(Update - IT DOES!) Potential New Pen that might work with S-pen Samsung Products.

So.....HP Unveiled a monster a new device.......The Zbook X2.......32GB Ram, 14 inch 4K, USBC/Thunderbolt, 100% Adobe RGB, Kickstand, Keyboard Cover......Programmable Express Keys on both sides of the bezel, and......a Wacom EMR Pen. Only its not a toothpick or a s-pen.....but it looks very much like a full on HP Branded Cintiq Pen. It matches the current Spec of the S-pen.....4096 Pressure Levels & tilt......but it looks to even have a Cintiq styled Backend eraser.

Only one side switch....but the Cintiq Style Pen Construction and Eraser already make it look way interesting then the current crop of S-pens.

For my Book 10.6......I actually hate the included S-pen.....something about the way the toothpick sized nib works....but without my "Now discontinued and hard to find" Smart Pen for Galaxy.....I wouldn't enjoy using my Galaxy Book nearly as much. Even the Norris digital pencil....while I find preferable to the included Book S-pen.....still doesn't match the overall feeling and control I get out of the Smart Pen.

Provided Wacom hasn't dicked around with the Pen frequency or rigged it to have gimped pressure/cursor offset on anything but a Zbook..........and provided they even sell spare pens separately....For any Book 10.6/12/ or Notebook 9Pro user……if you’ve been looking for a more premium pen…..this could be it.

 

Ha, I thought I was the only one who didn't like the s-pen and the Staedtler Norris pens!

Yeah, I'm super looking forward to the Zbook X2, and even more so to their pen. I'm gunning to own at least two of those pens, so I hope HP's not pricing them MS-style.

 

I hate that new super thin nib. Using that pen I literally feel like I poking the screen with a toothpick. I also find it IAF pretty poor as well. The Staedtler Pencil I find has a slighty better IAF and I enjoy drawing and sketching with it....but I can't stand coloring or painting with it. That's where the smart pen comes in handy since it has the lowest IAF and retains the springy/roller ball feel. And the new super thin nibs are so thin I actually find them less accurate since the tip is smaller then the cursor. The Smart Pens nib is perfectly sized for the cursor and it's just so perfect. I really wish Samsung never made that change. They are honestly worse off for it.

 

1750 starting, seems were being led on here.

 

What do you mean? The pen is sold separately from the tablet. It's not out yet, but it'll probably run around $100, if HP follows MS pricing. I'm crossing my fingers for something closer to $60 or $70.

 

I just ordered the Dell Canvas pen, because I was reminded that this product exists and hey, look, Dell sells the pen separately!

Two side buttons, no eraser. No idea if it comes with extra nibs, but I'm kind of thinking not, since Dell also sells the pen stand with replacement nibs inside the stand. I don't need a pen stand and $25 is pricey for 6 nibs.

I'm crossing my fingers that this pen is closer to Samsung EMR than old school tablet pc EMR.

 

Ok, the Dell Canvas pen is here!

Good news and bad news, all which depend on your preferences.

First, it works.

It has the offset.

But that's because it uses the classic Wacom nibs, the ones that fit in nearly every Wacom pen regardless of pen tier. The first thing I did when I got the pen was to pull out its nib. Hm, I thought, looks familiar. So I dug out my Wacom felt nibs and put one in. Perfect fit.

So why won't I return it? It's got the new low IAF. It's a different pressure curve from the s-pen, but in a way that works better for me.

The recalibration took me several tries, because low IAF means that it's much more sensitive to taps and I kept inadvertently tapping. But now I've got it recalibrated. I did have to stop the Samsung pen service. I feel like the calibration wasn't sticking at all until I did that.

It works, but man am I reminded of the angled offset of older EMR, and I feel it's a bit amplified here. It's not terrible, but it's definitely something Samsung fixed in their EMR. It may be a firmware mismatch.

Sketching with a felt nib feels like coming home.

I installed the Dell Canvas pen drivers. It appears to have worked, but made no difference from what I could tell. I think they're just the Wacom feel drivers minus any actual pen settings. I guess if people want Wintab, they can just install these and no longer need to install ntrig Surface wintab.

 

Crap.....I kind of had a feeling that was going to be the case with the Canvas.... I really hope the Zbook pen ends up being more S-pen then older school EMR....between Dell, HP, & Acer.....these newer uses of EMR might not be as unified as we had hoped. That may be part of their deal....like the advanced S-pen tech is still exclusive to Samsung, and everyone else...who chooses the EMR route has to make do with the old tech or switch to AES.

However.....the Canvas's pressure was set at 2048 which was the old standard........the Zbook with its 4096 levels and single side switch might still end up being closer to S-pen standard.

 

I'm wondering whether it's a firmware issue, or if Wacom is telling/letting manufacturers tune the EMR themselves. I almost wish I didn't find this pen until later, when I could evaluate both this pen and the HP pen.

I don't regret it, though. I really missed using my felt nibs, more than I thought I did. Hard felt nibs on the MXH Photodon screen protector is still my number one jam. But I do kind of miss the s-pen's accuracy. That was really nice.

 

BINGO!

I was able to purchase a "spare" HP Zbook X2 Pen from HP's online Part Store. (Had to Chat with a representative, gave him the product number, and went from there.) Costed about $111 with shipping.....and admittedly it was somewhat of a gamble on my end.....but it payed off.

The Cintiq Styled HP Zbook X2 works PERFECTLY with Samsungs current S-pen Products. I tried it with my Galaxy Book 10.6 and Galaxy Note 5 Phone.....No offset....and the Backend eraser works perfectly as well.

They didn't give me a spare nib kit....and I don't want to risk taking the nib out just yet...but its tip does look the same as the Wacom Pro Pen 2/Bamboo Smart Nibs.

The Pen isn't as thick as the Cintiq Pens, but its got a nice length and its weight is well distributed....although it doesn't feel as heavy as the Smart Pen.

I would say the default IAF isn't as low as my Bamboo Smart Pen....that specific pen's IAF is like in the negatives for some reason...but the Zbook Pen is quite easily equivalent the the IAF on the Stock S-Pen with the grey nib.