Customer Ratings & Reviews

Its a good pen. I don't like that i have to charge separately from the ipad.

The pen loses it’s battery quickly and It has less grip on the tab sufcase

Words can’t describe my disappointment. After what I felt was thorough research and seeing all the good reviews I decided to buy this pencil for my iPad, as my Apple pencil broke and I didn’t feel like paying $100 to fix it. This pencil worked great for a good 5 minutes before it completely stopped registering with my iPad. I thought I’d give it a break and tried again a few days later, still does not work. The light turns on but it won’t actually work on my iPad. Unfortunately Best Buy’s return policy is unforgiving— only 14 days! I am now wishing that instead of throwing away $40 that I would have just bought the tried and true Apple pencil. Please, don’t fall for the reviews. It’s a cheap knockoff that will end up wasting your money, and if you want a cheap knockoff there are far better for half the price on Amazon.

The next best option for your money! Flawless operation so far!

Fully charged but it is not pairing or writing! I have followed all the suggestions from other reviewers.

works just as good as the apple stylus, worth every penny

High quality and best buy customer service was great

Bought multiple to replace my Apple Pencil. Amazing

The stylus is much better than wasting 80-90 bucks

Not great battery life but not bad for the price. Easy to charge and use.

It has trouble connecting to my iPad and even when it has battery it doesn’t work. Very disappointed.

Not so great at all, have lots of problems to connect to use etc

I'm constantly losing my OEM Pencil and it drives me crazy, so I ordered this one to have as a backup for those occasions. I can honestly say that it is definitely a good investment. This thing just works. It doesn't have all of the features of the OEM, but for standard use, most people will be more than satisfied with this pencil and for a fraction of the cost. I primarily use mine for taking meeting notes and creating floor plans for my rental properties. Having a pen to take notes saves me so much time and having them digitally stored is huge. I used to carry a pen and pad everywhere I go, but if I lost the pad or the notes, it was a problem. This solves that problem completely. As I said previously, some of the features of the OEM model. You won't be able to charge the pen using your iPad, but it does come with a USB-C cable that you can plug into a port or charging brick to do so. This is a minor inconvenience, but since it does charge via USB-C and because I carry that cable for my iPad, it hasn't been a problem for me. The only other feature that I know doesn't work is the pressure sensitive feature. That is not a big deal to me since I do more writing than drawing, but I thought it was worth mentioning. The only minor issues I have is that the instructions don't really tell you how to pair the device. It does say to click the top of the pencil twice to turn it on. I also would like for it to let me know the battery life like most other Bluetooth accessories, but I don't see that on mine. Those are pretty minor things, so I still give it five stars for its price, functionality and ease of use.

The Insignia (Best Buy’s store brand) iPad stylus is an excellent low-cost alternative to Apple’s high-priced Pencil, albeit missing a couple of features. Out of the box, the stylus immediately works with your iPad, no pairing through Bluetooth is required. Turning the device on is done with a tactile-only button (non-mechanical) button at the top you double-tap to toggle on & off, with the added benefit of an always-on LED next to the USB-C port to tell you battery life (white-blue-red for different battery percentages). I found the always-on LED extremely helpful, because using other companies’ styluses without this have left me with a dead stylus, unaware of the battery condition and no “in your face” reminder you need to charge it later tonight. The pencil is well-balanced, a good weight for writing and drawing, and has a single flat surface to prevent rolling off, otherwise is round and non-grooved, so it’s comfortable to hold and use for longer periods. The stylus also will also attach magnetically to the outer bezel of your iPad, but you do have to find the “sweet spot” on certain iPads (I have a full and a mini) to fully attach and hold firmly. The box includes a short USB-C charging cord and extra stylus. Features it is missing, however, would include pressure sensitivity (for thicker/thinner lines depending on how you’re pushing on the screen), no tilt detection, and no button for toggling between tools or, like other styluses, for becoming an eraser without having to manually select an eraser in whatever writing/drawing app you’re using. That said, at the price point (about 1/3 of the Apple-brand device), these are acceptable tradeoffs if you’re simply using this to take notes or navigate your tablet. I also am not a huge fan of the USB-C port being constantly open with no cover, and I see it picking up dirt and debris from my backpack over time. Bottom line is that this is a great, low price point stylus for doing the basic tasks you do daily with your iPad.

It seemed great from what I've read, however, it doesn't connect very well. I had a pencil from Amazon for 13 bucks that works WAY better than this. It is not worth the money at all.

This pen was not good at all. I decided to get it on a search for some reasonable stylus for my new iPad Mini, and it made me immediately give that up and just get an Apple Pencil. I'm sure there are different alternatives out there, but this ain't it.

I’ve been wanting an apple pencil for as long as I’ve had my iPad but just couldn’t justify the price. Welcome the Insignia Active Stylus for iPad! Reading reviews for other non-Apple pencils, most suffered lag and accuracy issues. I am pleased to report the Insignia Stylus has almost zero lag and excellent tracking. The feel of the stylus is just like the wooden pencils I grew up with. Depending on the app, you can write on the screen and it's converted into text. My handwriting is pretty bad but the iPad was very good at recognizing my chicken scratch and converting it, both written and printed. I also like all the coloring book apps and can now relax my mind by coloring like a little kid again. It’s also great just for navigation on the iPad. Movement across the screen protector on my device is effortless and smooth - almost too much so. There are other screen protectors that provide a more pencil/paper feel if that's something you need. Charging the stylus is via USB C and takes about a half hour to full charge which gets about 12 hours of use. Charge level is displayed by the color of the indicator light. Turning the stylus on and off is done by double tapping the eraser end and the stylus has an auto off to conserve battery life. It attaches magnetically to my iPad but sadly, it does not have wireless charging. It also doesn't have the double tap feature of the Apple Pencil. At about a quarter of the Apple price, if you have a compatible device, the Insignia Active Stylus is a must have. I highly recommend it.

It is doing the same job as the original stylus. In general Insignia is building descent products for a good pricing. This one is no exception. Comparing this to the original iPad Stylus, it is very good! It is well made from premium material. It has a professional look and good battery life. Charging speed is also good. Pairing it with iPad is a bit tricky since you have to change the settings in the iPad to make it open for non-apple products. It is coming with an extra tip and USB-C charging cable. Very well thought. It sticks well to the side of the iPad. A lot alike the iPad original stylus. Just to mention here, the instructions in the box mention a "Power Button". This stylus doesn't have a button. It is the top of the stylus that you have to tap/double tap to go in function. The LED indicator is very easy to notice (for checking battery status: Charging, % levels). It is a good addition to your iPad, if you don't have one already! it will help taking notes and filling forms and just any thing you can do with a pencil and a paper. I like the touch cancelling when using this Stylus so you can rest your hand on the screen without getting registered. I'd recommend this as it is well priced and fully functional (compared with original stylus). High quality and will last long for sure.

Didn’t work consistently. I returned the item to the store.

Pro: No connection needed Tilt based line width Magnetically attaches to iPad Con: Harder tip than Apple’s No pressure sensitivity This is similar to the Apple Pencil USB-C, with the differences being that it connects without bluetooth and the rubber tip is harder. For what it is, being a cheaper alternative to the official pencil and offering similar features, it works fine. If you need it for taking notes or simple sketching, then it’s a good alternative. Double tapping the end turns it on and it’ll work without needing to be connected via bluetooth. Since the tip is harder, at least compared to my 1st gen Apple Pencil, tapping is louder and it feels like you’re really hitting the screen harder. However, if you want to use it seriously for drawing, then I wouldn’t recommend this. Like the Apple Pencil USB-C (their latest gen), the Insignia doesn’t support pressure sensitivity, but it can do slightly variable thickness depending on the tilt. Using it in drawing apps, the lines were accurate but you have to really tilt the pencil side ways to get the thicker lines.