I’m a big advocate of at least considering 3rd party alternatives to Apple’s iPad accessories. Apple will probably always have the home court advantage with integrations they don’t make available to other manufacturers, but that doesn’t mean that 3rd party accessories are a waste of time. Far from it!

In the case of the Apple Pencil, companies like ESR have been making decent alternatives for years. I’ve used a few at times over the past couple of years, and for my uses (note-taking and general navigation), they work just as well as Apple’s options.

ESR recently announced what is apparently called the Geo Digital Pencil at CES 2025. I say “apparently” because I can’t seem to find an actual product page on their website, so I have to go off of what others have reported. This stylus is actually pretty similar to other models ESR has released in the past, like the Digital Pencil Pro for iPad. The big selling feature of this model is the addition of Find My support, just like the Apple Pencil Pro. This means if you lose your stylus, which isn’t exactly hard to do, you stand a much better chance of being able to find it.

The Geo Digital Pencil supports the features that third-party styluses are able to support, like palm rejection and tilt. Unfortunately, they are unable to support other Apple Pencil features like pressure sensitivity, Apple Pencil Hover, haptics. I’ve also found that 3rd-party styluses can take a second or two to wake up and be ready for use once you pick it up. This isn’t too dissimilar to how the Apple Pencil (USB-C) works, but the Apple Pencil Pro is ready the instant it’s removed from the iPad. So that’s something to keep in mind. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, but it can be annoying to some.

The stylus can be charged via the magnetic charging coils on the landscape edge of most iPads, or via a standard USB-C cable if you have the 10th generation iPad (or just prefer wired charging).

I kind of like that this stylus has a physical top button. It even invokes shortcuts, which is cool, even if the shortcuts they invoke are kind of weird. Clicking the button once brings you back to the home screen, and double-clicking the button brings you to the multitasking view.

As previously mentioned, the Geo Digital Pencil integrates with Find My to help you find your stylus if you misplace it. Not only will it show up in the Find My app, but it also supports playing a sound.

What may be its biggest selling point is the price. At launch, this stylus is $30, vs. the $79 Apple Pencil (USB-C) and the $129 Apple Pencil Pro. You don’t even get Find My Support with Apple’s USB-C Pencil. If your use of the Apple Pencil leans more towards note-taking, and less towards art, where pressure sensitivity may be of more value, then this Pencil, or one of ESR’s other Apple Pencil alternatives, may be worth considering. It doesn’t have all of the features of an Apple Pencil, but it may get you close to saving a few bucks while still providing a perfectly acceptable stylus experience on iPad.