A smartphone stylus is a pen-like instrument with a rubber tip that detects movement on specific smartphone or computer screens. A stylus pen, and an S-Pen, can navigate your phone. The pen won’t scratch the screen due to the protective rubber tip and can be used instead of a finger touch.
What is a Stylus?
A stylus is a pen-like object that points, swipes, signs, and draws on all touchscreens and electronic devices. It is made of rubber or conductive foam.
Types of the stylus
There are two types of styles. The first is active, and the other is called passive or capacitive.
An active stylus contains a pen-like tip and contains internal electronic components. It has several exciting features, such as memory, an electronic eraser, palm rejection, and pressure sensitivity.
These features allow you to create a lighter or heavier line depending on the pressure you apply. A passive/capacitive stylus, on the other hand, conducts charge from your finger to the screen.
No communication between your finger and your smart device. It is called powerless because it does not require a wireless connection to the phone. Stylus pens are collectively referred to as S-Pen in the mobile industry.
Benefits of a phone that comes with a stylus
With the built-in pen, you can use your stylus phone to take notes, edit photos, swipe between apps, and even precisely sketch drawings. Some high-end stylus phones can interact with particular features from a distance.
Phones with built-in stylus pens are still relatively rare. While stylus smartphones still have a long way to go regarding awareness and adoption, users who have invested in these smartphones tend to find stylus smartphones incredibly useful.
The stylus allows quick and precise interactions, making these devices great for work, school, and content creation. If you need to highlight something in a document, take notes in class, or edit a video on the go. You can do that with a stylus phone.
The importance of the stylus
- Protects the screen from unsightly fingerprint smudges.
- Protect your screen from scratches.
- It helps you write smoothly on the screen.
- Digitally sign documents
- help create paintings and art
So, let’s list a few smartphones with a stylus from our top list.
List of best Stylus Smartphones you can buy in 2023
1. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The new 2023’s latest Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra model is the ultimate stylus phone and a complete device with all the features you need for design.
The integrated S Pen is more intuitive than ever, with up to 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, and is packed with excellent features like Offscreen Memo and Smart Select.
With a massive 5000mAh battery, base storage expandable to 256GB, and a 6.8-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is an excellent phone for artists who do a lot of designing and sketching on a small screen.
2. Moto G Stylus 5G (2022)
Motorola’s Moto G Stylus proves that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to reap the benefits of a stylus. In fact, with a retail price of $499, the G Stylus beats every smartphone on the best Stylus cell phone list while also featuring a 6.8-inch display that boosts up to 120Hz refresh rate, 256GB base storage, a powerful 5,000mAh battery, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The stylus experience isn’t half-baked, either. For example, removing the stylus from your phone triggers Motorola’s note-taking app. A quick toggle appears when using the stylus, giving you access to shortcuts like taking a screenshot, launching an app of your choice, or creating a GIF.
Overall, the Motorola G Stylus 5G (2022) proved its worth, packing a great display, integrated stylus, reliable Snapdragon 695 processor, and more for less than $500.
3. Samsung Galaxy Note 20
Samsung is one of the most popular and trusted smartphone brands worldwide. The Galaxy Note 20 launched with a stunning Super AMOLED display and flagship processor. The Galaxy Note 20 has a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with HDR10+ support.
The phone runs on the Android 10 operating system and is upgradeable to Android 11. The UI skin is based on One UI 3.0.
The Galaxy Note 20 features an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G+ processor for the US model. The company showed off its Exynos Exynos 990 chipset for global variants.
Both chipset variants have the 7nm+ process on board. The smartphone has a Mali-G77 MP11 GPU for global launch and an Adreno 650 for the US for better graphics rendering.
As for camera efficiency, the phone has a triple rear camera setup, including a 12Mp wide camera, a 64Mp telephoto lens, and a 12Mp ultra-wide camera. It has a 10Mp front camera for video calls.
It has a Li-Ion 4300mAh and a removable battery. The company sent a 25W fast charger in the new pack to quickly charge the phone. It also supports 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse charging. So overall, this phone is one of the best with a stylus pen.
4. Huawei Mate 40 Pro+
The Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ holds much promise. As for the stylus, the separate Huawei M-Pen 2 is one of the better ones, with 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity and a low latency delay of 11ms. The phone has an excellent OLED screen size of 6.76 inches, a 50MP Leica camera, support for both 5G and 4G LTE, 12Gb RAM, and 256Gb internal storage. But what it lacks, and what makes this smartphone list down with a stylus, is Google Play services.
Without touching on the political and economic debates surrounding this lack of service, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ is a compelling phone, especially with the Kirin 9000 5G chipset sporting a base core of 3.13 GHz.
The Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ is an excellent phone with features, except for the essential one – access to Google Play services. For anyone who doesn’t or doesn’t want to use Google services, this phone is an excellent alternative to a premium choice. But for most people, this phone is a pass.
5. Infinix Note 5 Stylus
Famous Indian smartphone brand Infinix has released another phone with a stylus. It has a 6.0-inch Full Hd+ IPS LCD. Infinix Note 5 Stylus is powered by an octa-core MediaTek MT6763T Helio P23 processor built on a 16nm process. The phone runs on the Android Android 8.1 (Oreo) operating system. They have also provided Mali-G71 MP2 GPU for excellent graphics processing.
As for the camera efficiency, we took a single 16Mp camera as the rear camera. It also has the same 16Mp camera on the front for video calling.
The power supply has a Li-Po 4000mAh, removable battery. The company provided a 10W quick charger inside the new box to charge the battery house. Overall, it’s also a fantastic phone with a stylus.
6. LG Style 5+
The least desirable phone on this list of smartphones with a stylus but still capable is the LG Stylo 5+. Best described as a budget phone for 2023, the Stylo 5+ features a 6.2-inch IPS LCD screen, an SDM450 Snapdragon 450 octa-core chipset with cores set to 1.8GHz, and a primary rear camera of 13MP.
It’s no creative powerhouse, but the LG Stylo 5+’s 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage are enough for a decent backup or spare phone. If you need a smartphone with a stylus for work and don’t want to spend too much, the LG Stylo 5+ is worth a look.
7. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
As appealing as a stylus in a smartphone sounds, it seems that Samsung is the only brand willing to make the most of this feature. The same S-Pen experience is brought to the latest generation foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 4. However, it can be purchased separately and is not included in the box.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 sports a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED primary display with 2176 x 1812 pixel resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection. It also has a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The external display is a 6.2-inch HD+ Super AMOLED panel.
It has a 2316 x 904-pixel resolution and a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. A Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip also powers the smartphone with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 3.1 storage.
The triple rear camera setup includes a 50-megapixel f/1.8 primary sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 12-megapixel ultra-wide f/2.2 sensor with a 123-degree field of view (FoV), and finally, an f/2.4 zoom lens with OIS. It has a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor. It is backed up by a 4400mAh battery that supports wireless and reverse wireless charging.
8. Microsoft Surface Duo 2
Microsoft Surface Duo 2 is one of the few noteworthy smartphones with a stylus. The unique selling point of the Surface Duo 2 was its dual display design. This device was created as a productivity-focused model. It has twin 5.8-inch displays and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC.
This model also comes with stylus support, but it is sold separately. The original Surface Duo faced many issues with the software, but the successor has several improvements. It also includes a more optimized Microsoft Pen experience.
A stylish accessory that can significantly increase the accuracy and control of handwritten note-taking. In particular, the stylus cannot be stowed in the built-in port but can be attached to a dual-display smartphone through the front with a magnet.
This means no dedicated protective cover is required. Like the foldable and flagship Samsung phones, it also carries a hefty price tag of $1,499.
9. LG Stylo 6
The LG Stylo 6 has an excellent pedigree and is probably the last one. LG has announced a reduction of its smartphone line and has reduced the model’s expected successor, the Stylo 7.
It may not be the newest smartphone on the market. Still, the LG Stylo 6 uses the futuristic Mediatek MT6765 Helios P35 chipset (4×2.3Ghz and 4×1.8Ghz) combined with a reasonable 4Gb RAM and 64Gb ROM, making it one of the other smartphones with a stylus in 2023.
The Stylo 6 has a 6.8-inch IPS LCD screen capable of displaying 1080×2460 pixels, a 13MP camera, a classic 3.5mm audio jack, and a 4000mAh battery, all for a suggested retail price of $220 when initially launched. Overall, there isn’t much to complain about the LG Stylo 6 except for the lack of 5G connectivity.
Final Words
The phones with the stylus discussed above are some of the best in the 2023 market and are very useful for content creation and basic design. Samsung is an absolute powerhouse with the S Pen and has almost half the market share.
FAQ about Stylus Smartphone
What is the most prominent feature of the stylus phone?
Smartphones have different types of users. For some, all they need is a touchscreen. But for others, a stylus can significantly help their phone. Stylus phones are becoming more and more popular, and with good reason! They offer some great features that the average phone user may not be familiar with. Here are some of the best stylus phone features.
Stylus Control: The stylus makes navigating and changing the phone’s interface easy without using your fingers. This is especially helpful if you have arthritis or other hand limitations.
Handwriting Recognition: Many stylus phones feature handwriting recognition, making writing notes and text messages easy without a keyboard. Great for those who have difficulty using the keyboard.
Gestures: Some stylus phones allow you to perform motions, especially in Samsung, such as swiping the screen or zooming in on a photo. This lets you quickly and easily perform tasks without taking your hands off the screen.
Stylus input is precise and easy: Unlike finger input, which can be imprecise because hand movements are unpredictable, stylus input is accurate because you use a pen or other type of pointer to make selections. This means you can quickly enter text or pictures without any difficulty.
Versatile and portable: The stylus input on the newer avatars is pretty accurate and fast, so you can use it for various tasks, from taking notes to drawing pictures or diagrams. So, the stylus phone can be used while on the go, whether you need to take notes during a meeting or want to sketch out design ideas.
Which phone has the best stylus?
The Samsung Note series undoubtedly offers the best stylus S Pen with innovative features, customization, and great precision, all with a flagship-level price tag.
Are Stylus Phones Worth It?
It’s perfect if you plan on creating art, drawing notes, or other activities that require a more precise touch. And with many note-taking programs, you can jot down notes on PDFs, create whiteboards for collaboration, and more.
Can the stylus work with all smartphones?
Yes, you can use your stylus with your smartphone. However, it must be a passive stylus that works as an extended version of your fingertip. At the same time, the active stylus requires compatible device support.
Can I use the S Pen with other devices?
The S-pen is designed for Samsung devices and will not work with other brands. However, you can still use the S Pen on different models of Samsung devices. Compatibility with your gadget is also required.
What is the difference between an active stylus and a passive stylus?
An active stylus takes electrical mechanism feedback and provides an output in digital form to the screen. Features such as touch sensitivity, pressure sensitivity, and tilt control are provided. In comparison, a passive stylus mimics the touch response of a fingertip with greater accuracy and precision.
What can I use instead of a stylus?
From pencils to pens, you can consider several things. Anything that conducts electricity can act as a stylus. Unleash your creativity and create a unique stylus from scratch.