Jot Touch with Pixelpoint
The best iPad stylus for artists money can buy, but it’s not perfect…
When it comes to iPad styluses, this is currently state of the art. It has (by iPad stylus standards) a fine tip, plus it boasts 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity. It looks and feels well made – even if it might be chunky for some, and even if the weighting is slightly too far towards the back. For now, without doubt it’s the best stylus a creative artist can buy to use with an iPad (3 or later, or mini). But it’s not perfect – and not just because it costs ninety quid.
The big problem is iOS is designed for use with fingers, not styluses, so support for the Jot Touch has to be explicitly built into apps. Adonit makes a software development kit available for app makers to integrate support; see adonit.net/jot-readyapps for supported apps.
Adobe’s new apps, Sketch and Line, are the only ones currently to support the full suite of its features – wrist rejection, pressure sensitivity and the shortcut buttons on its barrel. Sketch is a good sketching app, and the pressure sensitivity works well, but we want full support in Procreate, Noteshelf and more.
It’s tricky to draw with absolute precision, partly due to the nib (which, while a technically impressive trick, is still as thick as a felt tip pen’s) and also how you hold the stylus. You can get slight wobble too, when slowly drawing diagonal lines. Also, the plastic nib on a glass screen is slippery.
You charge it by docking it magnetically in a USB dongle. It’s a neat system, but it’s galling that the dongle isn’t the right size to work with Apple’s aluminium keyboards.
Technically, this is a good piece of kit, and £90 isn’t taking the mickey. Once it gets broader app support, it would be a terrific purchase for artists. If you just want a stylus for taking notes rather than sketching, however, we would recommend the £46 Jot Script or £18 Jot Pro. Christopher Phin
The Jot Touch is an impressive technical feat, even if iOS’s hostility to styluses means it’s an imperfect experience.