 The iPad doesn't need a stylus. Apple built its tablets so that you don't need anything more than your finger to control it. That's great if you're browsing the web, checking Facebook, or ordering seamless, but if you want to draw or write on your iPad, you're going to want a stylus. We're used to writing, drawing, and painting with something in our hand, and a great stylus gets close to replicating that. It should also make creating art a lot more fun. A good stylus does three things. It's easy to use, it works with a lot of apps, and it draws exactly what you want it to. That's why the best stylus you can get is the Sensu Artist Brush and Stylus. The Sensu doesn't use Bluetooth or require a battery, so it can work in any app, and delivers the most natural and consistent results of any stylus I tested. What I love about the Sensu stylus is its rubber tip. It has a really smooth glide over the iPad's screen, but it also has just the tiniest grab to it that makes it feel like you're actually writing on something. This is going to sound really simple, but the other great thing about the Sensu stylus is that it actually works pretty much every time you use it. As long as you apply the slightest amount of pressure while writing or drawing, the Sensu stylus is going to make a line, which is more than can be said for a lot of other styluses. Even better, the big rubber tip means you can use it from a lot of different angles, and even use the side of the stylus for shading. That's a big reason why the Sensu gets an edge over close competitors like Adonit's Jot Pro and Jot Mini. They're both really natural to hold and use, but you're stuck writing straight down, coming from an angle and you're out of luck. The Jot may be a touch better for handwriting, but the iPad just isn't cut out for that kind of precision. The other really cool thing about the Sensu stylus is that when you pop off the back, there's a brush underneath that you can use to simulate painting. It's really helpful for when you need to fill in large areas, and it's surprisingly great for doing other things than painting. Navigating menus with a brush is strangely fun. The brush doesn't have the same precision as the rubber tip, but it's a great option to be able to switch over to. A basic stylus will get the job done just fine for most people, but if you need some more powerful features, like palm rejection or pressure sensitivity, you can find that with a Bluetooth stylus. Before you get too excited, you should know that Bluetooth styluses are going to be bumping into the iPad's limitations even more than regular styluses. It just isn't built to work with them. You'll have to deal with some small frustrations every now and then, but you can absolutely get better results. If that's something you need, then you should get Adonit's Jot Touch. The Jot Touch is a Bluetooth stylus that offers customizable buttons, palm rejection, and supposedly over 2,000 levels of pressure sensitivity. Being able to make your lines thicker or thinner depending on how much pressure you're applying is a huge time saver. No more digging around menus every time you need to change a setting. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you have the rhythm down, it will be a lot more powerful than a regular stylus. The other big bonus to the Jot Touch is its two customizable buttons. You won't be able to take advantage of these in every app, but in a few apps you'll be able to set them up to do a bunch of different commands, like undoing a stroke, switching over to the eraser, or pulling up a menu. The Jot Touch is also supported by a lot of the best writing and drawing apps out there, like Procreate and Adobe Draw Online. When an app doesn't support it, that's fine too. As long as the Jot Touch is connected to the iPad, you can draw with it. It just works like any other basic stylus. The one thing you will want to watch out for is that the Jot Touch doesn't work perfectly with the iPad Air 2. Every once in a while, it just stops drawing mid-stroke. It's not a complete deal breaker if you have some patience, but it is annoying. It's an issue that you'll run into with other high-end styluses right now too. The Jot Touch also does palm rejection, but like the other Bluetooth styluses I tested, it's really hit and miss. Good palm rejection would be a huge deal. We're used to writing with our hands on a sheet of paper after all. But the iPad's touchscreen just does not want to let that happen. That's why if you do choose a Bluetooth stylus, you should definitely choose one with pressure sensitivity. There are some good Bluetooth options that just do palm rejection like Adonitone Jot Script and 53's Pencil, but for a little more money you can get the Jot Touch and do a lot more. Although I do wish every stylus would copy Pencil's eraser feature. With so many stylus options for the iPad, it's the small differences that make or break them. At the end of the day, you really just want something consistent. That's why Sensu's Artist Brush and Stylus is the best stylus you can buy.