TechGearLab

The Meko Universal is the only passive stylus in this review, meaning that it doesn't communicate with your touchscreen device to enable features like palm rejection or pressure sensitivity. It simply replaces your finger, which helps keep your screen clean. We appreciate that it packs in the value. You get two double-ended pens, which each have a disk, a mesh nib tip, and six nib replacements. Both nibs work well enough, though we don't love disks. The mesh tip provides a nice balance of friction and glide to give you plenty of control over your line. The stylus itself is well-balanced and comfortable to hold, like a compact pen. As a universal stylus, it works on all capacitive touchscreens, making it a handy tool to have around for everything from navigating your smartphone to jotting down a to-do list on your tablet. 
Disk nibs consist of a very fine-tipped nib surrounded by a clear disk to distribute pressure. Since they let you see exactly where the nib is, they can be nice for detailed work. We find that it takes time to ignore the circumference of the transparent disk, though. And that defeats the purpose. They are also slippery. Still, the Meko is fairly accurate, but since you can't write with it while resting your palm against the screen, we find it hard to do so neatly. And the effort tires our hands. What we love about this stylus is how many options it gives you. It worked well on all of our touchscreen devices and is a solid, inexpensive option for yours. 

Best for Most

amazon.com

walmart

If you don't need the extra features that a synced Bluetooth stylus can provide and just need a tool for navigation and rough writing or doodling, the Mixoo Capacitive Pen is a solid option. While the Meko Universal stylus pack below offers a better overall value, if you don't need two of them, the Mixoo will do the trick for less. Though the lines you draw do lag behind the pen on some devices we tested, the two-sided Mixoo faithfully tracks your movements across the screen. It doesn't help your screen ignore your palm though, and it's hard to write clearly without bracing your hand against the screen. Fortunately, its mesh nib provides enough traction to support passable legibility. It works just as well as the other generalist styluses reviewed here. 
We appreciate that the Mixoo comes with two replacement disks since they seem fragile, and we often found ourselves tightening them. &#40;It also comes with one extra mesh nib.&#41; We also find it harder to control the low-friction plastic disks on the screen, making for sloppier notes and less precise drawings. The pen gives you a nice rubber grip when using the disk nib. Since we usually use the mesh option, we'd like enhanced traction on that side. The Mixoo is a straightforward, low-tech navigation stylus for those on a limited budget. 

Budget Pick

Wirecutter

The Apple Pencil supports pressure sensitivity, making it a better choice for artists using iPads with a Lightning port.

The Second Generation Apple Pencil is a joy. Using it to swirl vibrant, smudge-proof colors across the screen in Adobe Illustrator Draw is hypnotic. It's a cinch to pair with your iPad, and a magnetic docking strip on the right stores the pen while charging it, so you never run out of power. It's slick. You can easily convert your handwriting to text in Notes or use Apple's Scribble feature to have any text field decipher your handwriting. The Pencil soared in our precision tests, and the rigid nib makes it easy to place your lines and shapes just where you want them. Apple touts the Pencil's imperceptible lag, and our testers agree. It also responds to pressure, pooling more "paint" or ink in its wake when you press down and leaving the faintest trace of color with a light touch. The Pencil also allows you to rest your hand on the screen while writing or drawing, featuring excellent palm rejection. &#40;It shares this feature with the JamJake, Adonit Note+, and S Pen&#41;. All told, its performance is nearly flawless. 
Our biggest problems with the Pencil are that it's expensive and only works with newer iPad versions. And while Apple claims that it is tilt sensitive and that laying the stylus nib over will create broader strokes, like an actual pencil would, we couldn't get it to work during testing. At this task, It's finicky at best. The nib can also squeak disconcertingly during tasks like rearranging app icons. Still, if you want a top-of-the-line pressure-sensitive stylus pen that is always at the ready &#40;and you have a compatible iPad&#41;, the Pencil is for you.

Despite the high-caliber tech behind Apple's second-generation Pencil, it really does write like one. Just pretend your iPad is a notebook and have at it. It offers painless pairing. Slide the pen onto its magnetic port on the iPad, and you're linked and charging. During our art test using Adobe Illustrator Draw, splashing colors around the page was a joy. With pressure-sensitive line thickness and no noticeable lag, we were in complete control of every little loop and paint stroke. It's equally faithful when writing in Notes or Evernote. Apple Notes also allows you to translate your writing into text in real-time or after the fact. Since the pen and iPad work together to ignore your palm while you're writing, you can rest your hand on the screen while working. 
The only real downsides to the new Apple Pencil are its high price and the fact that it's limited to more recent iPad models. You'll also need to track down apps that will record audio while you take notes at a meeting or lecture, something the smart pens are already set up to do. The nib squeaks occasionally, usually while rearranging icons. While the Pencil is supposed to support tilt sensitivity, creating broader strokes when you lay it over on its side like a graphite pencil, we could only make it work in a few apps. It was easy to make lines thicker by increasing pressure on the tip of the Pencil, though. The term digital pen encompasses both styluses and smartpens. The Pencil, a stylus, offers you the best and most wide-ranging note-taking and art-making skills of both categories. All you need is a compatible iPad. 

Despite the high-caliber tech behind the second-generation Apple Pencil, it really does write like one. Just pretend your iPad is a notebook and have at it. It offers painless pairing. Slide the pen onto its magnetic port on the iPad, and you're linked and charging. During our art test using Adobe Illustrator Draw, splashing colors around the page was a joy. With pressure-sensitive line thickness and no noticeable lag, we were in complete control of every little loop and paint stroke. It's equally faithful when writing in Notes or Evernote. Apple Notes also allows you to translate your writing into text in real-time or after the fact. Since the pen and iPad work together to ignore your palm while you're writing, you can rest your hand on the screen while working. 
The only real downsides to the new Apple Pencil are its high price and the fact that it's limited to more recent iPad models. You'll also need to track down apps that will record audio while you take notes at a meeting or lecture, something the smart pens are already set up to do. The nib squeaks occasionally, usually while rearranging icons. While the Pencil is supposed to support tilt sensitivity, creating broader strokes when you lay it over on its side like a graphite pencil, we could only make it work in a few apps. It was easy to make lines thicker by increasing pressure on the tip of the Pencil, though. The term digital pen encompasses both styluses and smartpens. The Pencil, a stylus, offers you the best and most wide-ranging note-taking and art-making skills of both categories. All you need is a compatible iPad. 

theverge.com

target

pcmag.com

Sleek, comfortable, well-performing, and affordable, the Mark is one of the best tablet styluses we’ve ever used, especially for its price.

Comfortable and affordable, the Mark performs well and is the best of the cheap, simple tablet styluses.

bazaarvoice

The Zagg Pro Stylus is as responsive as any stylus, works throughout iPadOS on any iPad released since 2017, offers tilt support and palm rejection, and charges via USB-C.

rtings.com

The Adonit Note+ combines a normal-pen feel with a precision nib and excellent features to offer outstanding performance. Both the Apple Pencil and the JamJake are rigid. The Adonit bucks the trend with a softer, replaceable nib that feels more like your favorite ball-point pen. The result is one of the best writing experiences in the test. And you can easily convert your handwriting to text in apps like Evernote or Apple's Notes. It even worked with Apple's Scribble in our tests, letting you write in text fields like the Google search bar. Its technical features are also top-notch. Palm rejection, pressure and tilt sensitivity, and two programmable shortcut buttons give you a lot of artistic control and convenience, and we didn't notice any line lag. 
Unfortunately, while the palm rejection works across apps, the other three features only work in a handful, and none of them are Adobe. The Note+ will work as a Bluetooth or non-Bluetooth stylus. To take advantage of all of its features, you'll need to sort through  Adonit's Recommended Apps webpage and then sync it with whatever drawing app you choose. We linked it up with the Concepts drawing app to take advantage of the pressure and tilt sensitivity. Its shading capabilities and depth of color control pulled us right in. We don't love how easy it is to press the shortcut buttons accidentally. It doesn't improve your handwriting or snap shapes together like a Second Generation Apple Pencil either. You also have to plug it in for a charge, making it easier to run out of juice than the Pencil. It is much less expensive, though, and offers a softer touch. Still, we think it's an exceptional option if you are flexible about your art apps or already use one that supports the Note+'s most impressive features. 

Stylus Comparison