After I finally exchanged my Galaxy Note7 for an LG V20, one of the most frustrating things to get used to was the lack of the Note7’s S Pen stylus. So I began searching for something that would approximate what I lost.
After looking at various styli, I gave the Adonit Dash 2 a try. The Dash 2 has a 1.9mm tip and is an active stylus–the device has a rechargeable battery that sends a small electrical signal that when it touches the surface of the phone.
On the one hand, the Adonit Dash 2 work very well. It felt similar to using the S Pen, though in a larger form factor that needed regular recharging. I liked the larger size, but had to get used to not shoving it up a slot in the V20.
But for me the Dash 2 was marred by its high price ($50), and the fact that it literally fell apart on me after less than a week of use. The tip fell off and left bare metal exposed. Not cool.
After my failed experiment with an expensive, active stylus, I decided to see if there were any passive styluses that might do the trick. And, oddly enough, one of the cheapest passive styluses I could find met all of my needs.
The Bargains Depot stylus is a passive stylus that comes with a 4.5mm rubber tip and currently costs $6.99 on Amazon.com.
Obviously, the 4.5mm passive tip is not going to be nearly as sensitive/accurate for drawing and similar activities as the Dash 2. However, for everything else, I found it was more than adequate for my needs. I used it while browsing the web, using Twitter apps, responding to text messages, highlighting book passages, etc., and it worked very well. Moreover, the stylus ships with twelve 4.5mm replacement tips (as well as eight 6mm tips, if you’d prefer a larger tip).
After using this for a week, I ordered several more so I could stash one at my office and home office as well as the one I carry around with me.
Nothing beats the S Pen as far as stylus-enabled phones are concerned, but this is a good, cheap substitute until Samsung released a non-exploding followup to the Note7.
