• Welcome to the all-new Windows Central Forums! - We're still moving some things around, so you may see a few quirks here and there, but we're working on getting things fully completed as soon as possible. For now, take a look around, and if you run into any major issues, please let us know in this thread!

Chime in: How well does Surface Pen work on privacy screens or screen protectors?

WindowsCentral.com

Staff member
Dec 17, 2013
68,491
0
0
surface-pen-2018-main.jpg

Would a Surface Pen work on a device that has a screen protector?
An interesting question popped up in our forums the other day, asking whether or not the Surface Pen would work on a device that has a screen protector on. It's a good question because it's not immediately obvious if it would.
The answer, however, is a positive one. The Surface Pen should work just fine on a device with a screen protector, because the magic that makes the pen work on the screen is under the screen, so it's designed to work through material such as glass and screen protectors.

Full story from the WindowsCentral blog...
 

Andrew G1

New member
Feb 11, 2017
22
0
0
Back in the day with my old Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) I had a screen protector and it ruined the pen experience. The pen without the screen protector was silky and responsive (think: a lower-quality version of more recent S-Pen iterations) but it was terrible with the screen protector. Frankly I didn't need a screen protector (had a nice faux leather case with a strap that made taking notes easy) so I just got rid of it.

For this reason, for my Surface 3 and now my Surface Pro (2017) (both with Type Covers) I just didn't bother with a screen protector. The screens never did scratch and the pen experience was better for it.

I note that some digital pens have very hard tips, meaning if you add some traction in the way of a screen protector, that might actually improve the pen experience. So I can see what the lead poster was saying about her Apple Pencil and older Surface Pens. But today's Surface Pen has interchangeable nibs, and the default one is pretty soft and feels very natural on the glass of the screen. I wouldn't want to sacrifice that personally, especially given that the screen is pretty well protected with the keyboard cover as it is.