I generally don't bother with using a stylus on a device that doesn't support an active stylus. Only a select few phones support it (most notably, the Samsung Galaxy Note series, which is about the only phone sold here that includes one) but the vast majority of devices you get nowadays don't have a slot for one, meaning it's forever a pain to keep track of where you stored the damn thing. Secondly, the stylus will be based on capacitive touch so they simply lack the same precision and usability that you find in an active digitiser.
As for the types of 'capacitive' (non-powered) styli that you can buy today, the most common types you run across are the fat ones with a rubberised dome tip. In terms of usability, it scores a 2/5 (because of the fat tip, obscuring the view of the display), with handwriting 2/5 and overall scoring pretty badly (I'd give these a 2 stars out of 5). They are very cheap though and you can buy them for about a buck each on eBay. But you'd get what you pay for — these are practically junk. May as well be using your finger.
Then there's the Adonit Jot Pro, RRP around $30 AUD and RRP of $50 if you want the version with a dampening tip (think shock absorbers, placed on the tip of the pen).
This pen was designed for tablets and it has a fine metallic ball 'tip' on the end and a clear circular disk that sits on it, which allows you to clearly see where the tip is pointing while the disc glides along the surface of your display. It also has a cap that protects the tip and the pen is slightly magnetic so that you can attach it to the side of your tablet, for instance.
In terms of usability and ergonomics I'd give this a 4/5 as it does actually feel like a ballpoint pen and a handwriting score of 3 out of 5. Again, the reason this scores low is because it's a capacitive touch pen and still doesn't have the same pixel-perfect precision of an active stylus. The less precision you have, the bigger your handwriting will have to be (small text is very difficult to write with even using the Adonit Jot pro.)
LG G2 user here.
I generally don't bother with using a stylus on a device that doesn't support an active stylus. Only a select few phones support it (most notably, the Samsung Galaxy Note series, which is about the only phone sold here that includes one) but the vast majority of devices you get nowadays don't have a slot for one, meaning it's forever a pain to keep track of where you stored the damn thing. Secondly, the stylus will be based on capacitive touch so they simply lack the same precision and usability that you find in an active digitiser.
As for the types of 'capacitive' (non-powered) styli that you can buy today, the most common types you run across are the fat ones with a rubberised dome tip. In terms of usability, it scores a 2/5 (because of the fat tip, obscuring the view of the display), with handwriting 2/5 and overall scoring pretty badly (I'd give these a 2 stars out of 5). They are very cheap though and you can buy them for about a buck each on eBay. But you'd get what you pay for — these are practically junk. May as well be using your finger.
Then there's the Adonit Jot Pro, RRP around $30 AUD and RRP of $50 if you want the version with a dampening tip (think shock absorbers, placed on the tip of the pen).
This pen was designed for tablets and it has a fine metallic ball 'tip' on the end and a clear circular disk that sits on it, which allows you to clearly see where the tip is pointing while the disc glides along the surface of your display. It also has a cap that protects the tip and the pen is slightly magnetic so that you can attach it to the side of your tablet, for instance.
In terms of usability and ergonomics I'd give this a 4/5 as it does actually feel like a ballpoint pen and a handwriting score of 3 out of 5. Again, the reason this scores low is because it's a capacitive touch pen and still doesn't have the same pixel-perfect precision of an active stylus. The less precision you have, the bigger your handwriting will have to be (small text is very difficult to write with even using the Adonit Jot pro.)