【Violet (2025)】

I never thought I'd say this in a million years,Violet (2025) but Samsung made a stylus I actually want.

Alongside announcements for its new Galaxy Tab S3 and Galaxy Book tablets that come with the most advanced S Pen Samsung's ever made, the company surprised everyone with a special edition Staedtler-branded S Pen called the Noris Digital" that resembles the iconic black and yellow pencil.

Pencil-like design aside, the Noris Digital works almost exactly like the S Pen that comes included with the new tablets. Hover the 0.7mm tip near the screen and the familiar Samsung Air Command bubble will pop up with a variety of features like Smart Select, Translate and Magnify.

I tried the Noris Digital on both the Tab S3 and the Galaxy Book for a hot second and it's remarkable how pencil-like it is. It's still got the regular S Pen's 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and the slimmer design is more balanced in your hand.

Though I didn't have an Apple Pencil on hand to compare it with, I can honestly tell you it's one of the best tablet styluses I've ever used. Plus, it just looks so damn cool.

There's just one thing that disappoints about the Noris Digital: It's missing the regular S Pen's button. Without it, there's no way to use the useful "Screen-off memo" feature on the Galaxy Tab S3 that lets you write on the screen without needing to turn the entire tablet on.

Still, Samsung deserves props for the sweet collaboration. Call me whatever you want for geeking out over a stylus that looks like a Staedtler pencil because I don't care -- it's awesome.

Neither Samsung nor Staedtler are talking pricing or release yet, but fingers crossed it won't cost $99 like the Apple Pencil.