Best Pens for Microsoft Surface Duo 2022

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The magic of ink

Best Pens for Microsoft Surface Duo 2022

Surface Slim Pen Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

Best Pens for Microsoft Surface Duo Windows Central 2022

The Surface Duo delivers Microsoft's dual-screen vision through an experimental foldable Android smartphone. The device marks the outset pocketable device nether its premium hardware family unit, geared toward on-the-go productivity. It also boasts inking support, allowing for quick sketches and handwritten notes. The best inking experience demands a stylus, with the Microsoft Surface Slim Pen the best at launch.

Best Overall: Microsoft Surface Slim Pen

Surface Slim Pen Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

While the Microsoft Surface Duo supports the majority of existing Surface-branded pens, in that location's no competition with its latest and greatest, the Microsoft Surface Slim Pen. It'due south the i in the commercials, product renders, and shop listings frequently found adjacent to the Duo. And when paired, it's suited for note-taking via OneNote, annotations in Function, or signing documents with apps similar Adobe Acrobat.

The Microsoft Surface Slim Pen boasts the same high-quality construction and in-paw feel of other Surface Pens. It has the expected high-precision hardware inside, equally first shipped with the Surface Pro X in 2022. This slimline revision of the stylus trims extra fat from the legacy design, parting with the traditional pen-inspired silhouette for one alike to a carpenter's pencil.

That provides low latency to ensure a responsive feel, adequate precision, and an LED light for connectivity status and battery levels. Sadly, pairing does petty at launch, with no pen button mapping on the device. The motion to condense the pen into a smaller, squared-off shape also provides portability, ideal for the mobile market. It measures 136.8mm long, while 11.3mm past 6.3mm thick — weighing just fourteen grams in-hand. It besides magnetically connects to the Duo, sort of, due to the magnets that keep the screen closed. It'due south not intentional, but it works.

While the pen was the first to ditch disposable batteries for a rechargeable lithium-ion solution, it won't charge through the phone. When you run down its expected 15-hr battery life, you'll need to claw up the included wireless charging tray to a power outlet.

The Microsoft Surface Duo supports an extensive range of styluses, but this is the 1 that genuinely fits the device. It may non be cheap at $150 in the U.South., but an ongoing Microsoft Store disbelieve cuts it downwardly to just $112 throughout the Duo preorder window.

Pros:

Premium build quality
Accurate inking
Portable size
Rechargable

Best Overall

Surface Slim Pen

Microsoft Surface Slim Pen

Microsoft'south sleek stylus joins the Surface Duo.

Microsoft's latest stylus is a fantastic peripheral, sporting a slim design, wireless charging with an included cradle, and binding perfectly with the Surface Duo. Information technology's the best fashion to experience mobile inking.

All-time Value: Microsoft Surface Pen

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

When looking to save on a Microsoft Surface Duo stylus, it'southward worth revisiting previous-generation accessories. The standard Surface Pen likewise works on the device, and if you have an existing Microsoft Surface tablet, the same pen fully works on the Duo. While it may misalign on some minor details, information technology delivers all the inking benefits for less.

The Microsoft Surface Duo supports almost every existing Surface Pen, including those designed around PCs like the Surface Pro and Surface Volume, or even the 50-inch Surface Hub 2 whiteboard. The only Surface Pen that doesn't work is the first-generation design shipped in 2022, designed back when Microsoft used Wacom over its newer N-trig tech. The shift in engineering science means those oldest peripherals won't part, requiring one of iii succeeding generations instead.

While the Surface Slim Pen is more similar a pencil, its chunkier counterpart mimics your everyday ballpoint. The latest revision serves Microsoft's all-time to date, with advancements to ensure depression-latency and precise tracking on the Duo or other Surface devices. The hardware includes buttons that currently don't work with Duo, although with interchangeable pen tips, and more colour options if your way, too.

Opting for the basic Surface Pen has its setbacks, including reliance on disposable AAAA batteries. It'due south also a petty less portable, but that shouldn't be an issue if you're slapping it in your bag betwixt home and the office. Those small differences result in a lower RRP, also frequently on sale below $lxx, which is significantly cheaper than other Microsoft-approved pens.

Pros:

Premium build quality
Accurate inking
More than affordable

Cons:

Less suited for mobile
Requires disposable batteries

Best Value

Surface Pen

Microsoft Surface Pen

All the best for less.

The recently-refreshed Surface Pen offers impressive accurateness and sensitivity, altogether a great inking experience for Surface Duo. There are iv colors bachelor, including platinum, burgundy, blackness, and cobalt blueish.

Bottom line

The Microsoft Surface Duo launches with a handful of stylus options, but the latest and greatest leads the pack. The Microsoft Surface Slim Pen delivers that platonic balance of precision and portability, both functional and like shooting fish in a barrel to store when inking on the movement. The slimline, lightweight design conveys a premium in-hand experience, and its rechargeable battery gets you writing with a moment's notice. This is amid the best Surface Duo accessories for inking on your new dual-screen phone.

Only the slim variant isn't your only pick, with the standard Microsoft Surface Pen also compatible with inking. The second-generation design and upward notwithstanding maintains all the signatures you'd await, including accuracy and ergonomics akin to a real ballpoint pen. It'south not every bit mobile-friendly, both bulkier and non-rechargeable, but helps keep your funds in check.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Matt Brown is a staff writer at Future for Windows Key. Following years of professional consumer applied science and gaming coverage, he'south focused on the Xbox platform, alongside Microsoft'due south broader ecosystem and business. Y'all tin follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.

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