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You’ve got a touch screen laptop, but you don’t have a pen for it. Touch screen laptops are excellent for photo editing, drawing, handwriting and many other activities, but unlike with basic web browsing, you can’t easily do these with only your fingers.

I use a touch screen laptop, the Microsoft Surface Pro 8, and understand the need for a good drawing stylus for laptop – you don’t want something unaccurate, or that lacks finesse in your strokes.

This article covers the most important points you should look out for in a pen for touch screen laptop, and gives you some great options for a stylus for your laptop.

Compare the Best Stylus for Laptops

What Should You Look Out For in a Pen for Touch Screen Laptop?

A stylus for laptop touch screen can help you navigate through different functions more easily, as well as writing and drawing more efficiently than using your finger.

There are, however, several things you should look for when it comes to buying a pen for a touch screen laptop.

Active vs Passive Stylus

A passive stylus is also known as a capacitive stylus and does not have batteries or any electronic parts in most cases. It simply replicates the conductivity of your finger tip, and so does not offer any extra features over using your fingers, other than a much finer point than a finger tip to improve accuracy.

Active styluses often have extra technology such as buttons, palm rejection, pressure sensitivity, connection with the device and a more accurate result, and are powered by batteries, often rechargeable wirelessly or via USB.

These active styluses can be more useful if you need to use them for more professional purposes such as designing, sketching, writing and planning.

Active styluses generally work with all laptops, but some models may have features that are specific to the device they are designed to work with – for example the Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2, a contender for the best stylus for Windows laptop, will not have haptic feedback on anything other than the latest Surface tablets.

Pen Accuracy

Pen accuracy in a stylus pen for laptops implies that you can get a neat and tidy result on your device after using your stylus, whether you are drawing or writing. To ensure this kind of accuracy, a good stylus is one that includes pressure sensitivity and the ability to angle the pen.

Just as a pen or pencil can give different results when you tilt it or change the angle or apply lesser pressure, a stylus should also be able to ensure the same kind of results.

Generally, you can expect features like pressure sensitivity and tilt angle support in an active stylus, as these features require a powered pen to work.

How Does It Feel in the Hand?

How your stylus feels in your hand is another important consideration. Generally, holding a stylus of good quality in your hand can feel like you are holding a pen or pencil and writing on a piece of paper.

The grip of the stylus should also be comfortable yet firm, allowing you to move it around easily. In addition, if you have requirements that involve using the stylus for a long time, make sure you look for one that does not tire your hand out.

Are You Drawing or Writing?

Make sure you take your requirements into account while figuring out which stylus to buy. Do you want a drawing stylus for laptop, or a writing stylus?

Drawing requires a more accurate stylus that feels more comfortable. Pressure sensitivity is also quite important here. For writing, on the other hand, the focus should be on accuracy and neatness.

Compatibility with Your laptop

Premium laptops like Surface Pros or iPads work best with an active stylus made by the brand itself, like the Surface Pen or the Apple Pencil. This is because device pairing can be easier here, making your stylus more responsive, and the extra features of the pens are guaranteed to work.

Cheaper laptops might not work with an active stylus, but a passive stylus works with all models. This is because a passive stylus is essentially mimicking a fingertip, while an active stylus has a bit more technology behind it.

As an example, you are generally more limited if you are looking for the best Chromebook stylus versus the best stylus for Lenovo Yoga laptops, as the latter has a greater degree of compatibility with most pens.

Bluetooth and Instant Connection

For active pens, you will need to pair your stylus and your device using a Bluetooth connection. This is not needed for passive pens.

Some active pens require drivers and / or software to work properly, however, many premium pens connect instantly without drivers with the simple press of a button, or even automatically discover pens without you having to do anything, although this is mainly left to models like the Apple Pencil, Samsung S Pen and Microsoft Surface Pen lines.

Reviews of the Best Stylus for a Laptop

Through this section, you can go through some of the best styluses for a laptop including their features, pros and cons so that you can make a suitable decision for your needs. This list ignores pens designed for specific brands of laptop, like the offerings from Apple and Microsoft.

1. MEKO Universal Stylus

The MEKO Universal Stylus is a capacitive or passive stylus that comes in black. There are two stylus pens included in this purchase along with two kinds of replacement tips for both disc and fiber tips.

This replacement process is fairly easy to carry out since all you need to do is pull and screw the tip or disc out and insert the new one.

This stylus is made from stainless steel and aluminum and can offer sturdiness and durability. It is both light and comfortable to use, coming with a rubber grip that can add to the experience.

It feels like holding a real pen, complete with a pen cap. This stylus pen can offer a great amount of precision and accuracy through its disc since it can allow you to mark the exact point where you are drawing or writing on your touchscreen laptop.

For my money, the MEKO Universal Stylus is the best stylus for a laptop, including the HP Spectre x360, HP Envy x360, and the Lenovo Yoga series.

MEKO Universal Stylus Check Latest Price

2. MIXOO Capacitive Stylus Pen

The Mixoo Capacitive Stylus Pen can be a fine option for you to consider when it comes to your writing, drawing and navigation requirements. This pen is rose gold in color and comes with a disc tip on one end and a fiber tip on the other, allowing you to use it for versatile purposes without needing to constantly replace the tips.

The disc is clear and can allow you to precisely follow the movements and marks that you are making on your device.

This pen also includes a black textured rubber grip that can allow you to have a comfortable grip without losing your hold over the stylus, thus ensuing control and accuracy.

Made from stainless steel and aluminum, this pen is light and sturdy. The disc itself is made from silicon.

There are replaceable tips included in this purchase so that you can simply screw out the original tips when they are beyond use. This can lengthen the lifespan of your stylus.

A pen cap that can protect the tips while also allowing you to attach it to your pocket or bag is also included. There are several other color options available at the same price as well.

MIXOO Capacitive Stylus Pen Check Latest Price

3. StylusHome Pens

These StylusHome Pens include an assortment of ten stylus pens that come in a range of colors, allowing you to simply pick up the one that attracts you the most that day.

The inclusion of ten pens in this purchase can ensure that you can keep using them for a long time without needing to spend money on a new one too soon. In fact, despite there being ten pens in this purchase, the cost itself is less than several other options that include only one or two pens.

These stylus pens come with rubber tips that can make it easy for you to navigate your way through your touchscreen laptop or any other device you might want to pair it with.

These rubber tips are additionally scratch-resistant and do not stick to the screen. The pens are further quite sensitive, comfortable and responsive, although these are not suitable for fine work, like drawing or photo editing, as the tips are fairly broad and don’t offer the accuracy of similar models.

StylusHome Pens Check Latest Price

4. digiroot Universal Stylus

The digiroot Universal Stylus is a stylus pen of high quality that you can use for navigation, writing, drawing, taking notes and gaming, among other relevant functions.

This pen is black in color and includes a black textured rubber grip that you can hold on to for ensuring a precise, comfortable and firm hold over the stylus.

There are also two kinds of tips, disc and fiber, on this pen with one tip on each end. Having two tips on the pen can allow you to make good use of them at the same time without needing to keep replacing them.

The disc tip is clear and in place for ensuring a high amount of accuracy so that you can track the marks that you make on your laptop. It is also quite sensitive and responsive.

digiroot Universal Stylus Check Latest Price

5. Bargains Depot Stylus

The Bargains Depot Stylus Pens includes an assortment of four pens, each of which comes in a different color. Each of these styluses further has two tips each, both made from rubber and being different in thickness, ensuring versatility.

The small rubber tip can help promote accuracy and precision if you want to draw or write while the bigger tip can be better suited for general tasks of navigation.

The rubber tips on these stylus pens can additionally protect your laptop screen from scratches. Once the tips run out, you can easily replace them with another one from any of the 20 tips available in this purchase.

These stylus pens are made from stainless steel and aluminum, ensuring lightness as well as sturdiness during usage. These can also make the pens durable.

Bargains Depot Stylus Check Latest Price

Final Thoughts on Pens for Touch Screen Laptops

If your laptop manufacturer doesn’t produce their own brand of active styluses, then you are often best to go for a cheaper, passive stylus like those above. These are the best styluses for the HP Spectre x360, Envy x360 and related models, and also the best styluses for Chromebooks which otherwise can’t use many of the features of active pens.

Most pens for touchscreen laptops are actually designed for iPads and Android, with few specifically available for Windows. You could take a gamble on an active stylus, but chances are the features would not work with Windows. Therefore, you’re best to save yourself some money and get a simple, passive pen that is guaranteed to work with high accuracy.

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