Best stylus pens for the Google Pixel Tablet: Get extra control

Google’s new Pixel Tablet aims to shake up the tablet market by offering a well-priced native Android tablet from a huge name that you can hopefully trust – it looks like a new competitor for the iPad.

One of the nice features that the Pixel Tablet brings to the table is support for fancy stylus pens – it works with what’s known as the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI 2.0) to unlock welcome features in styluses that support it. Since it’ll also work with older styluses (just with fewer features), we’ve gathered the very best options for you right here, starting with USI 2.0 styluses.

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  HP

  HP Rechargeable MPP 2.0 Tilt Pen

  Great quality

  This stylus from HP has a really nice shape to it and a thick cone head that makes drawing easy, along with other tasks. It’s nice and light, too, and easy to charge.

• 

  Lenovo

  Lenovo USI Pen 2

  Simple to use

  $42 $50 Save $8

  A great little stylus from Lenovo with a thinner tip that’s very simple to use but can be tilted to work at an angle for different functions.

• 

  Penoval

  Penoval USI Stylus Pen

  Sturdy build

  Penoval’s excellent stylus is really well-made and sturdy, with great tips and really good fast-charging that ensures you can keep using it in a pinch.

• 

  PCTC

  PCTC USI 2.0 Stylus Pen

  Value pick

  This pen is from a less well-known brand but therefore offers value that is hard to argue with, with a raft of great features to match.

• 

  Metapen

  Metapen G1

  Long battery

  A pen that doesn’t have USI 2.0, but is still great to use and has really impressive battery life, which is a key factor day-to-day.

• 

  Alogic

  Alogic USI Active Stylus

  Build quality

  Alogic’s excellent stylus is expensive but with good reason, thanks to great build quality and some really excellent features, plus solid battery life.

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  Andana

  Andana USI Stylus

  Solid option

  $35 $40 Save $5

  Andana’s pen is very solid value, with nice features and a comfortable grip, and can often be found at a discount.

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  HP

  HP Rechargeable Universal Stylus

  Old but gold

  $50 $77 Save $27

  HP’s older stylus is still really impressive, and can be found cheaper than its newer USI 2.0 version, with a lovely fine tip and a nice design.

How we found the best styluses for the Google Pixel Tablet

The reality is that there aren’t too many USI 2.0 styluses on the market right now – that makes finding the best options a bit simpler, as there are fewer to sift through. Still, for both 2.0 and 1.0 styluses, the variables are largely the same: they have to feel great it the hand, work flawlessly with your tablet, and ideally have some features that you wouldn’t get from just using a simple non-powered stylus.

That’s embodied by the HP Tilt Pen, which has a great depth of functionality including tilting to be able to vary your thickness and much more, and also by the option from Penoval, which really feels excellent to use. For those looking to keep their budget a bit tighter, older styluses like that from Andana offer great value, although you’ll miss out on a few features.

So, finding a great stylus to go with your new Pixel Tablet shouldn’t be too hard, and will set you up for a whole bunch of extra functionality and options, especially if you’re a creative person.