ZAGG Launches New $80 Pro Stylus 2 for iPad

[MacRumors]

ZAGG today introduced the Pro Stylus 2, which is designed to be an alternative to the Apple Pencil. It comes in a range of fun colors, such as blue, pink, yellow, gray, and white, and it is compatible with all iPads from 2018 and later.

Priced at $80, the Pro Stylus 2 includes a fine tip for precise drawing and writing at one end, with a round, capacitive tip at the other end. The capacitive tip can be used in place of a finger for interacting with iPadOS, preventing smudges on the display.

Like the Apple Pencil, the Pro Stylus 2 supports tilt recognition and palm rejection. It comes with a wireless charging cradle, but it can also be attached magnetically to the iPad Pro for charging or charged with a Qi-based charger.

Pushing on the end of the Pro Stylus 2 turns it on so that it can connect to an iPad, and it will go idle after 15 minutes to save battery life. The stylus is meant to last for up to six and a half hours before it needs to be recharged.

The Pro Stylus 2 can be purchased from the ZAGG website starting today.

Article Link: ZAGG Launches New $80 Pro Stylus 2 for iPad

 

[t0rqx]

Great if it is the same quality Apple delivers or outperforms it.

 

[erikkfi]

Why include a charging cradle if it attaches magnetically to the iPad for charging?

 

[stiligFox]

Why include a charging cradle if it attaches magnetically to the iPad for charging?

There’s actually quite a few times I wish I could charge my Apple Pencil off my iPad. Most of the time I keep my Apple Pencil magnetically attached to my lamp as it’s in the way a lot on my iPad, and unless I do the special dance of disabling Bluetooth to make sure the pencil goes to sleep, it will drain all its power over a few days.

Having a cradle where I could charge it externally would be nice…

 

[Jgreg00]

Why include a charging cradle if it attaches magnetically to the iPad for charging?

for iPads that don't have that feature...

 

[stiligFox]

I can’t tell from the listing, but it looks like it doesn’t support the different levels of pressure like the Apple Pencil does. Other than that… this looks rather compelling!

I swear. If only Apple gave us a button or a light or SOMETHING on the Pencil so we could turn it off!

 

[CalMin]

I swear. If only Apple gave us a button or a light or SOMETHING on the Pencil so we could turn it off!

I've never once needed to switch off the pencil. What is the use case for that? (I have two Apple Pencil 2's and one of them sits in another room sometimes for weeks without losing charge when I connect it).

 

[unodostres]

No pressure sensitivity, no go.

 

[SFjohn]

No hover ability I assume… 😉

 

[anakin44011]

Clicked the link - got offered 20% off first order, signed up, received email with the promotion code...

...and the code didn't work.



I'd like to say that stuff like this doesn't happen at my company...but it does...way too frequently.

When something like this happens in manufacturing, it is usually visible (sometimes painfully so). But when it happens in software, especially with websites...most people just walk away and the vendor has no idea something went wrong and that they lost a sale (or two, or 100).

C'est la vie.

 

[Lynxpoint]

There’s actually quite a few times I wish I could charge my Apple Pencil off my iPad. Most of the time I keep my Apple Pencil magnetically attached to my lamp as it’s in the way a lot on my iPad, and unless I do the special dance of disabling Bluetooth to make sure the pencil goes to sleep, it will drain all its power over a few days.

Having a cradle where I could charge it externally would be nice…

I bought an Apple Pencil charger off Amazon that works quite well which also provides a place to keep the pencil when I am not using it. (I don't leave it attached to the ipad because I find it gets in the way quite often)

 

[appleguy123]

Does it have pressure sensitivity? What is the refresh rate? Not covering these questions makes it seem more like an ad than an honest attempt to inform us about a possible Apple Pencil alternative.

 

[lyngo]

Clicked the link - got offered 20% off first order, signed up, received email with the promotion code...

...and the code didn't work.



I'd like to say that stuff like this doesn't happen at my company...but it does...way too frequently.

When something like this happens in manufacturing, it is usually visible (sometimes painfully so). But when it happens in software, especially with websites...most people just walk away and the vendor has no idea something went wrong and that they lost a sale (or two, or 100).

C'est la vie.

it worked for me. The 20% off was already active in my cart. Got it for $56. Let’s see how it works on my second iPad (iPad air).

 

[Smoovejayy]

Will the pencil really not work with older iPads, like the 2017 10.5” iPad Pro?

EDIT: I may have realized why it only supports iPads 2018 and later. Bummer.

 

[svish]

Colourful. But prefer to use Apple Pencil.

 

[lazyrighteye]

I have to say, dig the No. 2 on (at least) the yellow option.

I’m not an engrave crap on my Apple hardware kind of guy. But I did get No. 2 engraved on my Apple Pencil 2 when I ordered my launch-day iPad mini 6. I know… I simply could not resist.

That said, my daughter busted the tip on her Pencil a few months ago (the inside copper-ish tube was - and still is - somehow bent). I might see what these are like. Maybe a nice replacement…

 

[Jwpyle3]

There’s actually quite a few times I wish I could charge my Apple Pencil off my iPad. Most of the time I keep my Apple Pencil magnetically attached to my lamp as it’s in the way a lot on my iPad, and unless I do the special dance of disabling Bluetooth to make sure the pencil goes to sleep, it will drain all its power over a few days.

Having a cradle where I could charge it externally would be nice…

They sell charging cradles on Amazon for the Apple Pencil 2. I think I paid $15 for it. Works very well.

 

[MrGimper]

I bought an Apple Pencil charger off Amazon that works quite well which also provides a place to keep the pencil when I am not using it. (I don't leave it attached to the ipad because I find it gets in the way quite often)

Could you share which one you bought?

I never considered this at all as an option.

As a lefty, having the pencil attached all the time is very awkward.

 

[klasma]

EDIT: I may have realized why it only supports iPads 2018 and later. Bummer.

That means it would work with the 9th-gen iPad and hence have Pencil 1 compatibility? I don’t get the 2018 cutoff.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

Will the pencil really not work with older iPads, like the 2017 10.5” iPad Pro?

EDIT: I may have realized why it only supports iPads 2018 and later. Bummer.

Why does the Zagg only support 2018 and later iPads? I believe the iPad Air 3 was released in 2017, and I think it only works with the original Apple Pencil. What am I missing?

Edit: Post make sense now

 

[houttbe]

Does the Zagg pencil have an erase function? That valuable feature is missing from all non-Apple pencils that I’ve seen.

 

[csfossett]

I use the iPad Pro for illustration, so without pressure sensitivity this is a no-way for me. But I imagine there are tons of people who don't need that fancy feature, and fifty bucks less is pretty sweet.

 

[subjonas]

I REALLY dig the sharper tip at one end and the capacitive tip at the other. I often find the AP tip too blunt, and I often want to use a capacitive stylus because the AP tip can’t do everything a finger can and oils on the screen interfere with drawing.

But something tells me everything else, namely the drawing performance, won’t be as good as the AP. Also how well can it attach to an iPad when it doesn’t (seem to) have a flat side like the AP?

 

[BigPhil]

You can get a metapen on Amazon for £25 and they're just as good as these. These cheaper alternatives are great for the consumer tho since the apple version is ludicrously expensive for what it is

Absolute must have accessory

 

[RoadWarrior56]

I have been using a Logitech Crayon since 2019. It is not pressure sensitive. Since I am not an artist, or do I use a pencil to draw, I find I have little or no need for pressure sensitivity. As an engineer, I primarily use the Crayon to annotate or mark up PDF plan sheets and to take notes in long hand. The Crayon is not magnetic, but it works for all iPads that support either generation of pencil, and they are simple to charge. This Zagg pencil sounds like a similar product but with a different shape, and probably easier to hold. I would be in the market for one if I didn't already have the Logitech version. One more thing - either the Logitech or Zagg, when used with the 10th Generation iPad, will not have the issues with the adaptor that is needed for charging or pairing the 1st generation Apple Pencil. If you don't need pressure sensitivity, the Zagg pencil would be the way to go for use with the 10th Generation iPad.