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So we received an e-mail for Cory T. last week and I must confess I was a little skeptical when he told me he had an old Galaxy S-pen phone and he was using it on his Samsung Chromebook Plus V2.
Before I interrupt, any S pen should technically work on a Chromebook equipped with a screen compatible with EMRs. That's not what left me scratching my head.
If you have an old S pen with a button (the Chromebook version does not have a button), you can use it and enjoy the same features as the Pixelbook pen.
Cory T.
So, for the sake of R & D, I ordered an S pen from Amazon. This one was designed for the Galaxy S8, but judging by any S-pen pen will do the trick.
* Note: I said Galaxy S5, I meant Note 5.
Currently, the Pixelbook pen is the only stylus with "official" assistant support and, technically, this wizard is not yet available on devices other than Google. We will cover that in a minute.
The Pixelbook pen and pen for HP Chromebook x2 are the only two active pens available in the Chrome OS ecosystem at the moment. Other devices equipped with a stylus use the more passive EMR tools that transmit its energy to the stylus using a magnetic field that the stylet then interprets with the help of built-in sensors.
The Samsung S-pen is equipped with a button that interacts with the scanner in the display of the device and triggers a specific function. On Chromebooks with EMR-enabled displays, users must click the pen tool menu on the shelf to access the wizard and then highlight the objects on the screen to allow the wizard to interpret.
The S Pen button seems to act as a shortcut for this function. While this is not a revolutionary feature, it would allow users who regularly use their stylus and the Google Assistant to save a lot of time.
Warnings
There are some pitfalls to this trick. The S8 S pen that I bought is slightly smaller than the original stylus of the Chromebook Pro / Plus, so I do not recommend storing it inside the device. It tends to get stuck and you'll have to hit the Chromebook to get it out. That said, other models of S-pen pens or even third-party styluses may be more suitable. This is just the one I bought for the tests.
Secondly, you need to activate your Chromebook's wizard to use this feature immediately. The usual warnings apply here because you have to activate an experimental flag. Do it at your own risk. Fortunately, the flag is already in the Stable channel, so you will not have much to return if you need it.
Just go to chrome: // flags / # enable-native-google-wizard on your Chromebook, switch it to enabled and restart your browser. You should now be greeted by a prompt to activate Ok, Google.
Third, and most importantly, you MUST have a device that supports an EMR stylus. That does not go without saying, it means a Samsung Chromebook Pro / Plus tablet, Acer Spin 11 or 13, Acer Tab 10, Dell Inspiron 14, Lenovo 500, CTL Tx1 or Chrome. If your Chromebook does not support the DME, it will not work. So please do not drop $$$ on a stylus if it does not. It will not work.
I've had the S8 pen for around $ 16, but you can find it for as little as $ 9 if you use the Note 5 pen. Theoretically, any EMR stylus with a button could remove this. If you have one, try it and leave a comment below if it works.
Buy S pens on Amazon
Special thanks to Cory T. for sending us this tip!
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