Maybe because I posted a short piece on my search for a really great stylus to use with my iPad, Howard thought I’d be excited to try out these two offerings from Joy Factory.
I’ve been slowly weaning myself from my laptop, choosing to leave it at home or on my desk when going to meetings or other work-related activities, and take hand-written notes almost exclusively in the Bamboo Paper or Notability apps. So I gave the Da Vinci and Monet styluses a try over a period of a couple of weeks.
Davinci stylus
Based on the name alone, and contrasted with the Monet stylus, this is the model meant to be used for drawing and writing. It’s the shorter of the two, about an inch shorter and just as thick as a Pilot G-2 gel pen, for comparison purposes.
It has a three-sided aluminum shaft that tapers into a narrow tail, and a soft and wide “writing” tip. It has real heft, and the three-sided shaft makes it a pleasure to hold for long stretches of note-taking or sketching.
All capacitive styluses have a metal shaft and a conductive rubber or silicone tip, but the Joy Factory Da Vinci’s materials and construction, for some reason, are combined in such a way that it performs better than all the other styluses I’ve tried.
Conductivity is excellent: the stylus tip registers almost right away when it makes contact with the iPad’s screen. And the stylus tip glides very, very smoothly across the matte screen protector on my iPad, allowing me to write as if using a real pen, even when making rapid scribbles on the screen. This combination of excellent conductivity, a super smooth stylus tip, and a solid shaft that is comfortable to hold makes the Joy Factory Davinci stylus easily the best one I’ve used so far.
Monet stylus
As you can surmise from the name, this particular model is aimed at the more artistically inclined tablet user. The stylus has a unique shape: it starts with a tip of the same diameter as the Davinci, but the shaft immediately tapers into a narrow neck that only gradually increases in circumference toward the other tip.
Different designs for different strokes
While it can be held the way a normal pen is held, it’s obviously meant to be wielded as a paint brush rather than as a pen, with your iPad or other tablet serving as a canvas. And it’s great with apps like Zen Brush and Fingers.
You can still use it for taking notes, though it’s not as easy to hold as the Davinci stylus because of its slender neck.
Bottom line
The Davinci stylus has quickly become my favorite one, and it’s always in my bag. As usual, I’m partial to the black (charcoal) one, but you can get it in purple or silver. The Monet stylus comes in charcoal, green. and pink.
Price: Php990 (each)
Availability: Digital Hub, Digital Walker, and Beyond the Box stores
Likes
- Quality materials, solid and sturdy feel
- Super smooth stylus tip lets you write or draw as fast as you can with a real pen
Dislikes
- Pricier than most other brands
- Doesn’t have the built-in magnets that turn the screen off when you put the stylus down on the bezel
