We have all lost a stylus. We have all found ourselves spinning around in vain to find a pen to write down a phone number. Anyone who owns a Sprint Mogul or Verizon VX6800 has wished at one time or another that the stylus was just a little bit longer. Well, Seidio has risen to the occasion yet again to meet all of these needs in one nicely designed 3-in-1 Retractable Stylus Pens. ($19.95)
DESIGN
I know from various responses spread out among different forums that Seidio spent a lot of time and effort in designing this stylus. They even sent it back to have the design improved. This caused delays in the original projected release date, but is a good example of Seidio's dedication to providing some of the most well thought out products for cell phone accessories on the market today.
When collapsed, it looks just like the standard stylus that comes with the PPC 6800. But then, when you extend it out, it is immediately apparent that it is longer than the OEM stylus. In fact, it is 3/4 of an inch longer. This is a huge improvement. I personally have really small hands and I find the OEM stylus that came with my phone just too short to use comfortably. The length of Seidio's Retractable Stylus is just the right length. Those with very large hands may still wish for a little more length, but there is still no doubt that they would find Seidio's stylus a lot easier to use than the original.
The problem that a lot of third party made styli have, is that they do not fit snugly enough and have a tendency to fall out. But this is not the case here. It fits snug and remains in place, even if I tap the phone hard in an attempt to bump the stylus out, it never budges.
The pen is actually under the top part of the stylus (opposite of the pointer when used as a stylus). You just snap off the top end there is the pen. The pen writes well and is equivalent to a fine line black ball point pen. The only challenge is that you have to keep track of the top that you popped off because you cannot put it on the other end and have it stay there while you write with the pen.
The stylus pointer end works just fine with resetting the phone.
As I mentioned above, the only improvement I would want to see is when I snap off the top end of the stylus to use the pen, I would love to be able to snap it on the pointer of the stylus to hold it. I haven't lost a top yet, but I could see how that could easily happen when using the pen. For this one reason only I am giving the Design 4 out of 5 stars
Design:
PHYSICAL BUILD
The physical build of the stylus is solid. It is easy to extend the stylus, but the joints are snug enough to hold at any length without fear of it collapsing in on itself. When placed in the phone, the end is molded to the contours of the phone perfectly.
There are two parts to the pen function... the cap and the pen itself. The cap is necessarily tight to snap off and back on again, but easy to do. The actual pen works great. I have never had to scribble to get the ink flowing in any one of the 3 styli I have. A concern that some pen styli have had in the past from various manufacturers, is having the pen leak. After 3 months of use in hot and humid temperatures in Hawaii to negative 13 degrees in Jackson, WY, I have not experienced any leaks from the pen either, nor have I seen any complaints of leaks on the forums.
Physical Build:
REAL WORLD USE
I made sure that I had several months of exclusive use of this stylus before I wrote this review to try to find any problems that would develop, like I have experienced with other retractable or pen styli in the past. But after 3 months of use, the joints are still snug without collapsing in on itself. The pen still works and has never leaked in a variety of extreme conditions. And most importantly, I am still using the same stylus that I started with 3 months ago and have not lost it due to it falling out of the phone.
I am very pleased with the extra time that Seidio took in fine tuning the design of this excellent product. If you want a replace or upgrade your stylus, this 3-in-1 Retractable Stylus Pens is the best solution for the money.
Real World Use:
| RatingsDesign: 4Physical Build: 5Daily Real World Use: 5Overall: | ProsSolid build3/4 of an inch longer than the OEM stylusFits snugly in the phoneMolded to the contour of the phone when in placeIncludes a ball point penConsWhen using the pen, unable to put the cap on the other end to hold it. |
