^ This. Also, in my experience, the Metapen A8 iPad Stylus features superior nib durability and lower latency. Its much more reliable than generic clones for heavy lecture notes while staying under your budget.

Whoa, getting an iPad Air for $150 is such a steal! Honestly, that is an amazing find. I totally get why you dont want to drop $70 on a Crayon when the tablet itself was so cheap. For taking psych notes, you are definitely right that you dont need pressure sensitivity. The tech in these budget pens has actually leveled up a ton lately. Most of these active styluses dont even use Bluetooth for the actual writing—the screen just detects the tip frequency, so that spotty connection thing is mostly a myth with newer models. It is basically the same tech as the Apple Pencil minus the pressure sensors. I highly recommend checking out the Metapen A8 iPad Stylus with Fast Charging. It is fantastic for heavy note-taking sessions because it charges so fast, like you get a couple hours of use from just a one-minute charge. The palm rejection is basically perfect, which is huge when you are writing for hours in class. If you want something that feels a bit more premium, the Kingone Upgraded iPad Stylus Pen is another amazing option. It has a really solid weight to it and usually costs way less than $30. Both use USB-C charging, so they fit perfectly into a modern workflow. Ngl, you really dont need to spend more than $25 to get a top-tier writing experience these days! You are gonna love how smooth these feel for handwriting.

I would suggest the ESR Digital Pencil Magnetic Attachment as a middle ground, but be careful and make sure it fits your specific Air model tbh.