Hands on with Pencil stylus for Paper by FiftyThree

I am in the eternal quest for the right stylus to use with my tablets. I am looking for something that helps me sketch when I am in the mood, create small scribbles of ideas to follow up later and occasionally write on my tablet. I have yet to come across one that does all three admirably well. What I have seen are $10-$20 stylii that do a decent job for a while before the tip kind of dies on you. Recently, I got my hands on a premium active stylus called Pencil built specifically for the popular Paper app by FiftyThree. Here is my brief review.[gallery ids="1458,1459,1460,1461,1462,1463,1465,1466"]For starters, Pencil sells in two variants, a $49 basic version called Graphite and a $59 version made with wood. The $59 version has magnets that allows it to attach to an iPad smart cover. You can buy one here.PackagePencil ships in a simple cylindrical box with an extra stylus tip and an extra eraser tip. The stylus itself is a relatively wide pencil looking entity. It feels good to hold in the hands. The stylus tip is soft and rubberized as is the back eraser tip.Using the PencilThe Pencil stylus is an active one which works in tandem with the Pencil app built by FiftyThree for the iPad. When used with that app, the stylus can do app specific things like Palm rejection which is a major hassle with stylii on tablets, erasing with the erasing nub at the back of the stylus and blending. When used with any other drawing or writing app, Pencil will act as a passive stylus.I gave it a spin with the Paper app on my iPad 4. Pairing with the Paper app was instant. I was asked to press and hold the stylus on a small circular area designated for it in the app. In less than 5 seconds, it paired and I was good to go. I don't have any purchased brushes on my Paper app but for the default one. Once the Pencil stylus is paired, I got instant access to all the available brushes. That is $8 worth of in-app purchases if you need them. IN my experience, the basic brush is OK but if you want to use the app on a regular basis, the extra brushes come in handy.See below for a short video where I try to draw a small cactus plant in a pot using Pencil and the Paper app. As you can see I am no artist, but the video should give you a feel for how it works.Should you get it?As with every gadget accessory, the big question is if you should get it?. Here is who should get it.

• A casual artist who happens to have an iPad
• A serious artist who carries along an iPad and does occasional sketching on his/her tablet
• An aspiring artist who is looking for a mid-tier stylus (As compared to a $100 Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus) to fit his needs.

Here is who should probably skip it.

• Anyone who does not have an iPad. Artist or not. Without the Paper app, Pencil is definitely not worth the premium over a $15 stylus.
• Anyone who is not serious about sketching - ideas or drawings. Even if you own an iPad.

Concluding RemarksPencil is a well built premium looking, feeling and performing stylus for the targeted audience of iPad owners who happen to also use the Paper app extensively. It has been built with great attention to detail with quality materials and it shows. For the targeted audience, it is a fantastic addition. For everyone else, there are cheaper alternatives out there [1][2]. Definitely makes one wonder if and when FiftyThree would consider porting their app to other platforms and thus the stylus.