Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Why the Apple Pencil is not overpriced”.
(, gentle music, ) (, zipper, unzips, ), There’s certain magic to the combination of the iPad and the pencil. With the right apps. It’S like you’re working with the real thing.. It’S not cheap.. Depending on the iPad.
You have a pencil, could cost you $ 130. And if you buy one for the base iPad, a pencil is almost a third of the cost., But the pencil isn’t the only stylus that works with the iPad.. There are alternatives which could be worthy.. So today, I’m meeting up with a local artist to compare them with what up until now seemed like the only option.
( gentle music, ), Vancouver-based, Audrey Lemond will be helping me out., A predominantly digital artist. The pixel is her medium. And her work. You might have already seen., So I work right now as a background artist at a studio called Bardel..
Most recently I was working on season five of Rick and Morty.. I would say I’m a mostly digital artist.. I use a lot of Photoshop some Procreate.
When it comes to alternatives to the Apple Pencil. What you wan na look for is an active stylus, ideally with tilt support. Audrey, and I are going to try four good options on the market which are similarly priced..
There’S the official Logitech Crayon, which was the first active iPad stylus option to become available.. The Zagg Pro stylus has a passive capacitive end. Or there’s this a Adonit Note, which has two buttons and pressure sensitivity, but not system-wide., And then there’s this one from Amazon, which is cheap. Now back to Audrey.. For most of her career she’s been drawing an Wacom Cintiq, but she added an iPad and pencil to her toolbox when her boyfriend bought her both last Valentine’s Day.. I mostly use Photoshop and my Cintiq to do more final pieces that I wan na take to like a really polished, level.
And then on the iPad. I use it mainly for sketching or anything like line. Work. Inking definitely does have a very traditional feel like you’re, using like your pen on actual paper, because you can have it in your lap physically.. So it feels way more like oh yeah, I’m like drawing you know.. But what are you most curious about with these alternative styluses that we’re gon na try, I’m really excited to see how it feels and how that compares to the Apple Pencil which I’m used to which has a really hard.
You know kinda, like “, tick, tick, tick”, feel., You ready to try a pencil case, full of style, (, Audrey, laughs, )! Well, let’s go. Do it., Wait! Wait.! I just remembered before we try them out. I need to introduce you to this video sponsor Zoho CRM.. To my viewers in sales, marketing and customer service, you might be interested in Zoho CRMs, integrated solution.. The service offers an intuitive UI with simple navigation, AI predictions to help with customer insights and a nifty inbuilt design studio to tailor the experience for your business. Zoho offers flexible contracts, transparent pricing and an ever-evolving product with out snowballing costs.
Better still, you can get 50 % off your annual subscription, if you use code, “ Z, CRM 50”, with the link below.. So here are the options again laid out and to evaluate them. Audrey and I will both draw something in Procreate – switching between each stylus after a couple of minutes or so., And to get us started we’re using the Apple Pencil first, which Audrey has come to appreciate. The reactivity of the original, like Apple Pencil.
Yeah.. It’S really nice.. Really fast., It’s very sensitive, like any sort of even small move that I make. Okay.. So let’s you know what the pencil’s like, but I want you to try now this Logitech Crayon., Let’s give it a go., Let’s give it a go..
So how do these active styluses work When you touch a capacitive screen? It senses your finger, drawing energy from the digitizer and registers that location.. However, an active stylus does the opposite: sending energy to the digitizer.. It’S why these things need to be charged. And it’s how palm rejection works. You’ve been using that..
Have you noticed anything different? I would say that the sensitivity isn’t as nice as the Apple Pencil.. I noticed that it’s not too bad, but if you do any sort of like swirl or thing like that, you get kind of a bad jitter which kind of sucks., But overall, like it’s, not unworkable. Okay., You know like so I could draw with this. You. Could you could., Oh okay.? Well, that’s good now., But yeah.. There is one thing I should let you know about..
You see the one thing about all these alternatives. Is they don’t support pressure, sensitivity. Mm., Which is …? Ah, this is what I was a little worried about because for artists, that’s important. In terms defining sensitivity.
Is it like the latency between like when you put it down and how quickly it draws, or is it It’s sort of hard to describe. It’s? That is part of it., So using putting your pencil down and having it be really responsive. But it’s also like, if you shift your hand – and it starts to do almost like, like you’re sliding this side of the pencil and you get a larger, more softer stroke, which I know Photoshop does have. And like Cintiqs do have, but I found it was way More sensitive on the iPad than uh …, So the tilt’s, more sensitive.
Yeah., That’s a tilt, sensing. And then the pressure’s, the other one yeah, the pencil does. Pressure. Yeah. Pressures. Pressure is good.. Well, why don’t we switch to the next one and see if you could tell, but they still support tilts., Let’s try this one.. Where is this? That’S the Adonit Note Oh. And I will use I’ll use the Logitech pencil.. Do you use layers a lot in Procreate? Yeah., I really like to use layers.
I’m kind of used to using layers now, since I do so much digital art that going without them sometimes feels so scary, but well., That’s interesting., Yeah.. Normally I do.. I wish I’d done layers.. Can I still do a back layer? What was it like when you first got the iPad Like what was that experience Just kind of overwhelming., It’s like? Ah, this is so many it’s very minimal and they they don’t throw a bunch of stuff in your face..
So you kind of have to go through and discover kind of the different functions.. Thankfully they’ve made quite easy if you’re familiar with digital painting., So you’ve had some time to use both of these.. How is the tilt sensitivity? It’S pretty nice., If I’m being honest it. I don’t really notice that big of a difference with the Apple pencil as far as tilt goes. Okay. – That’s pretty good.
Yeah.. The tilt sensitivity is pretty neat too.. These styluses output two signals down onto the iPad screen and then the iPad can actually from that calculate. Just how deep the angle is of your pen.? This is honestly not too bad.. I don’t mind the the Adonit.. I was expecting it to be somehow worse, just because of the lack of pen, pressure.
And – and I love pen, pressure. Right., But like for drawing like this. It’S not terrible.. You do have to kinda work around it.
Yeah. By using opacity and stuff, but you can work around., Oh right., That is the I’m. Not I’m not hating it.. What about the tip The tip? I actually quite like the tip.. I prefer it to the Apple Pencil..
Oh wow., I find it’s it’s kind of nice. And, like you get a little bit of squish., There’s a suppleness to it. Yeah. Yes., It’s it’s probably the best feeling of all the options For sure.. I would think so. Okay..
Do you wan na switch? Now? I think we should switch. Yeah Okay., So you’re gon na use the Zagg., Okay. And I’ll use the Adonit. Yeah.. I really do miss the pen pressure though.
You’re, noticing it particularly with the Zagg Yeah, I think, so. I find the Adonit Yeah. I found even ,’cause. It doesn’t have pressure sensitivity.
Well, not exactly., It actually does have pressure sensitivity, but it’s not system wide., That’s exclusive to the pencil.. It’S only in supported apps, which Procreate is not one of them.. Well. Why don’t? We switch now to the last option before we get to prices. Wow your drawing’s really good., So you’re gon na use the Amazon one.. So one of the interesting things I’ve noticed is the Amazon stylus and the Zagg Pro stylus.
They kind of look similar like in the way they’re made., Oh they do., But the one thing these two styluses do do is they actually do magnetically attach to the side of the iPad.? I mean that is the cheapest option.. How is it compared to the other ones you’ve been using? I haven’t noticed a huge difference between this one, the Amazon, pencil Mhm., The Logitech one and the Zagg. Mhm., I would say they’re all very similar., Yeah. Okay.
Are you done. I mean, I think, I’m as done as I’m gon na be.. Alright, pencils, down. Okay., So these three actually cost the exact same price..
These are $ 70 and this is actually $ 30.. Are these savings worth it? For someone like me, I would say no. If you are drawing and painting a lot and pen pressure and sensitivity is something that you’re looking for.. I think it’s more worth it to buy something like the Apple Pencil and use a program like Procreate..
So these aren’t for artists, but a group of people who aren’t artists. They might be engineers or students who need something for note, taking or doing math., But which is the one to recommend to them. If it were me, I would say: go for the Adonit just because it feels really nice.. But honestly, you probably can’t go wrong with any of them..
I think I agree with you.. I think the Adonit would be the one I’d recommend to non-artists. Mhm Mhm.. Well, thank you so much for all your help.
Yeah.. Now you wan na see what I drew and I wan na see you drew. Yeah. I wan na see here.
Okay., Wow. (, laughs ). This is much better than mine.. So for artists it looks like the Apple Pencil is the only game in town. Pressure. Sensitivity is super important, but that doesn’t mean the alternatives. Don’T have a place. If you’re a student or an engineer working in a field full of math, you don’t need pressure, sensitivity.
And so you’re, much better off saving the money and going for one of these. And the one that Audrey and I recommend is the Adonit. Note Thanks for drawing this Mac address.
If you’re, someone who loves the Apple Pencil, why not give this video a like And if you’re someone who just signs documents with a regular stylus? Why not subscribe Now, I’m curious how important something like pressure sensitivity is to you.. Let me know in the comments below .