How do you choose the best stylus for Android? Well that really depends on what you plan to do with it. There are great stylus pens for Android out there from the likes of Adonit and Meko that are inexpensive and straightforward, and are perfect for taking notes or making quick sketches. If you want something more advanced, you might want an Android tablet stylus like Samsung's S-Pen, which offers premium artistry features like pressure sensitivity. Whether you need a best stylus for Android tablets or smartphones, I've found my favourites.
We've reviewed many styluses ourselves, and assessed those and others against criteria such as quality, feature-set, feel and performance (see how we test for more info). If you want to know more, scroll to the bottom of the page, where we've put together a few useful FAQs on Android tablets and styluses. While I have an iPad, I also use an Android phone and have an Android tablet, so I've chosen stylus below that I can honestly recommend.
If you're hunting for a tablet as well as a stylus, our guide to the best Android tablets should come in handy. Also, for a look at what life is like on the other side of the fence, our guide to the best Apple Pencil alternatives shows you the kinds of styluses that iPad users are working with.
Best stylus for Android: top picks
The best stylus for Android available now
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The best stylus pen for note taking
The Adonit Dash 4 is very versatile and the best broadly compatible stylus on this list. It's sleek at just 8mm thick, and feels premium in its aluminium casing. Palm rejection works exclusively on iPad, not Android, but it still performs well. Check out our full review for more detail.
Offers Android stylus for drawing
It's affordable, precise, and stable; the Adonit Neo Lite will work with absolutely any touch screen. It comes with a magnetic cap to protect the tip and disc when not in use, and you can very easily replace these at any time. With Tilt and 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, it's great for writing and sketching.
The best stylus for Samsung devices
This pen is pressure-sensitive, which is already a huge tick in its favour for artists, offering 4,096 pressure levels (similar to the Apple Pencil). It's pricey, but has lots of neat Samsung-exclusive integrations - but make sure to double-check the compatibility.
A Wacom stylus for Android
The Wacom Bamboo Tip brings the build quality of this drawing tablet maker to Android tablets and smartphones. It features a 1.9 mm thin nib, one of the finest on my list, but with no pressure sensitivity or tilt it's aimed at note-taking rather than art; Wacom does offer access its Inkspace and Bamboo Paper apps for notes and doodles.
The cheapest stylus pen for Android
If you want something budget-friendly but still good-looking, this one is for you. The Meko Universal 2-in-1 has dual tips; an anti-scratch fibre tip for general use and an ultra-thin disc tip for writing and drawing. It's not sophisticated, but it's simple and sweet.
An iconic stylus pen re-imagining
This is a great choice for digital artists, offering pressure sensitivity, palm rejection, and a nice natural drawing experience. With passive EMR technology, it doesn't require a battery, and comes with spare nibs - but it isn't the most durable or widely compatible stylus on this list.
An affordable Android stylus for drawing
The Digiroot Universal Stylus is a budget option that offers impressive levels of accuracy and sensitivity for its price point. It's well-balanced and comfortable to hold, with a level of resistance that makes drawing and note-taking feel natural. While it's compatible with many touchscreen devices, we recommend double-checking for compatibility.
A practical Android stylus
The Adonit Pro 4 may not be the flashiest stylus for Android on my list but it is cheaper than the Adonit Dash 4 and while its designed for general use it can work for drawing, just. The Pro 4 won't wow but it's an affordable and practical Android stylus. In our Adonit Pro 4 review we said it's a "thumbs up for general use" but highlighted it "doesn't feel very accurate".
A fine-tip Android stylus
The Evach Active Stylus can be used with most touchscreen devices from iPad to Samsung and even Nintendo Switch. It's a do-all stylus that boasts a 1.5mm ultra fine tip nib, making it ideal for detailed drawing work or for use on small screens (which means its a good Samsung S-Pen alternative). Evach also make the same stylus for various devices, from Lenovo to HP.
Best stylus for Android: how to choose
A stylus pen should feel comfortable to hold and work with, offer precisions and have a decent level of friction when used against the glass screen of your Android device.
A few styluses for Android are capable of connecting with the tablet to provide pressure sensitivity and other advanced features. These are called 'active' styluses, and they require a few things in order to work; for one thing, the tablet in question needs to have what's called a 'digitiser' screen, which not all of them do. Samsung offers plenty of tablets with digitiser screens, as does Lenovo, but you should check with your tablet manufacturer before buying an active stylus, as you don't want to pay for something you won't be able to use.
The other type of stylus is a 'capacitive' or 'passive' stylus. This essentially functions like a finger, providing you with a more comfortable means of writing and sketching on your Android tablet. It's not fancy, but it works. And just because a stylus doesn't have active capabilities that doesn't mean it's totally dumb – many styluses of both types are equipped with Bluetooth connectivity, which allows you to control various tablet functions with buttons on the stylus.
Some styluses also have replaceable nibs. This not only allows you to swap one out when it's been worn away. but also gives you another means to alter line thickness, letting you physically swap from one point to another.
Best stylus for Android: how we test
We test and review most of the best stylus for Android on my list and offer personal takes on how they are to use; where we're unable to review a stylus for Android we research them and collate reviews from around the internet, as well as internally from our sister websites such as TechRadar and T3.
Best stylus for Android: frequent questions
Does my Android tablet have active stylus compatibility?
This will vary from model to model, and with the huge number of Android tablets out there, we can't give a definitive answer. In general, contemporary Samsung Galaxy tablets offer sophisticated pen support thanks to their digitiser touchscreens, so if you are shopping for an Android tablet for drawing, this is a good place to start.
Samsung is not the only player in town here; Huawei, for instance, makes tablets that have active stylus compatibility, such as the Huawei Mediapad M5 Lite. Though bear in mind that Huawei tablets are technically no longer Android; following the split with Google earlier this year, Huawei tablets now run Harmony OS.
So the general rule of thumb is that if you want an Android tablet with active stylus compatibility and all the perks that go with it, you're best off sticking with Samsung for the time being.
Is a stylus worth it on a phone?
That largely depends on what phone you have, and what you plan to use your stylus for. We wouldn't recommend using a stylus with smaller screens, but large screens paired with a stylus mean that your phone can be used almost as a tablet. It's all down to what you feel comfortable with, though, and how much value and use you'll get from a stylus. Styluses are great for note-taking and drawing, so if you want to do those things on your phone, and you've got a big enough screen, then getting a compatible stylus may well be worth your time.
Is a stylus better than a finger?
A stylus will mimic a finger in many ways, but using a stylus does have some advantages. In short, you'll get much cleaner, more precise lines using a stylus than you would your finger. You'll also get finer lines. Using a stylus is also just like using a pen, so you will hopefully avoid cramp or any other issues you'd get from using your finger to draw or take notes over a long period of time.
