With the Note family Samsung carved out an entirely new market niche in the great nothingness formed after the resistive touchscreens with stylus were replaced by capacitive ones where you used your finger for navigation. It was a bold move that required two risks - introduce a giant screen phone in an era when the average smartphone display must have been about 4" or even less, and equip it with a stylus decent enough not to stay in the silo most of the time.
The first Note proved that there was indeed a market for such a combo, but the subsequent phones and tablets in the range really confirmed the latent demand, as they came with even larger screens in a more compact form, and a greatly improved stylus that can be put to a good use in more situations.
With the Galaxy Note 7, however, Samsung took the S Pen stylus to new heights, and greatly simplified the adjacent software, too. It's not only that the S Pen stylus now sits in a waterproof silo, or that it is color-coordinated with your particular choice of Note 7 hue, down to the metal rim paint. It's that the stylus now recognizes 4096 pressure points, so when you write, the line would be pale or darker, depending on how hard you press. Plus, the S Pen tip is now smaller, as large as on a regular ballpoint pen - it feels more ergonomic to write with, and lets you finish the line on your grocery shopping list without falling off the edge display like before.
With that thought in mind, we are rounding up some of the best Android apps and games that take advantage of the S Pen stylus in the Note 7, including the excellent stock one, in case you've grabbed a Note 7 handset, and are heading for the stylus kill.
Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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