Webcomic maker, artist, and Bug of all trades.
I had the opportunity recently to try out an Apple Pencil alternative from SPGUARD.
Full disclosure: I received the product for free in exchange for making a video about it. If you buy one through my TikTok shop link, I receive a commission. I was not asked to make a positive review or to make any specific statements about the product; this is all based on my experience and opinion.
I’ve seen folks posting about alternative styluses (styli?) for use with the iPad for some time, since the official Apple Pencil can be pretty expensive, and even some of the big brand name alternatives like the Logitech Crayon are also kind of pricey. Since I’ve really only used the Apple Pencil with my iPad (aside from a non-smart stylus on my ancient gen 2 iPad years ago for sketching only) I was curious about how well these kinds of devices work. It would be great if there were cheaper alternatives out there that work decently well. I get most of my art tools on a budget; they’re either gifted to me by family, something I can afford because it’s usually student grade, or I grab it while it’s discounted, especially in the case of software. I know a lot of other artists work on a similar tight budget, so I jumped on the opportunity to give this cheap alternative a try and share the results with you all.
An important note before I get too far into this: this pencil only works with iPads from 2018 or newer. My personal iPad is from 2017, and it definitely doesn’t work with this. So just be careful before buying to make sure your device is one that will work! I had to borrow a newer iPad to do this review.
The SPGUARD Pencil charges with USB-C, so you’ll need a cable and a place to plug it in. It does have a magnetic strip to stick to newer iPads, but it doesn’t charge this way. It comes with a cable and of course, the Pencil itself. I opened it up and was surprised to find the battery at full charge, which was great because I didn’t have to do anything special to get going.
Does it do what it claims? Here’s my test.
What’s in the box?
Upon opening the box, I found all the listed items along with an instruction sheet. The Pencil itself feels like a decent quality and weight; relatively solid and with a matte surface. It’s flat on one side to stick magnetically to the iPad, and this seems to work well. In all, it feels very similar to a genuine Apple Pencil.
Using the pencil is simple; just double tap on the “eraser” end of the pencil to turn it on or off. (There is no eraser function; I simply mean that in a descriptive way.) Indicator lights come on to show that the device is powered, and what the charge level is. This is handy and sort of a nice feature that the genuine Apple Pencil doesn’t have. I can’t tell how charged my Apple Pencil is without opening up my iPad and checking the battery widget. Here, I can tell how charged it is before I even get started. Nice!
Does it work?
A small bit of magic happens here: aside from turning the Pencil on, you don’t have to pair it with Bluetooth or do any other kind of setup in software. It simply works as long as it’s turned on. I realize this is just a simple trick using the capacitative properties of the iPad screen, but it works surprisingly well.
I decided to put the pencil through its paces starting with Procreate, a pretty typical piece of art software used by a lot of artists. Procreate recognizes the Pencil without issue, although a caveat is revealed here; the Pencil has no pressure sensitivity, a major feature of official Apple devices. While that is lacking, the Pencil works smoothly and and produces a nice continuous line without “choppy” line breaks that can sometimes happen with digital styluses. I didn’t try it, but I imagine it would be possible to adjust some brushes in Procreate to taper at the start and end to create the illusion of pressure sensitivity. I suppose it depends on what you’re planning to do.
I doodled a simple drawing of a duck just to try and make something from start to finish with the device, and I found it perfectly fine for this purpose. I wasn’t necessarily able to do everything I’d do with my Apple Pencil, but if this is all I was left with, I feel like I’d still be able to create art, I’d just have to find some simple workarounds or alternate techniques for certain features, like line width.
Importantly, the palm rejection the device claims it has does work. I did have one moment where it glitched, but I think it was more due to how I was holding the pencil. Easily undone and fixed.
I also tried the Pencil out in Apple Notes, which seems more like what this device is really geared for; students taking notes, or folks who primarily work with text and simple drawings. It worked perfectly fine here for this purpose. It kept up with my handwriting, no lag that I could notice. It worked fine drawing the automatic shapes (i.e., draw a freehand circle and hold the pencil at the end of the line to generate a perfect circle) in Apple Notes, so that was a pleasant surprise, too.
My thoughts overall?
This is a perfectly usable (and cheap!) alternative to an Apple Pencil. It lacks quite a few of the features of the official device, but depending on what you’re willing to forego, it might be usable in your situation.
Who is this device for?
Students, people who take lots of notes, possibly beginner or intermediate artists just dipping their toes into digital art. It currently retails for about $16.99 (with discounts available) through the TikTok shop, and if you buy it through my affiliate link, I’ll get a small commission. (You may need the TikTok app to access it!)
Watch my video review on TikTok
Check out the Pencil in action in my video review on TikTok!
