PenTips 2: Better than Matte Screen Protector for Drawing?

Review set provided by Pen Tips

PenTips 2 is a screw-on silicone pen tip made for the Apple Pencil. The company has just released PenTips 2 on Kickstarter and the crowdfunding campaign will end on 6 July 2022.

PenTips 2 is a significant improvement over the original because it's a screw-on vs slip-on. I reviewed the original PenTips a few years ago and noted the pen tip can slip off easily. That issue has been fixed with the second generation

During the Kickstarter, a set of PenTips 2 with three tips is priced at €36 (USD 38). The retail price is going to be €44 (USD 46). Prices included shipping worldwide. These are very expensive when you consider Apple is selling their standard Apple Pencil tips for USD 20 for four pieces.

The pen tips are available in black and white and there are no difference between the two except for the colour. You can choose the colour or mix you want in the set.

The included pen tip case also doubles as pen stand.

The pen tip is not as tapered as the original Apple Pencil tip.

The silicone is quite hard and doesn't deform.

In the photo above, the line at the top was drawn with PenTips 2. Pressure sensitivity of Apple Pencil isn't affected much. I feel like the lines are slightly thicker when drawn at the same pressure, but when compared to the Apple Pencil's line I can't see any difference.

Tilt sensitivity works fine. In the photo above, the line on the left was drawn with pressure and the right drawn with tilt.

The main selling point of PenTips 2 is it provides you with more friction or resistance, and hence more control when drawing. And it works really well. The silicone does provide a good amount of friction on a glass surface.

The feeling of drawing with a silicone tip on glass is silicone on glass. It certainly is not the paper-like tactile feeling of drawing on a matte screen protector. It's a different feeling. The silicone also dampens the tapping sound significantly.

If you get the silicone tips, there's not much reason to get a matte screen protector anymore.

I no longer use matte screen protectors because they affect the image quality of the display by introducing grain and colour noise, and the anti-glare creates this white "haze" that affects what you can see on the screen. I've stopped using matte screen protectors for a long time and I've already gotten used to drawing on glass with the Apple Pencil.

The original pen tips (right) are still available and are sold as PenTips Lite. It's €18 for (USD 26) for a set of five.

I'm not sure if the company has made any improvement to the original PenTips but it seems like it can now adhere to the Apple Pencil tip more securely.

When I tried drawing with heavy pressure and drawing with tip, PenTips Lite held on well when I expected them to slip off.

Are PenTips 2 worth the €36 or €44? That is an extremely difficult question to answer as these are really pricey. You can decide based on the findings I've presented. All I can say is they work pretty well.

If you want to get it on Kickstarter before 6 July 2022, visit this page. PenTips 2 should be available on the company website sometime in the future.