Review: FiftyThree's Pencil

App developers reinvent the humble stylus
The FiftyThree pencil
Simon Barker21 August 2014

Two years ago, app developers FiftyThree launched a simple but supremely elegant drawing app called Paper.

It was named Apple's app of the year, made drawing on the iPad a true pleasure and spawned a Tumblr feed of users' artworks called Made With Paper.

Now FiftyThree have applied that same combination of winning design and intuitive technology to reinvent the humble stylus. They've called it, with typical minimalism (and a little chutzpah), Pencil.

Apple chief Steve Jobs, when he launched the iPhone, declared that "nobody wants a stylus". While that might be true of smartphones, now that pinching, scrolling and swiping with our fingers have become muscle memory, it's a different matter when it comes to the iPad. Finger-drawing on Apple's tablet has always felt a little clunky and, well, low-tech. A stylus - and a smart one at that - can only make the iPad more versatile.

Pencil, which has been available in the US since last November and is now on sale over here, is no ordinary stylus either. Although it works as a basic stylus with all iPad apps, it's when you put Pencil to Paper that it really shows its colours.

Hidden inside the body of Pencil is a hardware core that allows it to pair wirelessly via Bluetooth with the Paper app - you need only hold the stylus on an on-screen button once (the so-called "kiss to pair") and they will forever be linked. This allows Pencil's clever features to be used to the full.

The Fifty Three pencil

One is Palm Rejection - how often have you been infuriated by accidentally touching the screen with another part of your hand while drawing, ending up with an unwanted splodge on your work? Not so with Pencil. Palm rejection means you can actually rest your hand on the screen while you draw, making it more natural, comfortable and controlled. The only thing Paper will register are your Pencil strokes. It also allows you then to use your finger as a blending tool rather than just picking up on whatever function is currently selected from the Paper palette.

Turn Pencil on its head and you have an eraser at the other end for quick amendments to your work.

With Pencil's rubber tip, it can be tricky to get precise control over the thickness of lines, but with the next Apple upgrade to iOS8 - due in September - FiftyThree promises to introduce the ability to change the width of what you're drawing depending on the pressure you apply, and to use the angled part of the tip to create broader strokes.

Pencil itself qualifies as a small object of desire. Taking its inspiration from the flattened shape of traditional carpenters' pencils, it's an object you'll want to pick up and hold. It feels substantial enough in the hand yet is light to use. The flat shape is not without reason too: The inner hardware unit slides out and can be plugged into a USB port for charging, which takes about 90 minutes. The lithium ion battery, with normal use, will last for about a month.

Pencil comes in two versions: a Graphite model made from sleek brushed Aluminium or a rustic-looking Walnut model, made from a solid piece of sustainable hardwood.

As FiftyThree co-founder Georg Petschnigg says, Pencil is both beautiful and functional. It may yet prove Steve Jobs wrong too.

Pencil by FiftyThree costs £49.99 for the Graphite model and £64.99 for the Walnut model. Available from Amazon.co.uk.

See the Pencil in action: vimeo.com/78124534

See the Paper in action: FiftyThree.com/paper

See surface pressure feature: vimeo.com/98146708

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