Hello, my name is Julie Strietelmeier and I’m a stylus addict. I like all types of styluses, plastic styluses, metal styluses, wooden styluses, styluses with a rubber tip, styluses with a disc tip and styluses with a paintbrush tip. But the Adonit Jot Script Evernote Edition is the first stylus I’ve tried for iOS devices that has a tip with a fine point. That’s because most capacitive styluses and Bluetooth pressure sensitive styluses for iOS devices have tips that are not at all similar to a pen or pencil tip. They are typically too wide for natural writing and drawing. The Jot Script stylus changes that and I was very excited to try one.
The Jot Script has an aluminum barrel with a power button in the middle and a ribbed grip. The end cap unscrews to reveal the battery compartment. The stylus is powered by a standard AAA lithium battery which is included with the package. The stylus powers off automatically after inactivity and one AAA battery will provide up to 16 hours of pen-on-screen time.
The biggest advantage of the Jot Script stylus over a regular stylus is the size of the tip. The Jot’s tip has a 1.9mm diameter versus a 6.0mm diameter tip found on a lot of generic rubber tipped styluses like the Targus stylus you see next to the Jot Script in the image above.
The Jot’s tip is made out of Polyethylene terephthalate, which is a hard material. It is not springy or soft. It feels like you’re writing with a glass or metal tip. The tip is not intended to be replaced, but if for some reason if it would become damaged, it can be replaced.
When you compare the Jot next to other capacitive styluses, the only other stylus that has a similarly sized tip is the Samsung S-Pen found in the Galaxy Note series of Android smartphones.
Unfortunately, the S-Pen only works with Samsung Galaxy Note devices and the Adonit Jot Script will only work with iOS devices.
Setting up the Jot to work to with my iPad mini (1st gen) was very simple. I just activated Bluetooth on the mini and then I installed one of the 4 compatible apps that are currently available: PenUltimate (Free), Noteshelf ($5.99), ZoomNotes ($4.99) and GoodNotes. I performed my testing with the Jot Script using PenUltimate as it is the preferred app for this stylus and is free. Penultimate is Evernote’s award-winning handwriting application for digital note-taking. You can find more information about this application by visiting the Penultimate website.
The stylus will work in other apps, but advanced features like palm rejection, pressure sensitivity and shortcuts are only available in the apps that have incorporated the Jot SDK. That said, the only advanced feature currently available in any of the 4 supported apps is palm rejection.
There’s no pairing required or any hoops to jump through to connect the stylus to the tablet. Just turn Bluetooth on, and then hold the power button on the stylus until you see the green LED light up on the barrel. That’s it.
The Jot Script features Pixelpoint technology which places the ink point directly under the tip and improves the overall control on the screen.
The Jot Script provides a more comfortable pen-like writing feel of any stylus I’ve used on an iOS device so far. The PenUltimate app even offers a palm rejection feature (they call it wrist protection) so that you can rest your hand on the screen as you write, making it feel even more natural. I did find that I needed to turn off multi-task gestures for palm rejection to work correctly. As a lefty I also had some issues with the notification screen automatically pulling down from the top edge of the screen while I was trying to write.
If you’ve ever tried to write with a regular stylus, you’ve probably run into the issue where your dotted i’s and periods are ignored. The Jot Script does a MUCH better job of detecting these quick taps. It’s not 100% accurate, but it’s close.
Since the stylus tip is so narrow and the “ink” point pretty much directly under the tip, it allows you to do very small writing and detailed drawings. The only thing I would change about this stylus, other than making it compatible for Android devices, is to give the tip a little bit of resistance. The glass on glass feel is a bit slippery. I prefer the S-Pen feel, which is every so slightly draggy. Just enough to make you feel like you have a bit more control as you write.
I think the Adonit Jot Script stylus is definitely a good step in the evolution of styluses for iOS devices. Hopefully the fine tip feature will trickle down into other devices soon!
Product Information
| Price: | $74.99 |
| Manufacturer: | Adonit |
| Requirements: |
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| Pros: |
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Wish they can make it compatible for Android and Windows in the future.
@Jackie I hope we see more fine tipped styluses for Android too.
They had me until I saw the price. Maybe some other offerings will be more competitive. Thanks for sharing!
Wish it would be compatible with my go-to “paper” app from 53. I am experimenting with their new “pencil” stylus. I love all the tech features of that stylus… However the fat tip and carpenter-pencileque ergonomics don’t really work for me 🙁
@Anson the Jot Script will work with the Paper app, it just doesn’t have the palm rejection feature in that app.
$eriou$ly, that’$ a helluva lot of ca$h for $omething that only ‘write$’ on an iO$ device.
*$igh…* 🙂
@julie-
I need palm rejection.
The 53 “pencil” has great functionality like i mentioned (the eraser feature is epic)- but needs to be repackaged better to suit my hand.
Why oh why do the designers not realize that no pocket clip means it is almost impossible to carry this. I’m not about to put an expensive unsecured pen in my pocket.
I just bought an Adonit Jot Script last week mainly for use with Good Notes 4.0.5.
1. I have been using an Adonit Jot Touch 4 for writing and drawing with GoodNotes for a few weeks and it is flawless. I am very happy with it. I intend to just use it for drawing my diagrams as its pressure sensitive capability gives me what I need for diferent line widths. I am learning to use ProCreate.
I just bought an Adonit Jot Script today. I intend to mainly for note-taking using GoodNotes 4.0.5 (script writing and drawing simple diagrams). I have completed the set-up with my GoodNotes who has now updated its Adonit SDK to recognize the Jot Script.
2. When I started writing, I cannot write anything in a notebook I just created or use highlighting in an existing notebook. However, GoodNotes responds correctly when the Jot Script presses any of the buttons. (By the way, I had exactly the same experience with Penultimate. But I resolved it by using a process of elimination:
a. I turned off pressure sensitivity – nothing happened so turned in back on and still have the same issues.
b. I turned off palm rejection and I was able to right and draw and highlight, but as I was writing, I made marks all over thr page as my palm or finger touches the screen – obviously palm rejection is inactivated. So I turned it back on and still had the same issues.
c. I then turned off Palm Rest and to my suprise, everything worked flawlessly with GoodNotes (did not try this with Penultimate), either when writing directly to the main screen or in the zoom area. Just to confirm, I turned on Palm rest again and was expecting the initial issue I was experiencing. Again, to my surprise, all is working flawlessly even when the Palm Rest is left on!!!
d. FOR PAM REJECTION TO WORK FLAWLESSLY, IPAD MULTIGESTURES MUST BE TURNED OFF, WNHICH IS A TURN OFF, ALTHOUGH A MINOR ONE.
I did notice that there is a few milli-seconds lag if I write directly to the main screen (for Palm Rest on and off), but perfect, if i write in zoom area. The lag sometimes bother me a little. this lag however disappeared after the initial test for some unknown reason. !
…AND NO SKIPPING AT ALL….which by the way I only experienced with my old Jot Pro. Neither my Jot touch 4 and Jot Script had skipping issues. Worth noting is that the Script automatically hibernates after being idle for a few minutes. My battery is still at 100% after 4 days of normal use.
ADONIT JOT SCRIPT IS A GREAT INVENTION. THE FINE STYLUS HELP ME IMPROVE MY PENMANSHIP!!!!
I’m seriously looking at this product but the fact that it doesn’t have a pocket clip turns me off, I don’t want to spend $75 for a stylus and then lose it.
I’m trying to decide on buying the Jot Pro or the Jot Script. The Pro’s disk turns me off a little, but the price is excellent. The Jot Script seems great, but it is pricey. Without being able to test them myself I’m wondering, which is really better? I want to use it for writing and some occasional design sketching/drawing, maybe even photo edits in PhotoShop iPad version. I like the Jot Touch because of sensitivity, but again, the tip turns me off and I’ve read that it is very loud when writing. Also, the Jot Touch is a little overkill of me, since I’m mostly writing with it, not doing professional art. So, having said all of this, I HATE eraser tips that are out there and I want something as close to a pen feel as possible. Is the Jot Script really worth the price, or would the Jot Pro serve my needs just as good (or better)??? One other note… I don’t really use Evernote products I like a program called Outline+ because it so closely resembles OneNote but is available for both iPad and Mac OS, unlike OneNote. I haven’t been able to find anything comparing those particular two products. Feedback would be very much appreciated.
I have used the Jot Pro, Jot Touch 4 and Jot Script extensively. I experienced a lot if skipping with the the Jot Pro but Zi cured it by putting a thermal compound inside the disc. But the Jot Pro is just a stylus. I bought a Jot Touch 4 which is more expensive but worked well and it is a smart pen. Lines of different thickness, palm rejection etc. but I was turned off with the disc. It detaches when you bump it. So I sold my touch 4 and bought the Script and with my GoodNotes worked so well. It is just like a pen and does not feel fragile. It is les expensive than the Touch 4, but it is worth it. Don’t buy the Pro.
Of all the Bluetooth type stylists,this Jot is the best and simplist to use.
That said …….. wish there was a way to increase the time before auto turns it off.
Oh,by the way ……. if it shuts off alot,it’s because the cap is loose or the battery
Is running low.
Script worked poorly for me. Worked with Penultimate but when I loaded Goodnotes, it stopped working. About to call Adonit and lost the stylus because it had no clip. Worst money I ever spent.
One wonders why essentially all of the expensive stylu designers think a clip is such a bad idea. There have been several reviewed here that I would have bought except for this inexplicable omission.
There’s all sorts of pen clips, pen holders etc you can buy separately on Amazon or in office supply stores, I’m sure it’s pretty easy to find one that would fit this stylus. I’m glad it doesn’t have a clip myself, just one more thing that could scratch the screen.
I use the Hand Stylus which has a rubber tip that is significantly smaller than any other (ca. 2mm). The tip is a bit on the soft side (and is easily replaceable): it is activated by a push button mechanism which means that it is shielded when carried in, say, a pocket. Each tip ejection also makes the tip rotate so that the wear and tear is reasonably even. I have used it to take notes and it works, of course, with any app. It costs less than $30, so I cannot see spending more than $70 on a stylus with the limitations of the Jot Script.
The Adonit Script is an intelligent pens in the way it works with APAC unlike other pens.
Unless there is a standard screen in use, different pens will be required for different tablets.
I must correct my review above. The Hand Stylus tip is ca. 3.5mm
I bought the Adonit Jot Script about 6 months ago thinking this would be the best option over the larger soft tips available. The issues that I am having are 1) the tip does not match up exactly with your writing on the iPad. So when you write the next word you must move the tip further right other wise the words are too close. 2) It drives me crazy to turn the pen on after a short time of inactivity,
I am finding that my finger is the best option. I am amazed that a pen cannot be manufactured to work like pen/paper or pencil/paper: batteries not required, no on/off switch, softer tip with a feel of pencil writing on paper.
A good review for a good pen. I’d like to point out that the app ZoomNotes has some extra feature to support the Jot Script which are not present in other apps. These are a simple calibration setup to help better align the ink with the fine tip of the stylus. The other is a ‘slow smooth’ mode which lets you draw smooth straight or curved lines – something which you cannot do in other apps with this pen.
I hope this isn’t a silly question…does this stylus (Jot Script) have trouble with screen protectors interfering with writing? I am rather compulsive in having a screen protector on all my devices, but will I still be able to write/sketch/ draw with the Jot Script?
Thanks in advance.
@Harrison I hope someone else will comment on your question. I don’t use screen protectors, so I can’t respond…
What about scratching? On other web sites I have read reviews that this pen scratches tablet screens and that you shouldn’t use it without a screen protector. Is that no longer a problem?
@Rachel I’d venture to guess that any stylus can scratch a display if the display or the stylus tip has dirt/grit on it. Just make sure to wipe the screen and tip before you use it and you should be fine. I’ve not had any stylus scratch a mobile device’s screen in probably a decade.
I’m sad to see all the N-trig devices entirely skipped.
I have a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet, which runs on Android 2.3, and though I have a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, and for a brief time was using a Lenovo Helix (Windows 8 with Wacom), I have never had a better fine-tipped stylus experience as I did, and still sometimes do despite it’s age and lag, with my N-trig stylus.
One issue I have with it is it’s “clacky.” A hard tipped stylus is fairly loud on glass, which made recording lectures while taking notes quite the show of gadgetry with the external microphone (and I didn’t always remember to bring the mic). Given the slickness (extreme speed) of two smooth, hard surfaces, I prefer a softer stylus tip. I’m happy to replace them just to have something external slowing me down.
I, too, am religious about screen protectors, I have yet to have any issue using the stylus with any of them, except one really thick, amazingly cheap one that was on for all of 15 minutes, and a Skinomi (virtually identical to Zagg) that my sister permanently dented pressing so hard (*really* hard).
TFT styli were fine-tipped, but the TFT screens were a bit dicey via touch, you had to press or use a fingernail, but the styli were pennies each, so no worries about losing them. They were just plastic sticks, but they were dead-on, and nearly as good as the N-trig. Pixelated, but accurate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkPad The X61 was a huge seller, and people loved the stylus. The HTC Advantage runnning on Windows Mobile 5, with a 5″ screen (2007), not so much (they botched a couple of other things, primarily the display driver, that made the browser and other primary apps less-than-fun to use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yfni9pm9bA)
Stylus development goes back to 1881 (yes, the nineteenth century). Usable fine tips go back to the early 1990’s. Frankly, I am extremely frustrated with how slow stylus development has been, in large part because Apple stole the spotlight from Windows Mobile and Palm (of the Pilot variety). People liked the smooth touch experience and incredible marketing more than they wanted to preserve and usher the art of penmanship into the 21st century (and making art instead of tapping lovely icons). They (you?) were also (sorry) lulled into the ease of the walled garden. It’s gorgeous, but folks, there’s a whole world out there of amazing technology, and you’re not just missing it, you’re not buying it so that it can be developed even more.
I’m so very glad to see Adonit enabling consumers to be producers (not that you can’t be productive via touch, but how many stylus games are there? Yes, it’s a chicken/egg scenario). I’m also very excited to see capacitive screens using styli; the technology is *so*, er, much more affordable than Wacom’s, and large N-trig displays, which means more people will be able to write, draw, and paint, and be excited about it with their cool, new gadget rather than be limited to flinging birds and sorting candy.
By the way, the ThinkPad Tablet was a total flop. I suspect it was one of Lenovo’s worst-selling products.
OK, I’m ready for a realistic brush tip. I’ll buy the whole set. Soon, please. I will be arthritic in 2019.
@Janis This is the first that I’ve heard of N-trig styluses. I guess it’s because they only work with a select set of devices… at least as far as I can tell. I will be happy to take a look at them as soon as they have a generic version for either iOS or Android.
I have an iPad Air and Jot Script.
I’m extremely disappointed with it.
The lag is significant, and the ink doesn’t appear under the point as claimed by Adonit. It’s always above and to the right of the point, regardless of settings and configuration.
When drawing lines it occasionally seems to follow a logic of its own about where you are going to go next.
All in all it feels like trying to write with etch-a-sketch.
I’ve gone back to the “traditional” thick ended rubber stylus which is still clumsy but at least I can read what I’ve written afterwards.
I have to say that for business purposes, I find myself using my tablet a lot. I also need to take a lot of notes and write emails. For a while, to save time and energy, I was using a voice recognition program to write out large chunks of text, but I quickly discovered that if you try to use one of those programs for anything more than a sentence at a time, it starts getting glitchy. After looking into electronic styluses like the intuos creative and the jot series, I knew this would be a near perfect match. The real clincher was that my wife is an artist and she’s actually been wanting one of these for a while. So we decided to get the Jot Touch and share it 🙂
Nice review. I purchased the Jot Script Evernote addition today, but feel it won’t meet my needs. I like to sketch out powerpoint decks before I create them, or annotate PDFs as I review materials. There are a couple of challenges with this device that add up to it being far slower than alternatives:
1) My writing frequently leaves out whole words; not sure why it stops for a second but happens less when I write extra-slow
2) Sometimes screen registers my wrist, although getting rid of multi-gestures in iOS helps. It often zooms into a specific area then I need to move my writing to the box at the bottom of the screen, then it is hard to move the box back to where I like it.
3) If I can get it working for a bit, the lag between when I write and when it appears on the screen is enough that it is distracting.
Overall I don’t see the downsides better than the problem solved. For my workflow I will return this and get a far cheaper rubber stylus for basic annotation. For detailed sketches I still unfortunately see myself using paper. I prefer WhiteLines Link lined paper in A4 Grid size. I can take a photo with an iPhone or iPad and send the file directly to email, Evernote, DropBox. With Evernote Premium it even indexes what I write (and my writing is far from perfect). I also use a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner for other digitizing of paper work-flow.
This doesn’t provide the best solution if someone wants to go paperless, but for me it is the best way to be fast, efficient and digitize my pen (and paper) based work. The idea of this product is brilliant, even if the execution is somewhat disappointing.
Very disappointed so far with my new Jot Script stlus gpvor my iPad 2. Slip-slides all over the screen, performance erratic – definitely taking is item back to Staples for a full refund.
That’s precisely the problem I have! I can’t stand the rubber-ball styluses. Anybody know of a good pen-like piece for Windows that’s affordable?
Hmm… The Stylus is great but it comes to a good feeling, nothing is better than the own favourite pen. That can be a ink pen from Lamy, a ball pen from daddy or anything like that.
IOS got Adonit with his great Jot Script Stylus, Android got brand-own Stylus’ like the S-Pen and Windows got with Lenovo Tablets just any pen u want. They have a Technology called Anypen® and it allowes you to use any pen you just want. Its featured in every Yoga tablets after Yoga 2 with the Update Windows 8.1 and is the right way to go when it comes to writing on the screen. No extra pens needed, just go on with your Birthday Present Ball Pen and finish the recipe in the kitchen on the go 😉
Thats innovative, not creating complicated battery pens…