By now, Samsung’s Galaxy Note line has established itself as the paper & pen alternative, seeing that the unique S-Pen stylus has clearly defined itself as a sensitive piece of equipment capable of registering the most subtle of pressure. Well, if you’re rocking some other device, whether it’s iOS or another Android (as long as they have a microphone), there’s some luck if you want a similar solution. Enter HEX3’s versatile pressure sensitive stylus in the Jaja, which offers some of the cool features and functions associated with the S-Pen. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t interact with devices via Bluetooth, but rather, it relies on high frequency sound that’s picked up by a device’s microphone.
Design:
So what’s there to say about the design of the Jaja? It looks like a fancy schmancy pen in fact, but of course, the orange accents littered around give off a somewhat toyish look. Nevertheless, the gunmetal metallic body exudes a nice premium finish – while the rubbery grip area is a tasteful complement. Holding it in the hand, though, it’s noticeably back heavy, since the battery compartment is located there. However, it evens out as we grasp the Jaja along its rubbery middle body, which then balances things out as we begin to jot down something with it.
At the tip of the Jaja, we’re faced with something a bit unfamiliar, as most styli have a nub to act as their pointer. With this, however, it’s sporting a clear disc that’s attached to ball hinged socket, which packs a robotic sensor pin. Surely it’s something that’ll come off as being foreign to most individuals, but we’re able to quickly adjust to its feel and movement. One of the problems of this, is the fact that it’s more prone to being lost – and with that, it’s not going to be a quick replacement. Granted, the Jaja comes included with a spare precision tip in the packaging.
Along the rubbery grip barrel area, there are two small buttons that offer different functions based on what particular app you’re using (such as redo/undo), but long pressing the one that’s closest to the center of the Jaja turns it on. Finally, the back portion of the Jaja is where you can rest the stylus cover – while twisting off the end of the barrel grants us access to its battery compartment, which requires only a single AAA battery to function.
Performance:
As we said earlier, the Jaja is compatible to work with any iOS or Android device. Rather than being connected via Bluetooth, it instead interacts with devices through high frequency sound, which is picked up by the tablet’s microphone. Frankly speaking, the Jaja’s true worth and potential is seen with only the select listing of compatible apps – it currently consists of Procreate, Photoshop Touch, SketchBook Pro, PDFpen, SketchClub, ArtStudio, Noteshelf, Zen Brush, Paper Desk, ibiPaint, and Infinite Painter. Outside of those specific apps, the Jaja acts like any other ordinary stylus on the market, so it can be used to select or activate something.
Testing it out with Photoshop Touch on an iPad mini, the Jaja works exactly as it’s intended. Initially, there’s some setup required in getting it to work properly (just selecting the Jaja in the stylus option in the settings menu), but once that’s all out of the way, it’s able to register all the various levels of pressure applied to it. In fact, brush strokes come out very faint if it’s lightly applied, with firmer presses producing more distinctive strokes. Doodling along, there’s a little bit of rattling noises that come out of the Jaja every now and then, which could be merely due to its interaction with its high frequency audio.
Attempting to confuse it, we decided to try to play some music on the iPad, but as soon as we switch back to the Photoshop Touch app, the music is instantly silenced – probably due to the app knowing it’ll conflict with the Jaja’s operation. However, we ended up playing music separately on an iPhone, but to no avail, it didn’t do anything to hinder the Jaja’s performance. Pushing things further, we decided to put the iPhone’s speaker directly next to the iPad mini’s microphone, and low and behold, the pitcher tones cause the Jaja to misinterpret our presses. Despite that, the conflict only occurs if you place something directly in front of the microphone – so background noise and music from other sources won’t have an adverse effect.
Battery:
In our time using the Jaja, we didn’t have to once replace the triple-A battery included with it. On paper, it’s rated to provide anywhere between 80 to 90 hours of usage. Considering that it’s not relying on more power hungry connections, battery life isn’t much of a concern here.
Conclusion:
Knowing that the Jaja is out there selling for $89.99 (battery included), some might rush at the opportunity of picking one up to gain those S-Pen style functions on their tablet. Then again, you’ll still need to fork over some moolah to pick up any one of the compatible apps that are specified to work with the Jaja – if not, it’s nothing more than an oversized, fancy schmancy looking stylus at heart. Frankly, when it comes to it, the ability of the Jaja to register various degrees of pressure is wonderful for those who are well versed in maneuvering around the compatible apps. In the end, the Jaja is undoubtedly targeting a specific demographic, as general consumers wouldn’t benefit much from it – unless they intend on downloading and using the compatible apps on a daily basis.
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