Apple Pencil vs Samsung S Pen

I've reviewed too many iPads and Samsung tablets over the years. What I've written below is everything I know about the Apple Pencil and Samsung S Pen. For individual reviews of tablets, visit this page.

Apple Pencil

There are now four variations of Apple Pencil, namely

• Apple Pencil 1
• Apple Pencil 2

Apple Pencil USB-C

• Apple Pencil Pro

All the pens have built in batteries and require Bluetooth for pairing.

APPLE PENCIL 1
Apple Pencil 1 was first launched together with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in 2015. Price is USD 99. This pen is still sold today and works with the iPad 11 (2025). This pen supports tilt sensitivity, palm rejection and 4,000+ levels of pressure sensitivity. Latency of the pen is not listed by Apple.

The charging connector of the pen is at the back. Depending on which iPad model you're using, you will either have to connect the pen directly to the charging port of the tablet, or connect the pen to a cable that connects to the tablet.

APPLE PENCIL 2
The second generation of Apple Pencil was launched together with the iPad Pros in 2018. Price is USD 129. The pen body has a flat side that can connect to the side of the iPad Pros, and subsequent models of iPad Airs, for charging and pairing.

Apple Pencil 2 supports tilt sensitivity, palm rejection and 4,000+ levels of pressure sensitivity. Latency of the pen is 9ms, considered to be low at the time of release, and still decent by today's standards.

The pen also supports tapping the side for shortcuts.

APPLE PENCIL USB-C
This Apple Pencil USB-C is created as a cheaper alternative that's priced at US $79.

Design of the body is quite similar to Apple Pencil 2 so it also supports magnetic attachment but charging is via the USB-C port at the back.

Apple Pencil USB-C supports tilt sensitivity, palm rejection but does not support pressure sensitivity. Latency of the pen is 9ms.

Since this pen does not support pressure sensitivity, it's not an ideal pen for digital artists. Even writing may benefit for pressure sensitivity.

Anyway, there are many third party alternatives that look just like Apple Pencil 2 that also support tilt and palm rejection, but no pressure, but selling at way lower prices than Apple Pencil USB-C. So if you want to buy Apple Pencil USB-C, you might as well buy those third party knockoffs at less than half the price.

APPLE PENCIL PRO
The Apple Pencil Pro was launched together with the M4 iPad Pro (2024). Price is US $129. Apple Pencil Pro has the same body design as Apple Pencil 2.

Apple Pencil Pro supports tilt sensitivity, palm rejection and 4,000+ levels of pressure sensitivity. Latency of the pen is 9ms.

New features are haptic feedback, squeeze to show shortcuts, barrel roll with the new gyroscope and lost location finder with Find My app.

Apple Pencil Pro is not interchangeable with Apple Pencil 2. Apple Pencil Pro does not work with iPads that work with Apple Pencil 2.

Things to know about Apple Pencil knockoffs

Those third party Apple Pencil knockoffs or alternatives support tilt sensitivity and palm rejection, but do not support pressure sensitivity.

So if you need pressure sensitivity, you have to buy from Apple.

Apple pen nib replacements

There are many different types of Apple Pencil pen nib replacements to choose from. There are the Apple original plastic pen nibs, third party ones which much cheaper but works similar, tips that are metal, rubber and even leather. See this comparison review.

Samsung S Pen

The Samsung S Pen is included with Samsung tablets that have pen support.

The Samsung S Pen uses Wacom EMR technology. The pen supports tilt, palm rejection and pressure sensitivity. The pen is not powered by battery, so no charging is required. The pen does not require Bluetooth for writing and drawing, although there are variations of the pen that uses Bluetooth for other software features.

Design of the Samsung S Pen has evolved over the years and recent ones can attach to the side of tablets just like some of the Apple Pencil models.

Apple Pencil is heavier than the Samsung S Pen. Some may associate the heavier weight with better build quality but both pens are well made.

There's one key difference with the user experience. The default pen nib of the Samsung S Pen is soft. And this soft pen nib does not produce any tapping sound. The soft pen nib has more resistance when writing or drawing on the glossy glass display. The soft pen nib is not as slippery as plastic pen nibs on glossy glass display.

I prefer the soft pen nib on the S Pen than the hard plastic pen nib on the Apple Pencil. For drawing purposes, both actually have rather similar performance. For writing, I'm just more comfortable writing with the S Pen and my handwriting looks noticeably better than writing with the Apple Pencil.

And just like the Apple Pencil, there are different types of pen nibs to choose from too. There are pen nibs made with metal, felt, silicone and plastic. My favourite pen nib for the S Pen is the Wacom One elastomer pen nib which has the same resistance as the original soft nib of the S Pen, but is easier to replace with the nib remover.

Since the Samsung S Pen uses Wacom EMR technology, the pen is interchangeable with other pens that use Wacom EMR technology. There are many S Pen alternatives to choose from.

The alternative pens have different features. There are pens with or without side buttons, eraser, grip, pen cap and retractable design. There are more pen designs to choose from in case you do not like the original Samsung S Pen.

I don't think one pen is better than the other. There are people who prefer the Apple Pencil, and some prefer the Samsung S Pen.