The Pilot AIRSTEP was launched in 2025 as feature-rich, low-cost option to their already busy mechanical pencil lineup. On top of that, it got its own character to help push the product, with AIRSTEPPY taking a leading role on the barrel, and on the packaging. And, AIRSTEPPY even has its own online game you can play, named AIRSTEP RUN!
We spent several podcast episodes discussing this unique character, designed to soften our graphite filled hearts. But one question remained about the AIRSTEP: is it any good?
I’ve spent some time with it recently, and my answer is the ever-helpful “it depends.” That’s truly the case with the AIRSTEP, because it is not for me, but it might be for you.
AIRSTEPPY hanging out near the clip and eraser. The eraser cap does have a notch you need to line up with the clip to snap back in place.
On the Pro side of the ledger, I love the barrel shape and construction. It is a plastic barrel with a rubberized grip section, and is comfortable to hold and write with. The plastic clip is solid - and also doubles as a knock - and I like the capped eraser design, as opposed to an exposed eraser. It all fits in well with the build.
I also like the nose cone with a couple of short step downs. The aesthetic is nice, and, as a bonus, the lead pipe is fully retractable when using the clip click mechanism to return it to the inside of the cone when you are done writing.
Pipe, retracted.
That’s a solid list of likes, but one dislike overwrites all of that. Unfortunately for me, that dislike - the tip press to advance lead mechanism - goes against how I like to use mechanical pencils.
How it works is this: you use the graphite all the way from a fresh click down to the edge of the pipe, and then you “press” the pipe into the page to extend the lead around one click’s worth, and keep writing. It works, but I don’t want to do that.
I’m very particular with all of the feelings and techniques when writing, and choosing to use this type of lead advancement feature breaks my brain. Do I press down on a blank spot on the page and leave a mark behind? Do I use a scrap sheet of paper laying on my desk? Or, do I do what I ended up doing, which is press down on a mark I already made from the previous sentence?
Am I overthinking this? Absolutely, but it obsessed me. Just give me a traditional click, which, fortunately, the AIRSTEP has with the clip.
Another issue this type of mechanism brings to the page, along with other pencils that use an auto-advance type of mechanism, is that the feel when writing is softer. It’s not drastic, but when compared to the rigid feel of a fixed front end - like with the Pentel Sharp series - I notice it. It’s softer to write with by the tiniest of fractions, and combined with the soft graphite Pilot uses as their default, it’s too soft for me. I imagine others may not notice, or be bothered, by this.
Ketchup packet.
So where does this leave me, and my good buddy AIRSTEPPY? We can be friends, but nothing more. I love the storytelling Pilot has done here, which is why I wanted this pencil in the first place. The character is silly in all the right ways, and Pilot leaned into it with games and stickers and logos. The first limited editions, Ketchup and Mustard, are exactly what I want to see. At $6.50, the price is great, and certainly worth taking a shot if you can work with the mechanism.
Stickers!
For me, I’ll likely file this one away and go back to a more fixed style of pencil. That is unless Pilot releases “Pickle” next, and then all bets are off.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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Oh don’t do that little buddy!
