Third-party pens for MS Surface?

Snapsh0t · 28 May 2020

I've just ordered a Surface Go 2 but don't fancy the cost of a genuine MS pen as it's something I'm unlikely to use very often. So I started looking at third-party offerings on Amazon and there are dozens that all look very similar with very little to differentiate them. Does anyone have any experience with these and can recommend one?

chrism_scotland · 28 May 2020

Snapsh0t said:
I've just ordered a Surface Go 2 but don't fancy the cost of a genuine MS pen as it's something I'm unlikely to use very often. So I started looking at third-party offerings on Amazon and there are dozens that all look very similar with very little to differentiate them. Does anyone have any experience with these and can recommend one?

There's only one 3rd party option that's worth it and that's the Renaisser Surface Pro Pen which is £37 on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZJNGZR4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) its also known as the Raphael 520.
I picked one up a few weeks ago (again for a Surface Go 2 actually) and its tremendous; its slightly narrower than the Surface Pen and doesn't have an "eraser" function on the end; instead it has a 2-button function the side where your thumb sits for eraser and right click.

I have no issues with pressure, line quality, etc and can only recommend it; it also sticks to the tablet with a magnet like the MS one - I've got 2x proper Surface Pens lying here (from work) and I actually don't use them now - its given me enough confidence to buy a 3rd party keyboard cover for £35 over the £100 for the MS one on the Go.

Snapsh0t · 29 May 2020

Thanks, Chris. That makes life easy so I'll add one to my Amazon basket for my next order.

Neilc28 · 29 May 2020

How do you both find the Surface Go 2? Just curious as it seems pretty good for the price-point but don't know anybody who's got one for some real hands-on reviews...

Snapsh0t · 29 May 2020

I'll tell you when it gets here. It was supposed to be delivered today but should now be tomorrow.

Snapsh0t · 1 Jun 2020

Neil, I've now had the Go 2 for 36 hours and have installed my standard suite of software. It's hardly exciting but it's pleasant enough to use. It's a slight step up from my Galaxy Book 10.6 - the screen is the same resolution, the CPU is only slightly better but it has twice the RAM and SSD. Fortunately I ordered a Type Cover keyboard at the same time - all the ads show it with one but it is not included (unlike the Book 10.6). I want the small form factor to fit in the slot in my Mirrorless Mover 30i case and, unless you go for an iPad Pro 11, this is the best choice there is (and iPadOS won't run a couple of important apps anyway). The one thing I don't like is that there's no protection for the back where the kick-stand is so some sort of sleeve or similar seems advisable to avoid scratches.

Neilc28 · 2 Jun 2020

Snapsh0t said:
Neil, I've now had the Go 2 for 36 hours and have installed my standard suite of software. It's hardly exciting but it's pleasant enough to use. It's a slight step up from my Galaxy Book 10.6 - the screen is the same resolution, the CPU is only slightly better but it has twice the RAM and SSD. Fortunately I ordered a Type Cover keyboard at the same time - all the ads show it with one but it is not included (unlike the Book 10.6). I want the small form factor to fit in the slot in my Mirrorless Mover 30i case and, unless you go for an iPad Pro 11, this is the best choice there is (and iPadOS won't run a couple of important apps anyway). The one thing I don't like is that there's no protection for the back where the kick-stand is so some sort of sleeve or similar seems advisable to avoid scratches.

Thanks for the quick-review! I was just curious about the performance as I've already got 2 x Surface Book 1's with Performance Base, and 2 x Surface Pro 4's. Form factor is great but the performance is a bit lacking tbf, the Surface Books are the i7 variants and the Surface Pro's are the i5. I was just wondering if the Surface Go's throttle as badly?

Snapsh0t · 2 Jun 2020

I think it's going to be hard to check as the poor wee thing has so little power that the screen completely freezes for considerable periods while running Acronis TI. It makes trying to watch Task Mangler very difficult.....

My Renaisser pen arrived today so I'm going to try that and see if I can persuade the Go to update to 2004.