When it first appeared on the market over 15 years ago, the stylus was met with equal amounts of fascination and confusion by consumers. On one hand, a device that mimicked the natural motion of handwriting and translated it into digital text seemed like a must-have item. It could have been the perfect bridge between pen and paper and the first wave of handheld devices. The problem was that consumers didn’t have time to warm up to the idea of carrying around a computer in their pocket. The stylus was seen as a gimmick that increased the functionality of a device that no one was even sure they wanted. Add to that the clunky, bug-ridden nature of early stylus integration, and it’s no wonder that the this technology failed to make any waves.
Since then, the stylus has gone in and out of style more times than you can count, but a few recent innovations suggest that it might finally be back for good. Apple recently unveiled the Apple Pencil for use with a new generation of iPad Pros, but it’s actually Samsung that is leading the charge for a stylus comeback. The Galaxy Note5 features the innovative S Pen, which takes advantage of the latest technology to easily put your hesitations to rest. Here are just a few ways that the S Pen finally outperforms its biggest competition: your finger.
Precision
The touch screens on mobile phones have become more and more precise over the years, but certain design limitations still require that you use your clunkiest digit, the thumb, to carry out most tasks. That leaves room for a lot of error, especially when typing long emails, editing photos or playing touch-based games. While the S pen does require a two-handed approach, it greatly increases the amount of precision in your taps and swipes. In addition to an accurate tip, the S Pen also features true-to-life pressure sensitivity so every action feels just as natural as pointing. If you’re an artist, the S Pen is the first stylus for a mobile device that feels like it is precise enough for realizing your next project.
Speed
Early styluses had a serious lag problem. You would make a motion in your note-taking app and then watch as the marks slowly appeared moments later (if they appeared at all). But this has changed. Scribbling on the S Pen feels as realistic and intuitive as putting pen to paper. This is thanks in part to the Note5’s 4GB of RAM, Quad-core processor and high-definition Super AMOLED display. Plus, with just a click of your pen, the Note5 instantly displays all of the S Pen’s tools. And when the phone is locked, you can still take notes on the screen, so there’s no forgetting a moment of inspiration while you hunt around for the note-taking app.
Integration
With a quick click, the S Pen releases from your Note5 and activates all of its easy-to-use features. With just a tap, you can take a memo and translate it to digital text. You can even use the S Pen to draw a border around large swaths of text in an e-book or website and save them as an image. The Smart Select feature can be used to cut and capture awkward shapes and make precise crops to photographs. And don’t forget about all of the third-party software that uses the S Pen’s functionality. Truly, the stylus is all grown up, and Samsung has wasted no time putting it to work.
