I have been using and posting reviews of styluses that work with the iPad for a decade, and the index to iPhone J.D. tells me that I have reviewed 31 different styluses over that time. But ever since Apple introduced the first Apple Pencil in 2015, it has been difficult for stylus manufacturers to build a better mousetrap. The original Apple Pencil works great, and the second generation Apple Pencil released in 2018 is even better. This makes it difficult for a third party stylus manufacturer to give people a reason to purchase something that isn't made by Apple.
One way to compete is on cost. For example, Adonit makes excellent quality styluses that are almost as good as the Apple Pencil at a fraction of the cost. Last year, I reviewed the Adonit Note. At the time of my review, it was $50, and you can now get the Adonit Note for only $4o on Amazon, which is much less than the $100 or $130 price of the first or second generation Apple Pencil. If you go back and forth between an Adonit Note and an Apple Pencil, I suspect that you will notice that the Apple Pencil is better. The Apple Pencil is a little more precise with a little less lag — especially on the second generation. And the second generation adds two great features: (1) the ability to charge and store the Pencil on the side of the iPad, and (2) the ability to double-tap on the side of the Pencil to switch between a pen and an eraser. I love the extra features of the second generation Apple Pencil when I use my Pencil virtually every day. Having said that, I am sure that many folks would rather pay $90 less and use the $40 Adonit Note — which as I noted in my review, is an excellent stylus.
In addition to competing on price, another approach is to compete on features. That is difficult to do when Apple controls both the hardware and software, but Adonit has figured out a way to do it by coming out with the Adonit Note UVC. It gives you almost everything that you get in an Adonit Note, plus it adds a feature that I've never seen in a stylus before: ultraviolet lights that can kill germs.
The Adonit Note UVC as a stylus
What you really want to know about is the germ-killing potential, but let me begin by stating that this is an excellent stylus. Adonit sent me a free review unit to try out, and I've used the Adonit Note UVC almost every day for the past few weeks to put it through its paces. I like it for all of the reasons that I said that I liked the Adonit Note last year. No pairing is necessary, it has a nice design, and it works well as a stylus on the iPad screen.
I've used it to take handwritten notes. I've used it to with photography apps like Photoshop and Pixelmator Photo to touch up photographs. I've used it to tap and select items on my screen as a more precise alternative than using my finger. I've used it to select cells in the Good Sododku app that I mentioned last week. And it just works.
I don't like the placement of the button on the Adonit Note UVC — the same criticism that I had of the Adonit Note. It is too easy to tap it by accident, which turns off the stylus without me realizing it, and then when I go to use the stylus, I notice that it isn't working. That's annoying.
The only thing (besides price) that makes the Adonit Note UVC a little worse than the Adonit Note is that the Note UVC lacks a clip on the side. Not only does that make it less convenient to carry around in a pocket, it also means that the Adonit Note UVC — much like the original Apple Pencil — can roll off of a desk. My solution to that on my Apple Pencil was to add an inexpensive Fisher Chrome Clip, which solved the problem. (I still recommend that everyone using a first generation Apple Pencil get this clip, which is only $6.95 on Amazon.)
The Adonit Note lasts for up to 12 hours on a single charge. The Adonit Note UVC lasts for 12 hours when you use it as a stylus, or it lasts for 30 minutes when you use the ultraviolet lights. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell how much battery power the stylus has left.
The ultraviolet lights
Ultraviolet light has been used to disinfect and sterilize since 1878. Ultraviolet C, often called UVC, can kill both bacteria and viruses, and studies show that it can be over 99% effective. Adonit says that the two UVC lights on the Adonit Note UVC can reach 99% sterilization in one minute.
To turn on the UVC lights on this stylus, just hold down the power button for about five seconds while the lights are faced down. The two UVC lights will come on and remain on for a minute, or you can press the power button to turn off the UVC lights. You can tell that the UVC is on because you can see the purple light coming out of the side of the stylus, and you can also see the power button flash blue.
UVC light can be dangerous to your eyes, so if you turn the stylus so that the UVC lights face up, the UVC lights will go off automatically to prevent accidental eye damage.
Adonit doesn't explain how much UVC light needs to be directed to a specific surface to kill 99% of the germs. I presume that you can slowly wave the UVC lights over a surface, but does each portion of the surface need to get a full minute of UVC lights? I think that this is just a case of the more, the better. Adonit says on its website: "The closer the object is to the surface, the higher the concentration of ultraviolet light and the better the sterilization!"
Of course, the main reason that this product is of interest right now is COVID-19. Does the UVC light on the Adonit Note kill the novel coronavirus? Studies are still coming out on this, but it looks like the answer is yes. For example, here is a study referenced in Nature with the title: Far-UVC light (222 nm) efficiently and safely inactivates airborne human coronaviruses. (UVC is short wave ultraviolet light in the 100–280 nm wavelength.) The CDC says that UVC can be used to kill bacteria and viruses. And the National Academy of Sciences says that UV light will probably kill the novel coronavirus — although it warns that you should only use UVC on objects, not on your skin, and the World Health Organization says the same thing. I've seen reports of firefighters, restaurants (such as Magnolia Bakery in New York), and schools using UVC light to battle COVID-19.
So let's say that the surface of your iPhone was touched by someone else, and you think that there is a risk that the coronavirus is on the surface. Or maybe you touched a potentially contaminated surface and then touched your iPhone, which could have contaminated the screen on your iPhone. If you use the Adonit Note UVC to sterilize the surface, the science suggests that this could kill the virus. The longer you apply the light, the more it should work, so I would at least use it for the full minute that the UVC lights stay on by default. Of course, if you want to do the same thing to an iPad, you have more surface area to disinfect, so it is going to take longer.
Being neither a doctor nor a scientist, I don't know how much this will actually reduce the risk of COVID-19. I see reports that transmission is more likely when someone breathes near you than from touching a contaminated surface. And if you miss a spot when you are using the Adonit Note UVC to disinfect, then you might be lulled into an unwarranted sense of security. But other than that, I don't see any harm in using the UVC lights to disinfectant, and perhaps in some circumstances in which you don't have access to some method of sterilization, it will make an important difference.
Conclusion
For many people, the $40 Adonit Note is an excellent alternative to the Apple Pencil — fewer features, but much cheaper. The Adonit Note UVC currently costs $70 on Amazon. Is it worth an additional $30 to get the ultraviolet lights? I'm sure that some will view the UVC lights as just a gimmick. On the other hand, if you are being extra cautious about COVID-19, then I guess every little bit can help. And you have to give it to Adonit for coming up with a stylus feature that definitely differentiates this product from the Apple Pencil.
