Designers have been waiting for a good pressure-sensitive stylus since the debut of the iPad. The Pogo Connect, on display at CES, looks to let them draw circles around the competition with hundreds of levels of sensitivity.
The Connect, roughly the size of a Sharpie marker, uses a proprietary pressure sensor in the pen’s nib to measure force and a Bluetooth 4.0 radio to convey the data to the iPad in real time. It’s a simple idea that requires near perfect execution and the Pogo Connect nails it.
In addition to releasing hardware, Ten One Design — the company behind the Pogo Connect, developed an SDK that has been implemented by Procreate, Paper by Fifty Three, Adobe Photoshop Touch, Sketchbook Pro and other app makers giving artists the ability to bring a responsive tool to already powerful apps.
The core feature is the ability to vary brush strokes dynamically in the software and the Connect does it well. With its advanced pressure sensitivity, it easily allows an artist to vary the weight of their stroke.
The Connect feels very solid and durable, but its coolest feature is an LED that shows which color is currently selected in the app. One of its few drawbacks is the large rubber nib, which feels imprecise upon initial use. Although it became more intuitive while we tested it, the team at Ten One notes that the tip is held in place with a magnet, and strongly hints that new types of nibs will be available soon.
The Pogo connect uses a AAA battery, which will provide months of use time. According to the company’s website, “Pogo Connect uses aggressive power-saving strategies. Standby mode doesn’t just last for months. It lasts for years.”
For designers, the comparison will always be to Wacom’s lust-worthy Cintiq drawing tablets and displays. The Connect’s drawing canvas is limited to the iPad’s 9.7 inch diagonal screen while the smallest Cintiq measures 12.1 inches. The Cintiq stylus also has fine nib point giving artists a greater feeling of control while the Connect’s rubber nib feels squishy by comparison. The Connect makes an ambiguous claim about “hundreds of levels” of pressure sensitivity versus the Cintiq’s explicitly calls our 1,024 levels. However, price makes a huge difference and makes up for many of these deficiencies; the Pogo Connect costs $79.95 while the Cintiq starts at $999.
Steve Jobs famously hated the idea of a stylus for the iPad, but the digital art community might find a lot to like in this one.
Photos: Ten One Design
Pressure-Sensitive Stylus Gives Starving iPad Artists Incredible Control
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