REVIEW – If you own an iPad, chances are that you also own or wish you owned an Apple Pencil. A stylus is a great accessory for an iPad especially if you enjoy creating art or writing on your tablet. The only problem is that the Apple Pencil has a $129 price tag. OUCH! Is there a cheaper alternative? That’s what we’ll look at today with the FaAmour iPad Stylus.
What is it?
The FaAmour iPad stylus is an Apple Pencil look-a-like that is only compatible with iPad 2018-2021 models.
What’s in the box?
- FaAmour iPad stylus
- 2 extra nibs
- Polishing cloth (not sure what this is for…)
- USB-C charging cable
- User manual
Design and features
At first glance, it is very easy to mistake this stylus for an Apple Pencil. It’s the same shape right down to the flat side that helps to keep it from rolling off your desk.
It’s also white like an Apple Pencil although it’s a brighter white than the more eggshell white of the Apple Pencil.
So what is the difference between the FaAmour iPad stylus and the Apple Pencil? Actually, quite a bit. The first major physical difference that you’ll notice is the built-in USB-C port which is used to charge the stylus. Below the port is a small status green LED that blinks while charging and glows steadily when the stylus is fully charged and when it’s powered on. How do you power it on? You press and hold the top button for a few seconds.
At the opposite end of the stylus is the nib or writing tip. The nibs are removable/replaceable and 2 extra nibs are included in the package.
Even the nib/tip of the FaAmour stylus looks identical to the Apple Pencil’s nib. But with my eyes closed, I wrote on the iPad with both styluses one after the other and could feel a very slight difference between the nibs. I think the Apple Pencil’s nib is a little bit softer than the FaAmour’s nib. The FaAmour’s nib feels very slightly sharper and harder to me.
Like the Apple Pencil, the FaAmour iPad stylus can attach magnetically to the edge of the iPad. Note that, unlike the Apple Pencil, the FaAmour stylus does NOT charge when attached to the iPad in this way.
You have to charge it using the included (or any) USB-C charging cable. When fully charged, the FaAmour’s built-in 130mAh battery should provide 8-10 hours of use and up to 365 days of standby power.
To start using the FaAmour stylus with your iPad, you’ll need to turn it on by pressing and holding the top button. The green status LED will light up to let you know that it’s powered on and ready to use. For the first use, you’ll need to pair it via Bluetooth to the iPad.
Additional feature not found on an Apple Pencil
Pressing the top button on the stylus will work as a shutter button to snap a picture with the iPad’s camera.
Performance
I didn’t notice any lag when writing and drawing with this stylus on my 2021 iPad Pro. It felt comparable to the Apple Pencil in that regard.
I also didn’t have any problems putting my palm on the screen while writing. I didn’t need a special glove to do this either.
The instructions that come with the FaAmour stylus mention that it’s pressure-sensitive, but that’s not really true. Unlike with an Apple Pencil, the line width will not increase when you apply harder pressure on the display with the FaAmour iPad Stylus nib. The line width can increase when you tilt the nib at an 0 – 60 degree angle to the screen surface. But this really depends on the software, brush type, and the app that you’re using.
After using this stylus for a few days I also started noticing that it would automatically turn off with just 5 minutes of inactivity and you can’t customize the auto-off time. This can become really annoying having to turn it on over and over again unlike the Apple Pencil which is always ready to go.
See it in action
What I like
- Looks like an Apple Pencil with a much lower price tag
- Built-in shutter button
What I’d change
- Auto power on would be nice instead of manually turning it on
- Can’t change the auto-power off timeout which is set to 5 minutes
Final thoughts
The FaAmour iPad stylus is a much less expensive alternative to the Apple Pencil. At $100 less than the Apple Pencil, it is an attractive alternative since it looks almost identical, the writing feel is very similar, and it even attaches magnetically to the side of the iPad. Just remember that you will have to manually charge it with a cable and manually turn it on. Also, be aware that with this stylus you won’t get the double-tap to erase and you won’t get the pressure sensitivity feature of the Apple Pencil. If you’re ok with that, then it’s worth checking out if you’re on a budget.
Price: $29.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Meko.
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Excellent review!
No pressure sensitivity? Hard pass.
Nice review. I’m glad there are alternatives to Apple’s expensive peripheral. I’ve used similar generic pencils before when doing art in ProCreate. I don’t need pressure sensitivity for my cartoon drawing style. I have the generic Jamjake apple pencil (the one with 65k positives on amazon)
My problem with the generic pencil is that it registers my stroke slightly early, when hovering a half-millimeter over the screen. This isn’t a problem when taking notes, but it didn’t feel as good in procreate. I gave mine to the kids to beat on and had to go back to the original.
After reading your review about an apple pencil alternative (a cheap one, having had to gift my apple pencil gen 1 after upgrading from ipad pro 9,7 to an ipad air 4) i went to Amazon to investigate it further.. and find a cheaper version without the Bt shooter.. i did not need another shooter, Pencil K11 from JAMJAKE, amazing thing, i usually work in Bamboo paper and tayasui sketches, the tilt function does work.. there is no pressure sensitivity per se, its the tilt function, but for the price is wonderful, and attaches to the ipad too, happy with my new “Mapple” Pencil (a la simpsons)