ESR has released a low-cost alternative to Apple Pencil, priced at a fraction of Apple’s entry-level stylus even though it features Find My tracking and other perks.
The new ESR Geo Digital Pencil is made from aluminum and has palm rejection. The device pairs wirelessly with your iPad and works in all apps that support stylus input. You can use it to write, sketch, draw, annotate, and more with precision, thanks to a fine 1.5mm tip. Like with Apple’s stylus, you can tilt the nib to create natural-looking strokes with directionality. Tapping or double-tapping a shortcut button at the bottom triggers various customizable actions, such as returning to the main interface.
However, the new ESR stylus lacks some of the advanced Apple Pencl features, such as hover and pressure sensitivity to easily vary line thickness, like a real pencil.
The built-in magnets mean you can snap the stylus onto your iPad, just like your Apple Pencil. The accessory charges via a USB-C cable instead of wirelessly—the magnetic connection is only used for storage. On the plus side, it reports the current battery charge via Bluetooth so that you can track the remaining juice levels in real time using Apple’s Battery widget.
Like Apple Pencil Pro, ESR’s stylus has Find My. You can add your Geo Digital Pencil to the Items tab in the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to track its location on a map or mark it as lost should you misplace it. With the built-in speaker, you can play a sound to locate your lost ESR if it’s nearby. Otherwise, you’ll see its last known location in Find My.
This works the same way as other Find My-compatible accessories. The stylus periodically advertises its presence to nearby iOS devices, which pick up its Bluetooth signal and anonymously and securely report its location to the crowdsourced Find My network. It’s a genuinely helpful feature, especially if you tend to misplace your stylus all the time.
The biggest thing Digital Pencil has going for it is low price; costing only $30, it significantly undercuts Apple’s offering. By comparison, Apple offers two models. There’s the regular Apple Pencil with a USB-C port, priced at $79, and the flagship Apple Pencil Pro, which costs $129.
The device is compatible with all 11-inch iPad Pro models, the third-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro and later, the third-generation iPad Air and later, iPad mini 5 and later, and iPad 6 and later. You can purchase your Geo Digital Pencil from Amazon for $30. The stylus is available with 2-day delivery and ships with a USB-C charge cable and replacement tips.
ESR unveiled pretty interesting products at CES 2025, including an iPhone 16 case which works with the Camera Control capture button. We’ve reviewed several ESR accessories, including its ultra-tough iPad case, a protective pouch for your iPhone, a Find My-enabled wallet, and its 100W 6-in-1 charging station, to mention but a few.
Source: ESR
