The Nataal brand stylus appears to be identical other than in the name printed on the pen and pen box, to the Acase 2nd Generation Capacitive Stylus. I infer this based on photos of the Acase pen and box (including an "unboxing" video of an Acase stylus the box is identical to the box my Nataal came in). Both pens are manufactured in Taiwan. The Acase is manufactured in Taiwan by a manufacturing and trading company called AE Tech. (It seems that while the Acase styli are available in silver, black, red, and blue, the ones sold as Nataal come only in silver and black.)The Nataal is the third capacitive stylus I've bought. I'm an artist and use my 1st generation iPad a lot for cartooning and illustration (primarily with the Sketchbook Pro app for iPad), and like many artists, I like to have a variety of tools to work with, in this case capacitive styli. And I use these styli on my iPad for everything else I've barely touched my iPad with my fingers since I started using styli such as games (e.g., dragging tiles in Scrabble), taking notes with the Penultimate app, making quick typed notes with the Index Card app, etc. And the Nataal works as well for all the above purposes as my Kensington Stylus and Pen and BoxWave Capacitive iPad Stylus. The Boxwave is very short; the Nataal and Kensington are the same length, which is just about 5 1/4 inches (the ring on the end of the Nataal adds a bit of length). The Nataal is lighter in weight than the Kensington, no doubt because the Kensington doubles as a ball point and so has the added weight of an ink cartridge and tip.
The tip of the Nataal is slimmer than the tips of the other two styli, whose tips seems to be the same size. While this does not seem to translate into a thinner line, it does seem to reduce resistance or drag between the pen tip and the screen (though this may be too subtle for some to notice), and it does make for slightly improved visibility and thus improved precision as I write, draw, and tap. (I want to interject that after putting the Kensington through regular heavy use, it stopped gliding over the screen as smoothly as it once did. It's still usable but less than what I'd consider ideal for a capacitive stylus.)
Anyone who has yet to use a capacitive stylus should understand that they do not work like non-capacitive styli (and it may be helpful to know the difference between capacitive touchscreens and resistive touchscreens). "Capacitive" refers to "capacitive sensing," and in order for a capacitive stylus to work on a touchscreen designed for use with fingertips, the tip of the stylus must be made of conductive material such as foam (because capacitive touchscreens only respond to conductive materials; the human body is an electrical conductor, which is why human fingers work on capacitive touchscreens). It is therefore the case that capacitive styli have squishy, fat tips. It is also the case that capacitive touchscreens, while more responsive than resistive touchscreens, do not allow for the same degree of accuracy (e.g., as required for handwriting recognition) as resistive touchscreens. Users of resistive touchscreens accustomed to working with a hard stylus should know that the experience of working with a necessarily soft-tipped capacitive stylus on a capacitive touchscreen (such as an iPad screen) is a considerably different experience.
The Nataal, like the aforementioned Boxwave, comes with a lanyard that users can plug into the earphone jack of their iPad or etc. I've never used the lanyard for my Boxwave stylus and don't anticipate using the lanyard that comes with the Nataal, one reason being that I wouldn't want any part of either styli touching my iPad screen. The Nataal lanyard is a lot nicer than the one that came with my Boxwave. The Boxwave lanyard has a tiny split ring on the end that attaches to the pen, like a tiny keyring, whereas the lanyard that comes with the Nataal has a snap clip which makes it much easier to attach and remove from the end of the stylus than the Boxwave's split ring.
I think an ideal capacitive stylus would have and come with replaceable tips. I've read that the Wacom Bamboo capacitive stylus tip can be replaced but that it does not come with replacement tips, and that is the only capacitive stylus I've heard of that has a replaceable tip.
I'm very pleased with the Nataal, and pleased that I was able to determine to my satisfaction that it is identical other than in name to the Acase (which at present is a bit more expensive than the Nataal), and would recommend it to anyone who is in need of a capacitive stylus.
Would prefer if the rubber were a little harder. This would make it easier to draw with but overall I'm happy with this penThe Nataal Stylus is identical, as far as I can tell, to the Acase stylus and to many others (I would guess they are produced in the same factory in China and differently branded.) They all work fine but, after a while, they do not glide smoothly over the iPad (when writing or sketching.) Until I find a technique for restoring a stylus to it's original drawing/writing capability, I need to replace them every 6 months or so. I simply select the brand with the lowest price.
I like the Nataal and the Acase because they taper to a smaller ball at the tip allowing more precise control.I am very pleased with my Stylus and I am using it to type right now. The greatest feature of this stylus pen is the convenient way it attaches to my iPad by using the earphone plug. I always know where it is when I need it. I strongly recommend this product.This stylus is very sturdy, feels solid in the hand. More than worth the price! Definately like the attached plug in so I don't lose it when I'm not using it! It would have disappeared within the first day I got it if it had come without this accessory! The head of the stylus is smooth & VERY sensitative, LOVE being at a natural writing angle. I would recomemmend this to everyone as an all purpose stylus: from page turning, to writing, to drawing it performs wonderfully. Thank you NATAAL!
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