It costs $100 and does not come with the Surface Pro by default. The new Surface Pen is available in four colors: platinum, burgundy, black, and cobalt blue. It feels much more like writing with pen and paper now, but with the added benefit that I can convert handwriting to text, and access my notes from OneNote wherever I go. The reduced latency and increased sensitivity of the new Surface Pen, however, make the experience more fluid. I tried using the Surface Pen to take notes previously – using the Surface Pro as a digital “notepad” – but it didn’t work for me. Typing notes during a meeting or conference can be distracting to others, though. I might spill coffee on a pad of paper or lose a notebook, but if my notes are in OneNote I can access them from any device, anywhere, any time. I often have to take notes and I prefer to do it in OneNote. It is also great for taking notes, though.

Many of the Surface Pen features and updates will appeal primarily to artists. The Windows Ink Workspace gives you easy access to Sticky Notes, Sketchpad, Screen Sketch, and pen-enabled applications. Pushing the button on a Surface Pen opens the Windows Ink Workspace so you’re ready to write. Microsoft claims, “The new Surface Pen more than doubles the accuracy of the previous version, and with latency so low it is virtually imperceptible to the human eye, making it twice as responsive as the Apple Pencil.”Ĭlicking the button on a traditional pen ejects the tip so you’re ready to write. In order to accurately emulate a pen and paper, the Surface Pen has to “flow” as effortlessly as an old-fashioned pen. One of the things Microsoft focused on with the new Surface Pen is latency. Microsoft also reduced the amount of force required to activate the tip and increased the tilt angle to allow for a more natural experience when drawing and shading. The new Surface Pen has four times the sensitivity of its predecessors – 4096 points of pressure compared to 1024. The thing that changed for me is the hardware. Some of those features and benefits have existed for years, but were not enough in and of themselves to convince me to use the Surface Pen on a regular basis.

While there is still something viscerally satisfying about old-fashioned pen and paper, the improvements in hardware and software combined with features that are unique to the digital experience do make it better in many ways.

Microsoft surface pen