Fingerprints. It’s perhaps my biggest pet peeve about the iPad’s glorious screen. It’s one gigantic fingerprint magnet. Unless you plan on joining the Men In Black (they remove your fingerprints) it’s something you just have to deal with. Unless of course you find some other way to use your iPad without touching the screen with your finger.
Enter the WirelessGround Touch Screen Stylus Pen. The stylus, which is available in Black, Purple, Blue or Pink, features a soft tip which gives your more precise control when tapping on your screen and allows you to do so with using your finger.
WirelessGround was kind enough to send me the black version of the stylus for review. It’s currently on sale on the company’s web site for only $9.99, making it one of the most economical styli of this type that I’ve seen.
When you’re done reading my review head on over the to WirelessGround web site and check it out.
The stylus is made from light weight plastic and features a clip which you can use to secure the it to your shirt pocket or case.
The tip of the pen is made from a soft, cushy material which retracts slightly when your press. This allows for more control over the pen and makes sure that you tap exactly where you want to tap.
I tested the stylus on both my iPad and my iPhone and found I was making fewer errors on both. I did seem to sacrifice some speed since using the stylus essentially means typing with one finger, but fewer errors means in the long run I’m faster.
Swiping and scrolling were a bit of a challenge when using the stylus but I have a Clear Coat screen protector on both my iPhone and my iPad. The Clear Coat does have a bit of a “tacky” finish to it which probably contributed to the difficulty I was experiencing. If you use one of the traditional adhesive screen shields, or no screen shield at all, you should be fine.
It also worked quite well for use with the many drawing and note taking applications currently available for the iPad. I’m no artist, but you get the idea.
Bottom line on the stylus? It works as exactly as it’s meant to. After 24 hours of usage I noticed considerably less fingerprints on my iPad’s screen. I estimate I got rid of 70% of them. And perhaps even more importantly I was typing more efficiently.
The stylus does take a little getting used to but once you learn how to tap you’ll be zipping around your iPad without leaving a trail of fingerprint oil behind.
M.S.R.P. – $19.99 (on sale now for $9.99)
What I like – reduces fingerprints on touch screen devices, pocket clip, light weight, inexpensive, multiple colors.
What I don’t like – hard to scroll and swipe with Clear Coat style screen protector installed.
Sami has tried a few of these on her iPhone, including this type. The problem is, for the stylus to register, the tip has to be pretty soft, and she’s found that I wears out rather quickly–in a matter of weeks, rather than months.
@Doug – that’s what makes this one different. If you look at the pictures of the tip itself you’ll notice it’s different than most of the other styli like this (at least different than the ones I’d tried previously.) Most of the others are made from what seems like foam. This one is not. It’s much heavier plastic and I feel it’ll last longer.
@Larry: can’t wait to find out how long it lasts for you so I can tell Sam!
geardiary: WirelessGround Touch Screen Stylus, Reduces iPad Fingerprints – http://bit.ly/9PUVk4
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Review: WirelessGround Touch Screen Stylus, Reduces iPad Fingerprints #gadgets http://bit.ly/ataRdE
Review: WirelessGround Touch Screen Stylus, Reduces iPad Fingerprints http://goo.gl/fb/jAeRj
I can see using this for a painting program or handwritten notes but for typing? not for me. I find typing (albeit my four finger method) works great on the iPad and going down to one “finger” at a time would quickly be a lesson in frustration for me.
Interestingly, I was showing my iPad to someone today who started with “yeah but typing on it would be horrible”. I handed it to him with the Apple case keeping it as a slight angle in landscape (the only real redeeming factor with that case). He typed for a while (a similar four-finger approach), turned and said, “Wow, that’s pretty good.”
Had he been doing the “one-finger stylus tap” approach I suspect he would quickly have been turned off.