Hands-On Review of the Revamped Adonit Jot Pro and Jot Mini Styluses

[Ledgem]

There is a easy, easy way to fix that. Take the little disc off the end, clean it and the nub with a bit of alcohol, dry it off, then take a small piece of aluminum foil, fold it up a couple of times, lay it on top of the disc, then push the pen through it when you reconnect them both together.

I read that somewhere back when I first got my Jot Pro, and was kinda skeptical, but sure enough, it hasn't skipped a bit since I did it.

I appreciate this bit of advice. When I first encountered the skipping problems I went to Google and found that same advice mentioned. I tried it and it seemed to cause a bit of improvement, but still suffered from major skipping problems. I even went to the more extreme version of using thermal conductive paste, and it still didn't resolve the issue.

I did it multiple times, with multiple disks. It's possible that I "did it wrong" each time, but I'm not so sure. More to the point, it was disappointing to find that so many people had this issue at all, and that the proposed solution didn't seem to work for everyone (myself aside).

I've been using the DotPen stylus and it has been out of the few I have tried out there. Just make sure you don't use a screen protector or else stylus and screen protectors don't go well with each other :/ The hard nib does make it pretty accurate.

I bought the DotPen and can confirm what you're saying. It worked so beautifully with my "naked" iPad, I felt that it was just about perfect in operation. However, the iPad that I intended to use it with is housed in an Otterbox Defender, which has a plastic cover over it. The stylus would not register at all, unless I placed it almost parallel with the screen (which isn't practical to write at). It was disappointing, but I ended up returning it.

There are a few reasons why I continue to struggle with the crummy fat-tipped styluses, and one of them is the size of the iPad mini. If Apple gets rid of the mini and/or Microsoft releases a "Surface mini" then Apple might lose me over this. I'd still be sacrificing some things in leaving the iPad line, but more than half of my time on the device is spent writing or reading what I've written.

 

[ColdShower]

Well I don't know how good are styluses for anything else but sketching. But in my case I have tried almost every stylus in the market and I found them all "off" no matter what technology they are powered by.

I've been looking for a stylus that will give me the wacom precision but after several styluses down the line I found that everyone has a long way to go.

Main flaw in all of them is that they are off from the tip by several millimeters, they all fail when drawing slow and they all fail at curves and diagonal lines (when drawing slow). Non of them can provide the precision of a wacom table. I just pre ordered a Cintiq QHD and I'm done chasing styluses for iPad.

 

[macduke]

Just get a surface pro and be happy

I don't think I could ever be happy with Windows again. Too much crap to worry about. I'm a long-time PC user. Started on 3.1 on my grandpa's old rig when I was a kid. Owned a Packard Bell, Gateway, a few Dells. Built my own gaming rigs ordering from the Tiger Direct catalog and later NewEgg. Ditched PCs not long after getting the original iPhone and I switched majors to graphic design and marketing. My only exceptions are the Xbox, which Microsoft is now trying to turn into a PC, and a few months where I had to use Windows 7 from late 2012 to early 2013 before I got my iMac at work. I also wouldn't rule out building a gaming rig again someday—but I won't use it for anything else.

I like the idea of the Surface, but at this point I won't get one. Eventually Apple will offer something along those lines, but much better thought out.

 

[mixel]

I'd stay away from Adonit. This whole experience has really soured me on them—and Adobe. It's going to take a lot to earn back my trust.

Agree about the pixelpoint styluses, it's insane. Adonit must know they messed up - the Jot touch 4 is by far the most incredible stylus for art and detail work - but pixelpoint styluses just outright do NOT work as advertised (I tried to "upgrade")

Seriously torn on it - the JT4 is amazing, especially with a matte screen protector.. But the PP styluses are a mess of shaky lines and disappointment - even when used passively they're wobblier than they should be, which is bizarre. Adonit still sell the JT4 - why would they if the PP stylus was a replacement?

I'm on an ipad3, and its bad enough. Maybe there's a special unicorn ipad it works well on out there somewhere. Seriously, the JT4 I use in preference to my wacom Cintiq much of the time. The PP is worthless,

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Main flaw in all of them is that they are off from the tip by several millimeters, they all fail when drawing slow and they all fail at curves and diagonal lines (when drawing slow). Non of them can provide the precision of a wacom table. I just pre ordered a Cintiq QHD and I'm done chasing styluses for iPad.

The Jot Touch 4 is pretty much perfect in my use, just the discs can get loose over time. It's exactly "on target" (as much as my Cintiq is) it's great hardware but Adonit pooped on that good will by releasing the pixelpoint models.

Procreate+JT4+matte screen protector (needed for paper-like and not glassy drawing) is in some cases more productive for me than the cintiq at home.

 

[jrs22]

I own an Adonit Jot Touch 4 that I use on an iPad Air 1 with no problems. I mostly use it for drawing and painting in Procreate. it may not offer professional quality precision but the iPad Air is not a professional quality device so why expect that.

I also use it for note taking in Notes Plus. It has a second generation disk tip, with 'dampening' so the third generation tip with 'cushioning' is probably even better for writing.

Adonit is crystal clear on their web page about app support - it lists 'Jot Ready' apps and links to that from each Jot product page. There's no link to an app list on the Adobe Slide page so Adonit is not making any promises there.

I find it interesting that the smaller manufacturing companies like Adonit and app developers like Procreate are the ones that bear the brunt of criticism here when it's Apple that made screen changes on the Air 2 that are affecting all bluetooth styluses, and Adobe that seems to want to limit use of their stylus to their apps. Why not complain about the large companies that caused the problems?

 

[teslo]

ahhh, so it's not just commenters who completely don't understand Steve Jobs' thoughts on styluses.. it's mac rumors as well.

why do so few people get this?

STEVE JOBS WAS A SALESMAN. and a known liar (when it came to strategy and deterring/confusing competition).

there were REASONS he bashed styluses in 2007. very GOOD reasons.
which have NOTHING to do with 2015. at all. in the slightest.

 

[mixel]

I own an Adonit Jot Touch 4 that I use on an iPad Air 1 with no problems. I mostly use it for drawing and painting in Procreate. it may not offer professional quality precision but the iPad Air is not a professional quality device so why expect that.

I'd say the JT4 is pro quality, I think companies like Adonit and Wacom shouldn't get too much slack in the PP's case - until they prove otherwise the pixelpoint styluses are flawed by design. Definitely not procreate that's at fault, and Adonit have multiple styluses that work wonderfully. Not apples fault Adonit messed this type up either.

I can't put into words how much worse the pp pens are to JT4. Im keeping hold of mine solely on faith they may be able to tidy lines up. It's ok for note taking, but for art it's atrocious.

When Apple release duds people go after them too.