USI 2.0 stylus standard used on Chromebooks has some problems with older pens

Ben Schoon | Jun 15 2022 - 6:09 pm PT

A good stylus can make or break the experience of using a tablet for some, but often pens are limited to just a single type of device. That problem is what the Universal Stylus Initiative aims to solve, but with USI 2.0, things aren’t quite so “universal,” as it breaks support for older pens.

USI first made its debut around 2019 and 2020, with the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet being one of the first devices to use the standard. It’s since showed up on more Chromebooks and Chrome OS tablets, including ones from HP and others. We went hands-on with the first take on USI, and were overall pretty pleased with it. While not quite as good as something like the Apple Pencil, the open standard is certainly an enticing idea.

Recently, USI 2.0 launched with some relatively big improvements to the standard. Styluses can now be wirelessly charged, there are better tilt and shading features, and there’s an expanded color palette too. We broke down what’s new back in February.

But unfortunately, that comes with a bit of a compatibility hiccup. As ChromeUnboxed noticed, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 launches with USI 2.0 support, but some existing USI styluses aren’t working with the device.

In the case of this device in particular, the issue comes down to how the display is made. To keep costs down, the Chromebook Duet 3 has an in-cell design that combines elements of the display and the digitizer for stylus input, but that’s an idea that’s only supported under USI 2.0, meaning styluses designed for USI 1.0 might not work properly with it.

This doesn’t necessarily affect every device using USI 2.0 or every stylus designed for the older standard, but it’s a shame to see for a standard that lives on its reputation of being universal.

In a statement, USI chairman Peter Mueller addressed the issue, saying that it wasn’t avoidable. He says:

Because the touch and display driver are more tightly integrated for in-cell, the touch sensing has to occur within certain timing windows in between the display being driven. It is this timing constraint that caused us to have to modify our USI spec for some in-cell panels. We spent many months looking at alternatives to ensure backwards compatibility, but it was not doable.
We have requested clear documentation and marking, and also shipping with a 2.0 stylus (ideally) in order to minimize the confusion and user frustration