Equil Smartpen 2

I will not comment on the aesthetics of this product, packaging, or anything that can been seem by simply googling or going on YouTube. Additionally, I will not comment on software because although it is part of this product it changes with updates so I do not want to base my review off of aspects that can easily change. What I will cover in this review is the following: -My Usage -Various notes covering common concerns/topics in other reviews -Ergonomics -Pen Accuracy (connected via Bluetooth and standalone) -Fluidity (both software and pen) -Convenience -Real World Uitilty/Versatility - Price to Performance -Conclusion MY USAGE: I am currently studying mechanical engineering at a 4 year private institution and will be interning in a professional industry setting in following months. In school I take roughly 3-4 pages of handwritten notes per day (primarily on engineering paper) and I use another 3-4 sheets of engineering paper for homework per day. When you do the math, its approximately 600 sheets of paper. Additionally, notes and homework consists of writing (fairly small) as well as detailed drawings. Because of the information provided above, it would obvious be much easier to keep track of those papers if I had a digital copy. I could try to type notes, but because of drawings and diagrams this would be difficult. When looking for an alternative solution I knew it had to be accurate, have relatively high fidelity for quality digital reproduction of notes and writing and it had to be comfortable to write with. NOTES: Many people mention a buzzing noise that resonates from this pen and that has caused them to give this pen a lower review. When purchasing this pen, understand that the buzzing is supposed to happen and it is how the receiver knows the location of the pen. The noise only occurs when writing; when the pen tip does not have pressure being applied to it the noise will not occur. ERGONOMICS: The triangular shape of the pen is a nice package. It is very comfortable to write with (as much as any circular shaped pen). It is thicker than circular pens, but because your fingers will be gripping the angled sides of the pen, it feels smaller when being used. One unfortante thing about the ergonomics that is only a minor inconvenience is that the plastic is slick. When you write for more than a few minutes, your hands get a bit sweaty and they begin to slide down the pen. In this regard, it would be extremely beneficial if there was some kind of grip to alleviate this. Personally, I may use some plastidip on a portion of the pen to give it more grip (I will definitely comment on this review if I do this) Unfortunately at this time I cannot comment on long term comfort when used for extended periods of time, but I will update this post significantly once next semester starts and I can put this pen through its paces. PEN ACCURACY: So far, I am very happy with this pens accuracy. When using college ruled paper the receiver picks up all writing within the margins so there is no need to worry about finding the 'sweet spot' of where you can write. Additionally, this pen has good fidelity and the thickness of the digital redurings can be changed to accommodate handwriting size. The detail of this pen is more than sufficient for anyone taking notes and doing basic sketches and drawings. When testing the bounds of the receiver with the 8.5x11 setting, I used a piece of printer paper and began drawing vertical and horizontal lines to see when they would stop or become irradic. The maximum usable area is about 1/4-1/6 of an inch from either side of the paper, about 1/8-1/6 of an inch from the bottom of the paper, and about 1/2-3/4 of an inch from the receiver. The reason I measure from the receiver is because you can clip the receiver on all the way if you do not need the top space (like on college ruled paper) or you can move the receiver up so it is just barely clipped onto the paper which gives you about 1/8 of an inch more room to work with. When reaching the side bounds of the receiver, it will simply stop picking up the writing. But, when surpassing the upper bounds of the reciever, the pen would react erradically causing horizontal lines to angle upwards or downwards as well as not pick up writing. I assume this is caused by the receiver getting confused about the location of the pen since there are only sensors on the front of the receiver. I am happy with the side to side bounds as well as the lower bounds of this pen, but the upper bound concerns me because mentioned before, I primarily use engineering paper which has smaller margins at the top of the page. I have not used engineering paper yet for testing, but going by the tests I have already done it is evident that the first few rows on engineering paper will be unusable. FLUIDITY: This is where I have some concern about this product. Through my testing, which has been anything but thorough to this point I have noticed a couple of things. First off, when using the receiver and pen standalone (not connected to Bluetooth device) the receiver light will flash white as your pen is in contact with the paper and everything is being picked up. It will then flash red whenever the pen is in contact with the paper and the receiver is having difficulty picking up what is being written. This is nice, but it doesn't always work. I have noticed that when working properly, there is a nice soft, consistent, reassuring humm of the pen and you know that its working properly. Occasionally, the humm will become erradic. It is very difficult to describe, but you will know when it happens. I have not tested enough to see if it lasts for a certain amount of time or if it is indefinite, but during those periods the receiver will not flash red, the light may just flash a faster white when you are writing. This can be a huge inconvenience when taking important notes and then looking over the digital copies and realizing that they are useless when half of what was written wasn't picked up. Luckily, I have only noticed this when using the pen and receiver in standalone mode and I have had zero problems when connected to my phone. With that being said, it is unfortunate that the problems with the new version of this pen is one of the few features that makes it better vs its predecessor, the equil jot. I want to note that this problem has only occurred not even a handful of times and only lasting a few seconds at a time (given a few seconds can mean a few sentences). Additionally I'm assuming this problem is what some of the reviewers of this product are referring to and what they are giving it one star. CONVINIENCE: First off, the overall containment of the pen, the reciever, a cap and an extra pen cartrage is ingenious. Being able to have everything you need in one small triangular package is so much easier than other alternatives where you need special paper and have to worry about storage of the pen so it doesn't get damaged. I baby my toys and electronics (which I have many of) so much that when I sell them, they still look brand new and I still have the boxes and all origional documentation, papers and accessories. With this pen and case I can confidently say that I am not worried about throwing it in my backpack (although I'll probably still baby it haha) since the case fully protects the pen and receiver. This is a huge plus over other alternatives IMO because you don't have to constantly worry about your 150 dollar piece of hardware in your backpack, suitcase, brievecase, etc. Secondly, we all realize the convince of being able to write on any kind of paper vs special microdot paper or else you wouldn't be looking at this option. With that being said, is less guessing about the bounds of which you can write as well as not needing a receiver a better option or value than what equil offers? Honestly, that all comes down to opinion. Lastly, I believe that a huge part of the convinience factor when it comes to electronics is battery life because what good is it to you if it is dead or always needing to be charged. Unfortunately, as I have stated before I have not been able to fully put this pen through its paces (I will be sure to update when I do) but it is safe to say that this pen should get approximately 5-7 hours of use on one charge. This should be plenty to get you through one full day of note taking and if it doesn't, it gives enough flexibility that you should be able to charge it for a few minutes here and there to give it enough juice when you need it. UTILITY/VERSITILITY: This pen has a lot going for it. Paired with its software you can edit your notes, movie stuff around, add things, convert writing to text, change colors, add pictures and much more. All of this makes for an incredibly good tool for anyone who takes notes or writes by hand. If anything, this pen and software gives piece of mind knowing that your notes are automatically organized and digitalized so you have multiple copies at your disposal to edit and look back over. With this being said, are there other ways to achieve the same results? Of course. Scanning your notes to make digital copies and transcribing notes to a word document are both viable options that are used all the time to make digital copies of notes and all work well. But it comes down to opinion and budge whether the utility and convince of having this pen makes sense to you. In my personal use, it is evident that having to use a pen for physical notes is less of a convinicence than using pencil where I would be able to erase, but of course being able to edit the digital notes opposed to only having scans is a huge benefit. With this being said, the consultancy of the pen described earlier scares me and can be a detriment to its utility. In terms of versatility compared to other smart pen options, being able to use any paper is a huge boost in versatility, but not having a built in recorder can be a turn off and would cause the need to find an alternative option to record. PRICE TO PERFORMANCE: After looking at the overall product, its usage, its shortcomings and its strengths I believe that this pen is a little overpriced for what you are getting. I'll keep this sections short because I have covered aspects in detail in above sections. I will simply say that for close to $200 there are plenty of alternatives. When this pen gets to a price point of under $150 it will still be a luxury and not for everyone. If this pen can get to around $125 or less and you are on the fence, I would definitely say buy it! If you cannot find it for that price, I would say wait for the third iteration of this product to be released in the coming years when they fine tune the hardware because at the moment, the biggest downfall of this product is the recording consistency. CONCLUSION: I believe this pen will be a huge help when it comes to organizing notes. With the inconsistencies of this pen and its standalone recording it is difficult to justify getting this version over the equil jot at the price point offered, especially if you are not completely sold on the idea. If you like the versatility of being able to take notes without always being connected to a Bluetooth device (which needs to have the screen on and the equil app open) I would advise waiting until the price drops at least a little bit because the inconsistencies of offline writing can cause huge frustrations when you sync it and realize half of your notes did not get digitalized correctly.

It was a bit harder to get started than we had thought - but now works great. Does exactly what we expected and very happy with the purchase.

I bought this for my gadget junkie husband who sees things, thinks they are a great idea but then seldom can figure them out so they sit in a drawer!! Well, he LOVES this and got a friend to help him get it going and now uses it all the time. He is delighted.

Well this was nice until it stopped working. I cannot recommend this product as there is a clear lack of support by the manufacture. I will quote the ONLY support option available to you... "Email us at support at myequil dot com. We will do our best to respond within 24 hours." That is the only option for help, no phone support is given. In fact when the Luidia corporate office is called and you press 2 for support you are given the fast busy signal. This is pretty telling of the support they are willing to give. I am starting the 24 hour timer from when the original support email was sent, but I am not hopeful given the lack of phone support. I will be returning this if I do not have a working item. As this was purchased for work I will not spend a large amount of time troubleshooting this. Buyer beware that support is limited to email only and the only expectation is they will do their best to respond in 24 hours or not at all. DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM IF YOU NEED IT WORK OR VALUE YOUR TIME! Edit: Well I did get a call back in about an hour after submitting my support ticket. The person calling asked how he could help me, he then went on to explain that he sometimes had problems as well and sometimes it would just break for an hour or two and then start working again! Again not a great experience when the vendor is admitting the product can be flaky. There was no troubleshooting done, the only suggestion was to RMA the device. I will give them one shot at a replacement and then I am sending this thing back. So, kudos on the quick reply, SCARY that the only support is to replace it. I would look at this like a $150 pen that gets tossed once the warranty is over as the only support step is to replace the thing.

I remember early pens that could record notes using special paper. Back then, the novelty was high and it seemed practical too. Now, with the combination of a tablet and stylus potentially costing less than the Equil Smartpen 2, is it still worth considering? Possibly, but only for people who really love writing on paper. BUILD & ERGONOMICS The pen and a small clip which attaches to any paper you want to write on are housed in a nice little case, which charges both with one micro USB connector. The cover is similar to tablet covers and should keep everything safe in a backpack. It would be nice if it added less bulk. The materials are all plastic, with the pen similar in size and shape to those big triangular pencils. As with those, the pen is not fun to use for long periods. It isn't terrible either, and the shape is likely a consequence of needing space for the electronics. EASE OF USE I have an Android phone, and pairing was as simple as pairing a Bluetooth headset. What is confusing is that the device isn't really "paired" until the apps are opened. Still, it all worked without a hitch. You can also use the pen without the apps, using the "New Page" button when you switch sheets. Speaking of that, attaching the clip to paper is a bit awkward and it is important that it be straight and centered. After the learning curve, I was able to do it quickly. APPS There are two apps - EquilSketch and EquilNote. The former is an art program of sorts, allowing a decent number of choices for brush types, color, etc. I suggest never using this. If you play with the tools, what you draw on paper looks nothing like what you are doing in the app, which is highly disorienting. I do some illustrations using a standard drawing tablet, which some people find disorienting, but it is much intuitive. The low accuracy and lack of proper pressure sensitivity also make it a poor option. I don't mean to nitpick. I just don't see any situation where there would not be both a better and cheaper option. EquilNote is the note taking app. If you use the app as you write, you can make changes, such as pen color, as you go. The layout can be confusing and clunky, but it works. Having controls on the pen for color changes would make things much faster. Files can be backed up in Dropbox, but not in a way that makes them functional directly. This is a terrible decision and I hope that future app updates will fix it. What you can instead do is share to Evernote or email yourself low quality jpegs. A more functional file format would be fully editable PDFs, which could leave all the components (individual lines, sketches, letters, etc.) intact for editing, searching, etc. A notable feature in EquilNote is OCR, which converts hand written text to text in a standard font. As with other OCR, it is probably not good enough to use for large chunks of text, but it works well enough to clean up some parts. NOISE When I started using the pen, I thought something was broken because it was emitting a high pitched noise. It turns out that that is normal. This will either be a deal breaker or something that you learn to ignore. It might be a distraction for students sitting next to you. What makes it worse is that it only happens when you are writing, so the sound is intermittent. SUMMARY On a basic level, the Smartpen 2 works. However, the apps have a long way to go and the noise can be distracting in quiet settings.

The product was well made, materials are decent. However the noise when you're writing on the paper is ANNOYING. Moreover, the recognition is not as expected. App was poorly developed. Terrible purchase!

I've used the Equil SmartPen for a while now, and while I like that it can capture most things I draw and write, I can't say it's been completely accurate or can capture fine details. When drawing a map recently, the pen had a difficult time capturing the smaller details/writing, and more often than not would blend fine details into a dot on the scan. This would not be a huge issue if you're not interested in fine details, but I like having all info recorded accurately, so it will make a difference for some. One of my bigger gripes is that you absolutely have to use this pen in order to capture imagery/notes. Once I forgot the pen in my car and had to run back in order to have a client sign off a document that I could email to her. Once the pen runs out, it's questionable as to which refill I can buy. Also, because it's a pen, there are no going back if you make a mistake...you can't erase, so you need to get things right on the first go, otherwise you'll have a big "scratch out" on your digital copy. Lastly, when using this pen in a quiet location, it will make a hum noise anytime you actually start writing/drawing. It's not very loud, but those with sensitive ears/can hear high pitched noises, will definitely hear it. Overall, if you're into note taking, I would either write and scan if you need a paper copy or write/draw directly to a tablet. If you're in a profession that requires paper and signed copies on the go, you can use the Equil or take a cell photo and send. This pen will work, but it won't necessarily save you all that much time.

It definitely has some quirks to using it. It takes a little time to get comfortable with all of the features but overall it is a pretty cool tool. Very useful for me as a teacher trying to get away from using too many paper notes, comments or ideas cluttering up my workspace.