Pogo Connect (for iPad)

The stubby little Pogo Connect is a fun, easy-to-use pressure-sensitive stylus for the latest  . It's the go-to stylus if you're looking for something that feels a little more like a marker or brush on your screen than the scratchily precise and . It shares our Editors' Choice award for pressure-sensitive styli with the Jot Touch.

At $79.95 (direct), the Pogo Connect is the least expensive pressure-sensitive stylus we're reviewing, and it's also the simplest. It's a 5-inch aluminum cylinder with a single software-customizable button on the barrel and no special grip area. It runs "for months" (according to maker Ten One Design) on a AAA battery. The tip is squishy, deforming rubber like Ten One uses in its $24.95 . Natively, it only works with the newest iPad; there's a kludge involving using an iPhone as a "bridge" to make it work with older iPads, but as I said, that's a kludge.

While the Connect uses Bluetooth, it doesn't have to be paired like a standard Bluetooth device. Compatible apps—in this case, nine of them—detect the Connect when properly configured. You can download a helper app called Pogo Connect if they aren't. (Always make sure your favorite app works with a stylus before buying one!) I found that it worked fine with ArtStudio and Sketchbook Pro, and especially well with Procreate. This is certainly an easier setup process than the Jot Touch, which has to be paired in your iPad's Bluetooth settings.

The Connect rewarded the heaviest hand of the three styli I tested, primarily because of the squishy tip. (You can customize how all of the styli change your ink, but I left the settings the same for all three styli so I could compare them.) Because the tip deformed, it had a very different feel from the Jot Touch, much more like a brush than like a pen or pencil. Strokes felt more organic, and a bit more graceful. But also like a brush, I couldn't get to quite the level of precision that I did with the Jot Touch, simply because the tip occluded the exact pixel I was working on. Pressure sensitivity was spot on.

With the Jot Touch and Pogo Connect both well-built and working as expected, the choice between the two really comes down to compatibility and which feel you prefer. The Jot Touch supports the second-generation iPad and more apps; it's also better for precise work. The Pogo Connect has a more elegant, organic feel with a better drag against the screen and no proprietary charger to lose. Both can help take your iPad artistry to the next level, and both are worth of our Editors' Choice.

Interested in less expensive, non pressure-sensitive styli? Check out our reviews of .