Jot Script Evernote edition
Stylus council Adonit’s tech-packed writing implement fulfils promises made by a company continuing to create the best styluses
We see if Adonit’s tech-packed writing implement fulfils promises made by a company continuing to create the best styluses.
Where most stylus makers are happy to attach a bit of rubber on to the end of a vaguely pen-like metal tube, Adonit has turned the touchscreen interaction device into a piece of exquisite engineering, packing it with technology and working the shaft to near-ergonomic perfection.
We were rather impressed with the company’s Jot Touch, reviewed back in issue 91, but thought it had some drawbacks. While its pressure-sensitive precision tip worked well, the little plastic disc that surrounded it sometimes got in the way, and its USB charging dock that magnetically held the stylus, though a great idea, was ungainly. With the Jot Script, Adonit has shed both these features to offer a streamlined stylus.
At first glance the Jot Script resembles a normal pen. It doesn’t have a squidgy, marker-sized tip like other, cheaper styluses. Instead there’s a tiny 1.9mm diameter nib that makes it look more like a ballpoint pen, and behind this lies a lot of clever tech. The iPad and iPhone have always been designed with chubby fingertips rather than precision-engineered metal in mind, but Adonit has found a crafty way around this issue: the Jot Script mimics the low-voltage capacitive nature of touch screens, enabling it to deliver a more focused touch point.
It mimics the low-voltage capacitive nature of touch screens, enabling it to deliver a more focused touch point
Because of this technology, which Adonit dubs ‘Pixelpoint’, the Jot Script requires a single AAA battery, and it won’t work at all without being turned on. We were concerned that the battery would offset the stylus to the rear, but it’s actually balanced and light. However, unlike its predecessor the Jot Touch, which has a battery that can recharge on the magnetic dock, the Script opts for non-rechargeable batteries. This feels like a bit of a step back, unless you’re painting outdoors .
The Jot Script’s full title includes ‘Evernote Edition’, although at time of writing there isn’t another edition that we can see. As such, it ties into Evernote’s Penultimate note-taking software, and as a result it’s promoted as a handwriting tool rather than one for artists. It’s responsive and fluid, and it includes clever palm rejection so you don’t end up doodling all over the page with your wrist. Penultimate is limited to simple line drawings and notes, but the Pixelpoint technology also works with SketchBooks Pro and Ink, Procreate and Adobe’s Ideas.
The big omission, though, is the pressure-sensitivity of the Jot Touch, which worked incredibly well. For now it’s a trade-off between a high level of accuracy and ink flow control, but we’re sure Adonit has something more suited for iPad art up its sleeve. This is the most comfortable and accurate stylus we’ve used, but we’d hold out for a more artistically inclined version.