Adding precision and pleasure

YOUR GUIDE TO ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR ACCESSORIES IN THIS TOUCH-SCREEN AGE

of styluses, organised by the problems that their designs try to solve. (Most come in various colours.)

Problem: Baggage

A number of companies offer combo stylus/ink pens. On some, the rubber tip is on the end of the cap. That includes premium, handsome twistopen models: the hexagonalbarreled aluminium AluPen Pro costing $33 (Dh121) and the Mont Blanc look-alike Kensington Virtuoso Signature ($23). They’re beautiful instruments, but when you’re using the rubber end, the ink end is pointing at your face — a weird, upsidedown feeling.

The perfectly weighted Wacom Bamboo Duo ($36) and shiny, polished Targus Executive Stylus & Pen ($29) don’t have that problem. Their caps click satisfyingly onto the end you’re not using.

The Hard Candy Capacitive iPad Stylus and Pen ($35) and nearly identical Gumdrop ($35) are striking, mirror-finish, double-ended bullets. Pull off one cap for stylus, the other cap for ink.

Unfortunately, you don’t know which end is which — and there’s nowhere to stow the cap while you’re working.

Problem: Mushy rubber tips

Most stylus tips are black, bulbous, mushy rubber bulbs, meant to mimic your fingertip. The choices range from the beautifully weighted Wacom Bamboo ($25), to the blastedaluminium hexagonal heft of the AluPen ($15), to the bare-bones Amazon.com models labelled “Generic” — three for $1.18.

For a little more money, you can get a nicer stylus with a retractable tip, like the penlike Kuel H12 ($20). Its barrel is made of “Harmless Material Plated Brass.” (Whew!)

The black rubber tips glide nicely across the glass, but they wear or tear over time. And they’re so fat, you feel as if you’re drawing with a sausage.

There are alternatives. On BoxWave’s hollow-feeling EverTouch Capacitive Stylus ($14), the tip is covered with a fine fabric mesh that’s firmer and more secure than rubber. The company says it doesn’t require replacement like rubber, and, as a bonus, actually cleans the screen while you use it.

Nomad’s Compose stylus ($26), meanwhile, is — get this — a paintbrush. Now, the iPad still detects only a single point of contact among the bristles; don’t think you’re going to get brushlike paint strokes (unless you have an app that simulates that effect). Still, artists love the familiar feeling of gently bending bristles.

Nomad’s Compose Dual-Tip ($35) adds a second bristle tip that’s more of a soft, dabby bud — better for tapping, and gloriously frictionless when drawing.

But even bristles aren’t the wackiest yet. The oStylus ($37.50) is a long, thin metal tube. On the business end, two fine wires hold a tiny, vinyl- coated washer. It looks more like a dental instrument than a stylus.

The metal ring presses against the glass. Somehow the tablet thinks that the contact point is in the middle of the hole. Visibility is incredible; there’s no clearer point of contact than empty space. The metal-on-glass feeling is unsatisfying, though, and the oStylus is terrible at tapping things.

Its sibling, the oStylus Dot ($37.50), replaces the metal ring with a tiny metal dot. It’s better for tapping and writing, but still clacky.

If you’re going to go for a metal tip, you’re better off with the Adonit Jot Pro ($23) or the Logiix Stylus Diamond ($35). A tiny metal ballpoint contacts the glass screen; a weird transparent plastic disc surrounds the ball and keeps the tip at the correct angle. Here again, you get incredible visibility and what feels like spectacular precision.

But again, the metal-onglass effect is noisy and not great for writing. You have to protect the ball/disc contraption with a cap. The Logiix cap snaps on nicely on the end, but the Adonit’s screw cap doesn’t attach anywhere, so it’s going to get lost.

Problem: Where to keep it?

Plain rubber The Kuel H10 ($13), BoxWave Universal Capacitive Stylus ($15) and MediaDevil Magicwand ($12) are very short and compact. Each has a lanyard with a tiny plastic plug that you can snap into your headphone jack. You can’t actually use the stylus that way, but at least you won’t lose it.

Kensington’s Virtuoso Mini ($16) has a minisleeve that plugs into the iPhone/iPad charging connector. When you’re finished drawing, the stylus collapses, telescoping into a compact cylinder that snaps into that sleeve, where it will stay until you need it again — probably.

Problem: Boredom

You want offbeat? The Cosmonaut ($25) resembles a huge, fat, black, stubby Crayola. The creators, who raised funds for their product on Kickstarter. com, believe that the iPad feels more like a whiteboard than a piece of paper. “We designed the Cosmonaut to feel like a dry-erase marker,” they say. Or maybe a Pringles can.

For comedy, but little else, SuckUK offers the Touchscreen Stylus ($11): a 4-inch rubber pencil, complete with fake eraser. Unfortunately, the tip is rubber, too — it’s like dragging Silly Putty across the glass.

The design of the heavy Griffin Stylus (PLUS) Pen (PLUS) Laser ($38) is brilliant: Both the rubber tip and the laser pointer are on a single stubby cylinder. The cap goes on the end you’re not using, adding 3 inches.

Or, for even more entertainment: the $20 BoxWave Universal Presentation Capacitive Stylus (“perfect for the ladies out there who have their nails done”). One tiny shiny button turns on an LED flashlight, great for reading restaurant menus; another fires up a laser pointer. (Don’t mix up the buttons. Menus burn easily.)

The bottom line: No stylus exhibits more thought than the Hand stylus ($30), another Kickstarter project. Nicely weighted, great-feeling barrel; retractable rubber nib — the smallest, sharpest one in the business; removable clip; magnet that clings to Apple’s iPad cover. The only better nib is the FiberMesh one on the aluminium EverTouch Capacitive Stylus ($14).

If you want a pen too: Wacom Bamboo Duo ($36). If you want a talent show: that BoxWave stylus with flashlight and laser ($20). A stylus can add precision and pleasure to the act of using a tablet or phone — especially drawing. How could Steve Jobs have been so wrong?

Maybe we misheard. Maybe what he really said was, “If you see a stylus, they drew it.”