Moshi Stanza Duo Stylus Pen Review: a little more than meets the Eye

It’s usually quite difficult to choose exactly what it is you want from a stylus; do you just want it so that you do some simple drawing or do you need it to be a little more precise? Once you’ve decided that, you usually have to figure out how to transport the stylus as from my brief experience, I’ve found that many of them do not come with a clip or string to keep your stylus with your device. And on top of that, styluses are inherently simple accessories: styluses are usually just a stylus. Moshi‘s taken in all of these considerations and come up with the Stanza Duo Stylus Pen, a stylus with a little bit more to offer than the standard stylus.

The concept of the Stanza Duo isn’t rocket science: first and foremost, it’s a stylus with a replaceable capacitive tip. Rather than wasting the rest of the internal space of the Duo, moshi has opted to put a retractable pen in the other end of the stylus. As you can see, it’s not terribly complicated, but the Duo achieves its multi-functionality with typical moshi understated flair, adopting a brushed aluminium barrel with a silver clip.

Probably the coolest feature of the Duo is that the clip actually slides into the body when you twist the barrel to get the pen tip out. This way the clip doesn’t impede your ability to write yet also acts as a way for you to ensure that the pen is retracted when you’re done with the pen and storing the Duo in your pocket or otherwise.

As an added convenience, one additional capacitive rubber tip is included in the package to compliment the one that is already installed on the Duo. As it turns out, this appears to be necessary as I managed to tear one of the tips trying to test replacing the tip. I’m unsure if this is common for stylus tips, but it’s possible the nob that keeps the tip on might be just a tiny bit too wide causing the tip to fit too snugly, requiring the amount of force that tore the tip. Regardless of what caused it, a little care should be employed when replacing the capacitive tip particularly as it’s quite difficult to get enough leverage to pull the tip off.

The ink cartridge for the pen is also replaceable, though an extra cartridge is not included in the box. I did also have trouble getting the cartridge out from the pen, as I didn’t want to pull at anything too hard lest I break something else. My experience with the Duo has definitely been a little fiddly, but once it is set up properly, there are no issues to speak of.

The Duo is easy to hold and use, the brushed aluminium making for a really nice feel. Again, once in use, there’s nothing complicated about the Duo; it performs as a stylus and pen as you’d expect, though as expected with a rubber tip, it’s not quite as precise as an artist’s stylus.

Rating: 3.5/5

The moshi Stanza Duo marries a simple stylus with a pen and a handy clip to make itself into a convenient, multi-function accessory, one which should find itself quite busy in the current mobile-centric world. I definitely found it a little fiddly, but once you’ve got everything in the right place, the Stanza Duo does exactly what you need it to. The asking price for the Stanza Duo is $40 on moshi’s own store, which is probably a little dear, even considering that it has multiple functions. It’s certainly made from top-grade materials, but it may be hard to reconcile the purchase if you’re thinking about just using a stylus. If however you want a stylus that looks stylish in a business, or work, setting and you want a 2-in-1 solution, then the moshi Stanza Duo has you sorted.

Check out the moshi Stanza Duo Stylus Pen on its product page here, or for more information about moshi’s other products, you can visit their website here.

 Gallery of photos