When asked about the iPad's competition in 2010, Apple founder Steve Jobs went straight to the point: "If you see a stylus, they blew it," he said.
Fast forward five years later and styluses are one of the most popular accessories people want on their tablets, perhaps only next to detachable keyboards. Styluses are great for high-precision work, such as doodling and drawing, and taking notes with a stylus is much better than typing or writing with your fingers. You can always take notes using good, old-fashioned pen and paper, but taking notes on a tablet makes it far easier to store and organize them later.
Most devices with a touchscreen will, in one way or another, work with any standard stylus. However, tablets that were made to be used with a stylus are better, since they are fully optimized to be used with a digital pen.
Take a look at our top five picks for the best tablets with a built-in stylus.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is your best bet if you want an Android tablet that comes with its own digitizer. Simply nothing compares to Samsung's S-Pen technology, which gives you a smooth and accurate writing or drawing experience. The 10.1-inch display is brilliant and sensitive to the S-Pen's movements. You can simply take out the stylus from the slot provided for it in the device and put it back there when you're done. Because the Galaxy Note 10.1 is an Android device, you'll also find more apps available for this tablet than on Windows slates.
Microsoft Surface Pro 3
Third time's the charm for Microsoft, whose Surface Pro 3 proved to be the business-centric tablet hybrid you didn't know you need. The Surface Pro 3's handy Type Cover keyboard is much coveted, although Microsoft offers the keyboard separately. The N-trig stylus, however, comes in the box and is praised for being like Wacom in precision. At 12.2 inches, this tablet is big on the outside and also has big parts inside. All Surface Pro 3 variants have Intel Core i-series inside, making them a great choice for mobile workers who want desktop-level performance from their tablets.
Lenovo ThinkPad 10
The Lenovo ThinkPad 10 may have been around far longer than its competition, but that doesn't mean it's become old and weary. This Windows tablet is still one of the best stylus-equipped slates out there, with a top-of-the-line Wacom stylus paired with more than decent hardware for excellent note-taking. Like the Surface Pro 3, this 10.1-inch tablet can be paired with a keyboard and desktop dock to transform into a laptop.
Asus VivoTab Note 8
A Wacom digitizer doesn't usually make it to a low-cost tablet, but the $329 Asus VivoTab Note 8 manages to come with one, making it a great choice for budget-conscious buyers. At eight inches in length, the VivoTab is admittedly smaller than other Windows slates, and you'll have to make do with a smaller space. Still, the performance of this tablet is good for its price, and battery life is even better.
Dell Venue 11 Pro 7000
Another Windows tablet making it on our list is the Dell Venue 11 Pro 7000. Dell's Active Stylus isn't built into this device; you'll have to purchase it separately for $30. It is also not a premium stylus like Wacom or N-Trig, but this digitizer is good enough for basic note-taking and sketching. The good thing about this tablet is the Intel Core M processor under the hood, making for fast, powerful performance like a desktop.
A Couple of Bonuses
LG G Stylo
The LG G Stylo is not a tablet—it's a smartphone nearing tablet size. It's a phablet, but we thought some people who are looking to combine their smartphone and tablet into one device might be interested in a mid-range stylus-equipped device with a reasonable price.
The LG G Stylo isn't a high-end phone. You get a respectable 1,280 x 720p display with in-cell touchscreen technology that combines the display and touch panels to make the single display more sensitive to the stylus. Performance, however, is middling with a 64-bit 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 410 and 1.5 GB of RAM, and the rear camera was downgraded from the 13MP shooter in its predecessor to just 8MP here. The front-facing camera is now 5MP, though, so if you're a selfie lover and you want a stylus, the LG G Stylo could be a good choice for you.
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with AnyPen Technology
The Yoga Tablet 2 from Lenovo doesn't have a stylus. That's the beauty of it. Lenovo's AnyPen technology lets you use not just any pen but anything that can be used as a stylus, including a key, paper clip, pen, knife, pair of scissors, or any metal object. Better be careful when using one of the sharper objects, though, as you don't want scratches marring the screen.
Photo: Scott Akerman | Flickr
