Yesterday, Apple introduced its first tablet with a stylus, before that Microsoft did the same, and even earlier, Samsung began producing devices with styluses. Let's see how some styluses differ from others.

Galaxy Note

S-Pen styluses for smartphones and Samsung tablets produced by Wacom. They have a rather complex electronic filling, but despite this, they are passive, that is, they do not require power from electricity. How is this possible?

In the design of S-Pen styluses, you can find an inductor and an oscillating circuit with a variable resonant frequency. On the screen of tablets and Galaxy smartphones Note has a built-in receiver that responds to changes in inductance in the stylus coil depending on the force of pressing the tip onto the surface.

S-Pen stylus fourth generation", used in the Galaxy Note 5, is the most progressive. It can emulate gestures, and you can draw with it even when the screen is off, and when you push the stylus back into the smartphone, the note is saved automatically. The stylus from the original Galaxy Note perceived pressure with 256 gradations of force, in Galaxy Note 2 and 3 the number of gradations was increased to 1024, and in Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note 5 it doubled to 2048.

Samsung doesn't sell styluses separately; they come standard with Galaxy Note series devices.

Surface Pro

The stylus for Surface Pro is active - it is powered by an AAAA battery and communicates with the tablet via Bluetooth.

This stylus was specifically designed for Surface Pro tablets, so it has three additional buttons - to erase what you've written or drawn, to simulate a right-click, and to launch OneNote or save a screenshot. The sensitivity of the stylus is adjusted through a special application.

The production of styluses for the Surface Pro is carried out by N-trig, which was acquired by Microsoft last winter. The first two generations of Surface tablet styluses supported 1024 levels of pressure, but the Surface Pro 3 uses a 256-point pen. According to Microsoft, even this is more than enough for professional artists and designers.

The stylus comes standard with Surface Pro tablets, but it's also sold separately on Microsoft's website for $50.

iPad Pro

The Apple Pencil stylus for the iPad Pro tablet is powered by a battery and charges through the Lightning port. One charge is enough for 12 hours of use.

Apple does not disclose the manufacturer of this stylus, nor its technical parameters (such as the number of gradations of pressure), apparently believing that ordinary consumers do not need to go into such subtleties. Just watch the video, which shows what masterpieces can be created with this stylus, and look at the cross-section of its tip.

Looks really nice, much better than any capacitors, coils and AAAA batteries. It looks a bit like an expensive fountain pen.

The Apple Pencil is not included with the iPad Pro and can be purchased separately for $99.

As you can see, companies have completely different approaches. Samsung pens are free for Galaxy Note users and are compatible with all devices that work with Wacom products. Microsoft has created a proprietary stylus and gives it to buyers of its tablets, and Apple is back in its repertoire - its stylus must be purchased separately and is not compatible with anything other than the iPad Pro.

You can use the S Pen in a variety of situations on the Galaxy Note 3, from strictly business tasks like creating spreadsheets to games and other fun things like opening a YouTube video in a window while drawing in the editor at the same time. But it's this variety of S Pen settings and functions that can put off many, especially if you're new to the Galaxy Note series.

That's why we decided to talk about Galaxy functionality Note 3 with the S Pen stylus to learn how to get the most out of your smartphone.

First things first: settings

You can configure your smartphone to detect when the S Pen is removed from its slot and play sound signal, automatically opening the Air Command menu or any other application. If you want to extend battery life, you can turn off S Pen detection.

Basics

Now that you've customized the S Pen to your liking, it's time to take a look at it.

The stylus is more symmetrical and more angular than the S Pen from the Galaxy Note 2, so the new stylus can be inserted into its slot in any position.

The S Pen retains some of the features found on the Galaxy Note 2 and even more so on the original Galaxy Note. However, now we have a very serious change - now gestures are no longer available and trying to write on the screen results in copying text or media data from the screen.

Pressing the button while hovering the S Pen on the screen will open Air Command - a new menu consisting of 5 groups of the most useful features.

When you point the stylus over individual interface elements, a context menu appears on the screen or a contextual action is performed, for example, displaying the contents of a folder or a gallery preview.

Finally, if you place the stylus on a text field, such as an SMS message input field, you'll be able to handwrite text, and the Galaxy Note 3 will learn its own recognition to make your scribbles clearer. It's quite simple, so you'll find this option very useful.

Productivity vs Creativity

Two apps that are designed specifically for use with the S Pen and come pre-installed on the Galaxy Note 3 are S Note and Sketchbook. The updated S Note lets you jot down your ideas and reminders, but it's actually much more than that. You can populate your notes with charts, images, videos, voice notes, or even maps, turning it into a powerful little tool.

Sketchbook is the assistant you need to unleash your creative potential. It's primarily a drawing app, so if you know how to draw, you'll probably use Sketchbook on a daily basis.

Air Command

Back to Air Command, which is the biggest addition to the Galaxy Note 3's S Pen functionality. And there are 5 menu options:

Action Memo - This is perhaps the most useful item in the menu, which allows you to use handwriting in almost any case. You can even handwrite an address and it will open in the maps app in an instant; can you write the number mobile phone and immediately call it; enter URL, address Email, contact names, tasks and all this will be recognized correctly with access to characteristic functions.

Scrapbook – for those moments when you need to save any little thing: let’s say you saw an interesting item in an online store, or found an interesting quote in the text, or even just need to save the entire web page. Scrapbook is just that the best tool to save and store any metadata such as URLs, etc.

Screen Write – takes a screenshot and allows you to leave a comment on it.
S Finder – a powerful search tool that scans all materials, including handwritten notes. S Finder also has a variety of tags that you can use to further narrow down your search results.

Pen Window - to some extent this is similar to Small Apps from Sony, since Pen Window allows you to outline a window in any part of the screen in which you can launch an application - a calculator, or YouTube app, or Hangouts so you don't have to be distracted from another app. This is the simplest way to introduce multitasking, but the list of supported applications is still too limited.

These are some of the most useful ways using the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 3. As you can see, the S Pen adds a lot of unique capabilities and is more than just a tool for poking at the screen.

Of course, if you don't like the stylus, you can simply ignore it and the Galaxy Note 3 will still be one of the most capable devices. However, we advise you to immediately try working with a stylus for yourself before thinking that the stylus has long been no longer needed for smartphones.

S Pen makes working with apps easier and more convenient. The possibilities the stylus offers for the Note S will be discussed below.

1. Quick commands.

This is one of those S Pen features that has been overlooked by most for a long time. But it is incredibly useful - because it allows you to launch any application with one stroke of the pen. All you need to do is hold down the button on the stylus, then swipe across the screen from bottom to top. At the same time, a quick commands window immediately appears on the screen. Required application will be launched by you when you draw a symbol on the screen that you have previously defined.

2. Optical letter recognition.

The OCR function will allow you not to even remember virtual keyboard. And if you suddenly need to write text message, send a letter or find something in global network- take the stylus, and at this moment your keyboard will become a window for writing. OCR does an excellent job of character recognition, although we haven't tested this feature on a doctor.

3. Stylus keeper.

The S Pen stylus is a useful thing, but losing it is as easy as using it. Samsung has developed S Pen Keeper - a program that will not allow you, for example, to go far from the stylus. The gadget itself informs you that there is no stylus in the phone. It's easy to check - place the stylus separately from the phone and move away, then you will hear an alarm.

4. Draw with the S Pen.

The S Pen stylus opens up new horizons for creative people and children. The S Note has a great Idea Sketch feature. It makes it possible to add thumbnails of objects by name - perfect option for children's education or entertainment.

5. Screengrabs.

The stylus allows you to make screengrabs, and this is done incredibly easily. Hold the button on the S Pen and draw any area. Immediately after this, everything that was in the selected area will be saved as a screengrab.