Pogo Connect Is A Pressure Sensitive Pen For Your iOS Artwork [Review]

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Pogo Connect: great for iPad art or Harry Potter LARPing
Pogo Connect: great for iPad art or Harry Potter LARPing

With features like Bluetooth 4 connectivity, hundreds of levels of pressure sensitivity, and a built-in undo button, the Pogo Connect Pen (currently about $79 $62 on Amazon) sounds like an amazing drawing and painting tool for your iPad or iPhone.

Question is, how’s it perform in real life? I took it for a test drive to find out.

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The Good

Similar, but not as sensitive as products from Wacom and the like, Pogo Connect’s pressure sensitive tip makes adding more or less “ink and paint” to your digital drawings easy. Pressing harder makes for thicker lines or more paint spread, and less pressure, thinner lines and paint.

Pogo connect 3
Hey, good-looking!

Make a mistake? An undo button is always right at your fingertip—well, as long as the app you’re using supports Connect (most of the major ones do).

Pogo Connect has also been designed to help apps ignore palm input on your iPad’s screen. This means you can rest your entire paw on the screen while drawing. I found it works well in some apps, but didn’t seem super effective in others. When it works though, it’s a good feature.

 

For those who often lose small things, with the Pogo Connect app, you can walk around your house playing “hot or cold” as you search for your long lost pen. As you get closer to the Connect, the app lets you know. Handy! I might keep the Connect attached to my car keys.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the Pogo Connect suffers from lowpressureitus.

Unfortunately, like other iPad pens and styli I’ve tried, the Pogo Connect suffers from lowpressureitus. I made that word up just now, but it means the pen doesn’t work well when low amounts of pressure are exerted upon it. I found multiple drawing apps would register zero input unless I pressed the Connect convincingly upon my iPad’s retina screen. Flaccid caresses often went unnoticed.

Pogo connect 4
You can only use the Pogo with apps that support it.

Moreover, the Connect, again, like other iPad pens that use a bulbous rubber tip, feels too blunt to use precisely. Maybe its bulky point is one some can get used it, but for fine lines and sketching, I often felt like I was drawing with a blunt crayon.

Connect’s undo button also began drawing my ire. That’s because, with it residing so close to active fingers, it would very often get pressed accidentally, interrupting the creation of my current masterpiece by suddenly undoing a small batch of my most recent work. Redoing those undos were often possible, but the accidental button presses were a far too frequent an occurrence.

The Verdict

Relative to other iPad styli and pens out there, the Pogo Connect is a great tool for creating digital art on your iPad. But I do wish using it felt more precise, and I’d be really thrilled if light touches with its business end registered on the retina displays in my life.

[rating=good]

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