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RocketFish Stylus and Pen Review: Perfect Weight and Packs a Pen for Analog Signing

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The RocketFish Stylus and Pen from Best Buy is the perfect weight and length for an iPad stylus. The fact that it also has a ballpoint pen is a nice plus. RocketFish is the Best Buy brand of technology products. While many of their RocketFish branded accessories are often cheap knock-offs, this is the exception.

RocketFish Stylus and Pen

Writing

The iPad and other touchscreen tablets or smartphones do not offer the precision that you get from something like a Tablet PC with an active digitizer. It is impossible to find something that matches that experience. The RocketFish Stylus and Pen is as good as you will get. It has a rubber rounded nub on one end that flows over the surface of the iPad and our HTC Thunderbolt screens.

Our favorite inking apps are Note Taker HD and Penultimate. Here are a couple of samples of notes we took using the pen with these apps. First, here is a sample in Note Taker HD.

Note Taker HD Sample

This is a sample of the RocketFish Stylus and Pen used in Note Take HD

Second, here is a sample of some art work my son drew using SketchBook.

SketchBook Sample

My son drew this in SketchBook on the iPad using the RocketFish Stylus and Pen

Design

The weight and length of a pen is more important than you think because of comfort. A flimsy pen or a pen that is too heavy won’t be comfortable to use for long inking sessions. It also affects apps where pressure affects thickness of the drawing point. If it is too short – a common problem for styli – it will be hard to write with. I like a pen with some weight and this one is a little heavier than other styli we have used. My previous favorite was from Kensington. This one feels better, is slightly longer and heavier plus it has the ballpoint pen.

RocketFish Stylus and Pen uses Schneider pen refills

Since I first got my iPad last year, I’ve gotten out of the habit of carrying pens. I don’t use them much at all. However, there are those few occasions when you need one to deal with users stuck in the pre-tablet era. Until the rest of the known world catches up with modern life, we still need a pen with real ink on occasion. It is nice to have both in one tool. As a pen it works. The pen portion writes smoothly and uses Schneider refills, which are standard enough to find at a local office supply store.

There is one problem – the paint on the plastic barrel chips off. I carry it around in my pocket and my keys must have scratched it (see first image above). My fear is that it will happen often and start to not only look bad but feel bad as you use it. Only time will tell.

Conclusion

The way the RocketFish Stylus and Pen feels in your hand, due to the weight and length, outweighs the problem with it chipping. We think at $26.99 the RocketFish Stylus and Pen is a good buy.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Willem Evenhuis

    06/01/2011 at 10:05 pm

    See also this review on tablets and styli: great shoot out of the styli and tablets on “inkability”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n64J49idpJw&feature=feedlik

  2. Nick

    06/05/2011 at 12:32 am

    So…hahah…let me get this straight.. Your average Geek is going to fork out 30 dollars for a biro with a piece of rubber in one end…heheh..hahaha..hohoo…I think I’ve heard it all now…reinventing the biro as a $30 luxury accessory. Great! pat the marketing manager on the back and give him a raise. Psst…I’ve got a super box of carbon neutral 100% green styli for $80 with real pencil lead accessory!

  3. Adblackwood2

    09/15/2011 at 6:32 pm

    Where can I find pen refills and are they available in blue or red?

  4. Adblackwood2

    09/15/2011 at 6:32 pm

    Where can I find pen refills and are they available in blue or red?

  5. Marie

    12/29/2011 at 10:12 am

    Tried this. I do a lot of business on iPhone and iPad as well as on paper. I loved the stylus until my 4 year old wrote with it and the tip popped. Total days of enjoyment before distruction: 3. I would recommend this if they made the tip harder to break.

  6. Tony Nations

    06/26/2012 at 6:17 am

    I believed that having a pen/stylus combo would be a great way to avoid having to carry both. All was well until the stylus stopped being responsive on my iPhone 4S screen. Now, it only works about 1/3 of the time, and is very frustrating. I’m seriously thinking of returning it.

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