It's no secret that classrooms have gone digital. The pens, pencils, and ruled notebooks of yesteryear have been consolidated, digitized, and repurposed into the tablets and Chromebooks found in your kid's classroom. Now, a child's success is largely based on the digital tools at his or her disposal, which is what makes the Logitech Pen ($65) so captivating. Certified compatible with the Universal Stylus Initiative, the Logitech Pen is an impressive input device with ample rated battery life and a comfortable, ergonomic design that should fit hands of all ages and sizes, making it a perfect Chromebook companion for students.
My First Stylus
With more than 40 million Chromebooks now in use in educational settings and another 15 million added annually, the timing is excellent for a device like the Logitech Pen. At just 5.9 inches long and weighing half an ounce, it's minutely lighter than Microsoft's Surface Pen and much lighter than the specialized styli artists use with Wacom tablets.
While not as sleek and sexy as the Apple Pencil, the Logitech Pen's triangular body feels good to hold and use. Logitech says its engineers worked with young students to create an optimized ergonomic design that's comfortable in hands from age six to 17. A large (and colorful) non-slip silicone grip offers additional support, while the stylus tip is both sturdy and replaceable. (Logitech also has an Apple Pencil competitor, dubbed the Crayon, with a slightly different design than the Pen and available to consumers and the education market.)
At the bottom of the stylus, you'll find a USB-C port for charging the device. Logitech claims a full charge will last for 15 days of regular school use. Even if you forget to recharge the pen overnight, you can quickly add 30 minutes of life to it with a 30-second charge. When not in use, the pen automatically goes to sleep to conserve power.
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The Logitech Pen doesn't come with its own charger, but considering most Chromebooks make use of a USB-C charger, chances are one isn't far away. A small indicator light blinks to let you know when the pen's low on battery power. Strangely, there isn't a cap to cover the exposed port, so there's a chance that a foreign object could get lodged into the port while being shaken around in a school backpack.
Exposed port aside, the pen is fairly rugged and can withstand a drop from four feet. It's also bend-resistant, spill-resistant, and easily cleanable—a nice bonus for parents and teachers of younger kids who are almost guaranteed to drop it into something sticky, or handle it with sticky hands.
Mightier Than the Sword
The Logitech Pen looks impressive on paper, so the next step is to put it to (digital) use. The company designed the stylus to be used in a classroom environment, supporting the note-taking, scrolling, scribbling, and other gestures a child might make during the school day. To emulate the school experience at home, I paired the Logitech Pen with two recently reviewed convertible Chromebooks that support the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI): the Asus Chromebook Flip CM3 and the HP Chromebook x360 14a.
A quick sidebar about USI certification: It's the brainchild of an organization of OEM stylus and touch-controller manufacturers who hope to create and promote interoperable active digital pens by defining the method by which the stylus communicates with host devices. In short, the goal is to provide a standard user experience across Chrome devices, while keeping the stylus itself affordable.
As advertised, the Logitech Pen works seamlessly with Chrome OS—no syncing, pairing, or additional software download required. Flipping through Google's suite of apps was a breeze, but the Pen also worked fine with other USI-enabled apps and across multiple Chromebooks, making collaboration seamless and as easy as using pen and paper—as long as you're using a USI-certified Chromebook, that is. The device will not work on just any touch-screen surface.
The Logitech Pen offers 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, allowing for smoother and cleaner lines versus using your finger or other rubber-tipped styli. Overall, I encountered no issues while scrolling, writing, or scribbling.
One downside that should resolve itself over time is distribution. For starters, the Logitech Pen will be available only at Logitech educational resellers in the United States. While other regions and consumer channels will become available down the line, it's a shame you can't access the device immediately, as the Logitech Pen is a quality multipurpose stylus for Chromebooks outside the classroom as well as inside.
Logitech says it's also offering an optional pen loop that sticks securely to a Chromebook. It wasn't available for testing, and I wish it were included by default: No matter how sophisticated the equipment, the fact is that students will lose stuff, and misplacing a $65 stylus hurts a lot more than losing a generic ballpoint pen.
A Worthy Addition to the Classroom
Nitpicks aside, we're impressed with the Logitech Pen's performance. As an educational tool, the Pen is versatile and useful, so long as the classroom is populated with USI-certified Chromebooks. As a tool for general use, it's a great introduction for younger tablet users developing their motor skills. If you're an active Chromebook user looking for an input device tailor-made for your machine of choice, you won't go wrong either, though there are cheaper alternatives available such as Lenovo's $39.99 USI Pen, which is OS-independent.
The Logitech Pen is a simple, effective digital stylus, expertly crafted for students and educators to use with USI-certified Chromebooks.
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