Are S Pen and nibs interchangeable?

S Pens for phones and tablets are interchangeable.

You can use S Pens made for Samsung phones on Samsung tablets that support the S Pen, and vice versa.


The nibs are also interchangeable. So you can buy any S Pen nibs online and use them on any S Pen.


There are different types of S Pen nibs though. The original nibs from Samsung S Pen actually comes with a rubber/matte texture tip on the nib. It's difficult to see but it's there to provide the extra friction, or maybe it's there to dampen the tapping sound while writing.


Most S Pen nibs sold online are just plastic nibs with hard plastic tips. If you want the rubber tips, just read the product description carefully as some sellers do sell rubber tips. Samsung actually doesn't sell their original S Pen nibs with rubber tips.


In terms of writing and drawing performance, there's not much difference between the non-original vs original nibs. The hard plastic tips are slightly smoother, which is better for writing.


The S Pen nibs are too long for the Staedtler Noris Digital in case you're wondering. You can still write but you won't want the nib to break because it's difficult to get a broken nib out from the holder.

Availability of pen nibs

You can find the pen nibs on Amazon.

If you want buy the spare soft pen tips, I recommend this seller and this seller on AliExpress.

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Comments

hi,

I like your webste and all the reviews!

I have both the note 9 phone and the S8+ tablet.
I like the note 9 s-pen way better, which surprises me.
the note s-pen nib is better, it still has the right subtle amount of drag (friction) but not as much as the S8 s-pen. In Europe, Samsung give 3 extra nibs for the phones, 2 have the rubbery tip, which is brilliant, and 2 have a hard tip (like the apple pencil) which I don't like (too noisy tapping sound and zero drag, which makes it possibly better for people with a screen protector)

do you have recommendations on nibs?
on reddit, someone suggesting a metal nib with a screen protector but didn't provide any reference.

In reply to by Matthieu (not verified)

@Matthieu
The only nibs I know off are the original rubber-tip and plastic-tip. I prefer the rubber tip.

You can find S Pen tips on Amazon. Just make sure the product description specifically mentions rubber tip.

Not sure if there are metal tips. If there are, metal tips will be as smooth as the plastic tip, and possibly make louder tapping sounds. I have another pen with metal tip and that's my experience with them.

Are the non-bluetooth/etc features of S-pens backwards compatible? I have one of the original Note tablets and I'm curious if only those S-pens from that generation would work or any of the later ones would too.

In reply to by D (not verified)

@D
Non-Bluetooth S Pens can be used with all Samsung devices that support the S Pen, except for the Samsung Z Fold phones where they use a special S Pen that can work with softer folding screens.

This is so informative! I'm an artist and recently got a matte textured screen protector to have a more paper-feel when I draw and it tore up my original pen nib! This is in depth and helped me understand why my replacement nibs didn't feel like the original, thank you so much! Keep up the good work!

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