Stylus Sock review

I received my Stylus Sock today. Here’s the link.

Stylus socks are made of a conductive material and stretched over a form, in this case a plastic holder that’s as long as a normal length pen (3 cheers). There’s also a piece of felt under the “nib”. The result is a tip that is not hard but is not soft or noticeably cushioned like most other iPad stylii. Yes they look a little strange, but who looks at the pen when they’re writing.

And that’s the important part – the writing. I tried the Stylus Sock with Noteshelf. Very nice. Now keep in mind that I have no experience with anything that is supposed to be digital ink perfection. So I’m going by what feels best and gives the best digital ink results. It’s the same idea as comparing Penultimate to Noteshelf.

My previous stylus was the Targus version, which is the same as the Boxwave and the Griffin. I found that to be very usable although the soft nib was a bit off putting. And there was a slight bit of drag. I have a Boxwave screen protector on my iPad, so I don’t know if that is as smooth as an unprotected screen.

The Stylus Sock is noticeably smoother. There’s no drag that I could feel or certainly nothing that was distracting. We already know that Noteshelf’s digital ink is very responsive. With the Stylus Sock, it’s more so. Also, I found that the accuracy of my writing (or chicken scratches) was better. All in all, an almost paper-like experience, and certainly the best yet.

The one I ordered was $7 plus $3 shipping from the Netherlands to Canada. Cheaper than other stylii for better performance. They have another style that appears a bit thicker and longer.

All in all, I’m very pleased. If anyone else picks one up, I’d like to hear other opinions, but I recommend this one.

PS. Since writing this I’ve tried the Stylus Sock on my iPhone 4. It’s the first stylus that makes writing notes on the iPhone practical for me. Bonus!

Bob