Review: Pilot Dr Grip digital pen with Wacom EMR

Pilot Dr Grip digital pen with Wacom EMR is a variation of the Pilot Dr Grip ballpoint and mechanical pencils. The main selling feature as the name suggest is the grip, and the second selling feature is it's a retractable pen.

This pen was released in late 2023 and the price at the time of review is USD 45 (on Amazon). The cheapest Wacom EMR pen I know of is the Wacom One pen selling at USD 29.

This pen can be dismantled, and the pen comes with 3 replacement pen tips and the pen tip remover.

The retractable design lets you keep the pen in your pocket without fear of damaging the pen tip. There's no clip but there's a little extrusion with a hole where you can run a loop string through. That extrusion also prevents the pen from rolling off the table.

Design of the pen looks like a generic retractable pen one can find in a stationery shop.

Downside here is there's no side button, and no eraser at the back.

Since this is a retractable pen design, there will be slight movement with the pen tip when writing. Pen tip is still quite firm, but not perfectly firm.

The grip is thick and the silicone provides a soft cushion to hold. I've many pens that use Wacom EMR and this pen has the biggest grip. So if you're someone who prefers a thicker grip, this is the pen to consider. Downside is grip can attract dust easily.

Pen tip is made with plastic so it's very smooth on the glass surface.

The pen tip can be replaced with third party pen tips, such as those made for the Wacom One pen or the Samsung S Pen. However, when I tried a pen tip with triangular head (I think the soft tip made for the S Pen), that pen tip could not go all the way in even though the length is similar. Most replacement pen tips should work, but not all.

Wacom EMR supports 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, and there's palm rejection.

Pen tests above were created with Concepts app:

1. Pen has low initial activation force. Thin lines can be drawn easily even with a thick brush selected.
2. How well lines can taper will depend on the app used
3. Line transition from thin to thick and back is smooth
4. Consistent line width can be created easily by maintaining consistent pressure
5. No issues with drawing dots
6. No issues with cursor misalignment

This pen performs quite similarly to other Wacom EMR pens.

There will always be slight variation to pressure performance between different Wacom EMR pens. This pen has good pressure sensitivity.

Tilt sensitivity works fine. The tapered front of the pen allows the pen to tilt low.

There isn't any issues drawing with this pen.

I do wish there was a side button or eraser. I actually bought this pen to use with my Samsung S25 Ultra phone because the included toothpick-like S Pen is not that comfortable or easy to use. I need to put the pen in my pocket and a retractable design is more convenient compared to a pen with cap, e.g. Lamy AL Star EMR pen.

Handwriting performance is great. The pen is able to capture my handwriting style accurately.

Conclusion

It's always great to have more Wacom EMR pen options. Selling point here is the thicker comfortable grip and retractable design. At the time of review, this is the only pen with such a design.

Downsides would be the lack of side button and eraser.

Pricing of USD 45 is considered midrange pricing as there are there even more expensive Wacom EMR pens. It's pricey but it's not too expensive, but that of course is subjective.

It's a good pen.

Availability

The Pilot Dr. Grip digital pen with Wacom EMR is available on Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | ES | IT | JP