Artist Review: LAMY AL-star black EMR pen

The LAMY AL-star black EMR pen is a digital stylus that uses Wacom EMR technology. This pen is an alternative to the Samsung S Pen and can also work on other tablets that support EMR technology such as Remarkable 2, Onyx Boox tablets.

Retail price of this pen is USD 60 but the price can vary significantly depending on the seller. Just for comparison purposes, Staedtler Noris Digital is $68 and Staedtler Noris Digital JUMBO $57 and original Samsung S Pen is cheaper.

The pen is sold with options for pen tips which should be mentioned on the packaging box.

The pen tips shown above are:

• LAMY Z105 PC/EL round - With rubberised 0.7mm tip for smooth surfaces
• LAMY Z108 POM round - WIth hard plastic 0.7mm tip for matte surfaces
• LAMY Z107 PC/EL pointier - With rubberised 0.35mm tip for smooth surfaces

I'm describing the LAMY Z105 from the product photo that I saw online. I can't confirm that it has a rubberised or textured nib although it looks like there is texture. But if it has texture, why is there a need for for another textured nib with the LAMY Z107?

The LAMY Z105 is selling on Amazon for US 17.88 in a pack of 4 at the time of review.

The pen that I purchased comes with the LAMY Z107 PC/EL pointier tip.

The purchase comes with two replacement nibs and a nib remover.

Shown above on the left are some third party pen nibs with hard round plastic point. Shown on the right are the LAMY Z107 PC/EL pointier tips.

LAMY Z107 PC/EL pointier tips is almost identical to the original Samsung S Pen rubberised pen tips with the same design, size and length. The LAMY pen tips can be used with Samsung S Pen.

The rubberised tip does provide some resistance against glass and this provides more control when drawing. If you use the pen more for writing, it may be better to get the hard plastic tip for smoother and faster writing performance.

This digital stylus uses the same (almost) design from the LAMY AL-star fountain pen.

The parts can be dismantled but are not interchangeable with other LAMY fountain pens. Shown above by the right is my LAMY Safari fountain pen.

From what I've seen online, even the LAMY AL-star black fountain pen has a crosshair on top of the cap but this digital stylus has a star design instead.

That's the bottom. It may not be clear from the photo but there are two flat sides on the body.

The grip is the triangular grip you get with LAMY fountain pens.

The side button on the grip is located quite far from the pen tip to minimise accidental clicks. There is no eraser.

Shortcut for the side button will depend on the drawing app you use.

This pen supports pressure, tilt and palm rejection.

If the pen is tilted too low, the pen tip will lose contact with the surface. This happens with some Samsung S Pens too.

The Staedtler Noris Digital pen can go much lower.

Pen performance

Here's a comparison of the LAMY AL-star black EMR vs the Samsung S Pen vs the Staedtler Noris Digital JUMBO.

The LAMY AL-star black EMR pen has the lowest initial activation force. Thin lines can be drawn easily. This pen is able to create a wider variation from thin to thick compared to the other two pens. This performance is quite similar to the Staedtler Noris Digital non-JUMBO.

In other words, the LAMY AL-star black EMR has pretty good pen performance which is great for drawing.

The main downside or limitation is the pen cannot tilt too low or else the pen tip will lose contact with the surface. You can still get tilt to work, you just can't tilt the pen too low.

The other downside is the replacement pen tips are not easy to find. And it's not easy to find the pen that's sold specifically with the LAMY Z107 PC/EL pointier tip with the extra resistance on glass. Depending on where you buy the pen, the product description may not include the type of nibs the pen comes with.

Availability

If you're interested to get the LAMY AL-star black EMR pen, you can get it from AliExpress or search for it on Amazon US | CA | UK | DE | FR | ES | IT | JP, Shopee Singapore, Lazada Singapore

Just make sure you get the one with the LAMY Z107 PC/EL pointier tip and don't buy if that's not mentioned.