I have been a part of the iPad Pro ecosystem for a while now. For the most part, it comes out of professional obligations, rather than personal necessities. It’s a rather expensive situation to be in, to be fair.
The worst part? Finding a competitive, budget-friendly alternative is like going on a blind, trust-first-regret-later purchase spree. The stylus situation is no exception. There is always some caveat, if you put your trust in virtually any other label.
This year, ESR came to CES 2025 with a rather bold product. A pencil with Find My support. It looks like an Apple Pencil, attaches magnetically, and even supports niceties like tilt recognition.
All that — under $30 — a fraction of what Apple currently asks for its cheapest stylus. That’s not all. ESR’s stylus even leapfrogs Apple with a facility that even the world’s most valuable company hasn’t attempted so far.
Find My is here. And it works!
I recently lost my Apple Pencil Pro. It costs $129 in the US, while my nearest Apple Store sells it for $137. I bought it predominantly because I forget stuff faster than my cat disregards the fact that it just had its supper and lunges at my snacks.
Support for Apple’s Find My location tracking system was the biggest draw of Apple Pencil Pro for me, but I still couldn’t locate the misplaced stylus. It soon ran out of battery, and that was the end of the story for me.
I never bought a replacement. I don’t have the heart for it, even though I miss it terribly. The only reason is the high ask, especially for a stylus. ESR gave me the perfect solution for that FOMO.
The ESR Geo Digital Pencil is the world’s first non-Apple stylus that offers support for the company’s expansive Find My network. The only other stylus that serves this facility is the Apple Pencil Pro. Even the price-matched second-gen Apple Pencil lacks the perk.
Any person who has ever lost their Apple gear, and managed to recover it, knows just how useful it can be. There is no dearth of cases where people have tracked and found their belongings using AirTags, which rely on the Find My network to do their job.
For the same reason, you may have come across Find My compatibility baked at the heart of backpacks, wallets, and even remote controllers that are fitted with an AirTag. Naturally, getting the perk on a $30 stylus is nothing short of a pleasant surprise.
On the ESR Geo Digital Stylus, the whole system works flawlessly. The Bluetooth pairing process is straightforward, and a quick trip to the pre-installed Find My app on the iPad did the job in less than a minute.
All you have to do is pick a name for the stylus, add an emoji during the setup process (for reasons only known to the mysterious overlords in Cupertino), and you’re good to go.
And here is the nicer part. The ESR stylus comes with its own speaker assembly onboard. While tracking the stylus using the Find My network, you can choose to play a beep so that you can find it using audio cues.
I had some concerns. Is Find My support merely a namesake marketing ploy with watered-down functionality, given the fractional price you pay for the ESR stylus compared to Apple’s option? I was wrong.
You get the full Find My foundation here. And in my tests, it worked just fine. I am hopeful that I don’t lose this one, but if it is misplaced, I would at least hold on to the sliver of hope that is Find My, instead of giving up entirely on yet another financial hit.
Is it a good stylus, though?
So, what do you miss compared to the second-gen Apple Pencil, which costs $129? Pressure sensitivity, magnetic charging, and double tap for changing the drawing tool. None of those are a make-or-break aspect for me. I have used the Apple Pencil USB-C, and it offers none of those conveniences, either.
Moreover, for my basic needs, the ESR option covers it all. With a $30 stylus, that’s a lot more value than what you would get paying for an older Apple stylus, or even the latest model with a USB-C port.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsThe ESR stylus follows the same design language as Apple. But unlike Apple’s all-white approach, ESR also has pink and black shades on the table.
The weight distribution seems well-balanced, and the magnetic attachment is secure. While moving with an iPad mini, and an iPad Pro, the pencil securely latched to the magnetic connector and didn’t fall off even while walking with the Apple slate.
As far as input goes, I don’t have any complaints. There is no discernible lag and tilt sensitivity works just fine. I handed over the ESR stylus to a friend who does Arabic and Persian calligraphy.
After using the stylus on my 13-inch M4 iPad Pro, he was pleasantly surprised with the fluidity and “near-zero latency.”
“This is very nice for the price. Just make sure you put a matte screen protector on your iPad, and the sketching experience will rise a notch,” he told me. He was right.
I tried sketching on my sister’s M1 iPad Pro, which has a paper-like screen protector, and I loved the experience. The added surface-level grip really makes a difference, compared to the naked glass surface.
Tilt recognition was also mostly on point while using a variety of brush strokes and pen styles. Overall, if you’re eyeing a budget-friendly stylus that is responsive and accurate, the ESR Geo Digital Stylus won’t leave you with a case of the capitalist regret malady.
A few other niceties
The ESR stylus only attaches magnetically to the iPad, but doesn’t transfer power, like the second-gen Apple Pencil or its Pro variant. That’s not much of a hassle.
Support for fast wired charging ensures that the ESR Geo Digital Pencil can be fully topped up in approximately 30 minutes, roughly matching the pace of Apple’s stylus portfolio.
ESR promises a mileage of around 12 hours per charge. Realistically though, you won’t have to worry about those numbers. I haven’t charged the stylus so far, despite taking notes worth over 40 pages during interviews.
That’s because I often plugged it into the spare USB-C cable on my desk, every time I took a break. For college students who use an iPad as their primary note-taking device for lectures — like my own sister — this stylus should easily last 3-4 days on average.
Another handy design element — which is again missing from the Apple Pencil — is the halo ring at the top. A still blue light means the stylus is powered on and connected. When plugged in, the light blinks, while red is an indicator of a low battery.
I love these neat little features.
There is one more surprise. The round button at the top is not merely a power key. Instead, it’s a multifunction button for a couple of UI shortcuts on iPadOS.
A single tap takes you to the Home Screen, while a quick double tap launches the application multi-task view. That’s a facility you don’t even get on the iPad.
Ideally, this button should have been customizable for more stylus controls, like brush change or undo gesture. I believe Apple is keeping the necessary stylus software stack or the secret API sauce limited to its own ecosystem. Sigh!
Worth it? Heck yeah!
The ESR Geo Digital Pencil is a lovely peripheral. If you are looking for a stylus that won’t deal a blow to your wallet (read: Apple Pencil), this is the one to pick.
Heck, I would recommend it solely for the Find My facility alone. Surprisingly, the core sketching and note-taking experience is also fantastic. Likewise, the multi-function physical button and magnetic attachment facility are just the cherry on top.
In a nutshell, if your budget is just $30, this is the only stylus I would recommend. Even a comparative analysis with pricier stylii will land you at ESR’s doorsteps.
The ESR Geo Digital Pencil is now up for grabs from Amazon.
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