Meko Stylus for iPad Review
The stylus market has exploded in recent years, with the need for taking notes or sketching with something more precise and responsive than your finger, becoming more and more desirable.
There are all sorts available, ranging in features and price, so you almost have too much choice. Do you get an active, capacitive, or digital stylus? What about one with Bluetooth which may offer more options, like pressure sensitivity and additional buttons? The choice is endless.
You then have the higher end of the market with a stylus like the Apple Pencil, which comes at a premium price, but works flawlessly with the iPad. But what if you would love one of these more desirable input devices but don’t have the budget for it? Well, Meko have come to the rescue with the Meko Stylus for iPad.
Their pen gives you many of the features of an Apple Pencil, including how it looks, but at a fraction of the price. It offers palm rejection and even attaches to the iPad using magnets, much in the same way as Apples own device.
Obviously, to keep the price down some compromises have been made. You don’t get pressure sensitivity and to charge the stylus you need to use a separate cable.
So even with these differences, is the Meko stylus for iPad still worth investing in?
Read on to find out…
Unboxing
The stylus box is pretty much a straight copy of the Apple Pencil box, except it’s a little wider. I do quite like that Meko aren’t trying to market this as anything but an Apple Pencil alternative, why try and hide it, just be up front from the start.
A picture of the stylus sits on the top, and to be honest, you would be forgiven for thinking it was an Apple Pencil if you simply glanced at this on a shelf.
On the back we have the product information, plus, in bold letters, the iPad models it will work with.
It’s important to state that it won’t work on every iPad so please check if yours is compatible before you buy.
Inside the box we have some basic instructions.
You also have the USB charging cable with the cap.
And finally, the all important stylus.
You are also given an extra tip for when the main one wears down, which is a nice little bonus.
The Stylus
There’s no getting around the fact that this stylus looks remarkably like Apples own pencil. It’s the same size and colour, although you can also buy Meko’s version in black, and it has the same style of replaceable tip.
You can even attach it to the iPad, which makes it easy to carry around. Although, the magnets do feel a little weak so I would be careful when walking around with it attached.
Even though it looks the same there are some key differences. The overall shape is more triangular than cylindrical which does help it to sit in your hand, and it’s a little lighter too.
At the end is a button with a small chrome connector in the middle, which is used for charging, and before this is an indicator light. The button is simply used to turn on the stylus so the iPad can register it, however it’s important to point out that it’s not connected using Bluetooth. This is a digital stylus, (or active stylus), which means it needs power so the smaller tip can be registered on a capacitive screen.
This does make using it so much easier, and is a dramatic improvement over the other, unpowered, capacitive stylus types which use a larger rubber tip, or a disc which can obstruct your view when writing or sketching.
Another difference is how the stylus is charged. With the Apple pencil you simply attach it to the iPad and the Pencil begins charging. With the Meko stylus you need to use a separate charging cable.
The good news is that there isn’t an ugly USB port on the stylus itself, instead you use a cap which sits on top.
Fully charging the battery only takes around twenty minutes, and it is said to last between eight and ten hours. It also features an auto power off feature, which will turn the stylus off after it hasn’t been used for five minutes.
The Stylus in Use
I feel like the Meko stylus for iPad is aimed more at the everyday user, or maybe students. Someone who wants to browse the web, play games, and take lots of notes, and from this perspective I found that it performed well.
The stylus is comfortable, responsive and I didn’t suffer from any lag, so I could write and be confident my notes would come through as intended without any wavey lines.
When turned on, the stylus also offers palm rejection too, so you can confidently rest your hand on the screen as you write.
One tip if you already own an Apple Pencil, is to make sure it is disconnected from the iPad or the Meko stylus won’t register.
Digital Art Use
Now this is where things get a little more interesting. I’m an artist so I use various digital tools to create my work. I primarily use a Wacom device, but I also like to draw, sketch, and sculpt on the iPad too.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the Meko stylus as an art tool, I did have some issues.
Firstly, there is no pressure sensitivity, which for many people may not be an issue, but if you truly want that feeling of sketching with a pencil on paper, you won’t get it, not without constantly adjusting the opacity as you work.
I also found while doing some basic circle and line tests, that the Meko stylus suffered from jittering when compared to the Apple pencil, so I wasn’t as confident in my lines.
Interestingly though, this occurred more in Procreate than when using the Notes app, which probably uses some smoothing algorithm to clean up the lines.
You can of course enable this option in most paint applications, but I do feel like you lose some of the precision.
One other issue I found was the stylus switched itself off from time to time. This was probably the auto off feature being a bit too keen, but it did break my concentration when I was sketching.
To be fair though, pushing these aside, it did feel nice to sketch with once I got into a rhythm. You can even tilt the stylus to shade too, rather than just draw lines, which is nice. So, for quick sketches and doodles it was fine, but I wouldn’t consider using it for more professional work.
Should You Invest?
What Meko have given us with this stylus is a much more affordable alternative to the Apple Pencil. At just £20 on Amazon at the time of recording, its £100 cheaper which is a lot, so if all you want to do is take notes and do the odd doodle, then it’s the perfect stylus for this and I would highly recommend it.
If you’re a more serious artist though, I would consider paying the extra to get the pressure, precision and additional features that come with Apple’s own stylus.
Although Meko supplied the stylus for me to test, the opinions offered in this review are my own.