juvencus]

I looked at the checkout page today and all of a sudden shipping costs to my country are like one third of what they were before (the Passport taxes/duties paid option). Check if it changed for Italy too, but they seem to have adjusted the shipping costs as promised (though without any sort of announcement at least for now).

EDIT: OK, I was curious and checked the prices for Italy and sure enough, it is just $10 as well. So it seems to be EU-wide!

Thanks! Unfortunately, I already ordered the similar pen.tips bundle that came out a few days ago, for 37eu. It would have been similar with the new Astropad shipping prices

 

[sparkomatic]

Posted up a review on this with comparison to the Paperlike. Overall, really like it. Like that you can re-apply the screen protector too!

 

[KiraV]

Update: Rock Paper Pencil set arrived and I'm unfortunately not very fond of it.
I love the screen clarity, and I love how strong the magnets are, and the screen protector looks really nice to look at (compared to my ESR paper-feel magnetic screen), but there were two major things I didn't like:

1) the screen protector is a fingerprint magnet... and I actually have very dry hands, so I imagine it can be even worse for people with sweaty hands. The ESR one looks uglier but hides the fingerprints much better.
2) the texture is too bouncy when using the apple pencil with the normal Apple tip (I felt a lot of resistance when gliding it across the screen), and sounded too scratchy when using the tip they provided (but it was gliding ok). I also found myself instinctively pushing much harder when drawing with the astropad pencil tips.

Unfortunately the scratchiness and the fact that I had to apply more strenght when drawing were a deal-breaker to me. The high pitched scratchy sound was bothering me a lot, and I should apply as minimum force as possible when drawing due to my chronic neck pain (the more I apply strenght, the more the arm tenses up; the more the arm tenses up, the more the neck tenses up), so I unfortunately had to put everything back in its package, and I'll probably gift it to a friend instead.