The best stylus on the market is the Apple Pencil, but it costs $99 and requires an iPad Pro. If you don't use an iPad Pro, there are other good choices on the market because stylus technology has improved considerably over the last year. Lynctec recently sent me a free review sample of their latest stylus, the Apex Fusion. I've been trying it out over the last few weeks, and it is an excellent stylus that is worth your consideration if you cannot use an Apple Pencil.
In addition to the black model that Lynctec sent me, the company also sells silver, gold and rose gold versions of the Apex Fusion.
To speed things up in this review, I will start by referring you to my review of the Adonit Jot Dash that I wrote last October. As fully explained in that review, Jot Dash was the first active stylus (a powered stylus that uses a fine tip) available in a thin stylus, with a barrel diameter similar to a pencil or pen. (Earlier active styluses were thicker, more like a Sharpie or other marker; and before active stylus, we only had non-powered styluses that could be thinner but had thick tips so it felt more like you were using a crayon then a pen or pencil.)
In the following picture, the Apex Fusion is at the top, the Jot Dash is in the middle, and the Apple Pencil is at the bottom:
The Apex Fusion has a lot in common with the Jot Dash. The barrel of the stylus is thin, so it looks like a normal pen. It has a fine tip (2 mm) so that when the end touches your iPad screen it works like a pen, not a crayon. It is powered, so you have to charge it. And unlike more sophisticated styluses that have extra buttons that can communicate with certain apps using Bluetooth (for example, telling the app to switch to an eraser mode), there are no extra buttons on the Apex Fusion (or the Jot Dash).
But the Apex Fusion has a few tricks up its sleeve that I think make it a better option than the Jot Dash for many people. First, the tip has a fiber polymer tip, so it is soft against your iPad screen. The Jot Dash has a hard tip, so it makes a little noise against the screen. The soft tip on the Apex Fusion is much more quiet, which I prefer when I am taking notes in a room with others. I also like the way that the soft fiber glides against the screen. I'll admit that there is a personal preference at play here, and others might disagree, but my preference is to use a tip like the one on the Apex Fusion and I suspect that many others would agree.
Second, the front of the barrel is not smooth like the Jot Dash but instead has a patterned grip area that makes the stylus easier to hold in your hand.
Third, the Apex Fusion doesn't require a special adapter to charge. There is a small micro USB port on the side near the back of the stylus. It doesn't get in your way, and I barely even notice it unless I am looking to charge the stylus. Compare this to the Jot Dash, which comes with a device that fits into a (normal sized) USB port and holds the stylus. It works well if you have it with you, but if you need a charge and that small device isn't with you, you are out of luck. Micro USB cords come with a ton of different devices, so there is a good chance that you will have one or can find one wherever you are.
In terms of performance, the Apex Fusion and Jot Dash work about the same. That means that they work pretty well, but are not nearly as good as the Apple Pencil. Of course, nothing for the iPad is as good as the Apple Pencil. There is a noticeable lag between the time that you start to write and when you see the digital ink appear, and sometimes the digital ink is less smooth than what you actually drew. It's the reason that, before the Apple Pencil, many folks concluded that the trade-offs of an active stylus were not worth it and they preferred a traditional, non-powered stylus. I myself often fell in that camp.
But if you want an active stylus because you like the idea of a tiny tip, and the Apple Pencil isn't an option for you, there is a lot to like about the Apex Fusion. If the Apple Pencil is not an option for you — because, for example, you use an iPad Air or Air 2 or older iPad — the Apex Fusion by Lynctec is one of my favorite styluses on the market today. On the other hand, if you use an iPad Pro, I recommend that you spent the extra money and get an Apple Pencil, which is the gold standard. And finally, if using a stylus is important to you and you don't currently use an iPad Pro, you should consider upgrading to a new iPad so that you can use the Apple Pencil.
Click here to get Apex Fusion by Lynctec from Amazon ($49.99)
