Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Uni-ball One F Gel Pen 0.5 mm Earth Texture Color Series Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, Root Rot, is now available for pre-order!)

Uni-ball has some of the best gel ink around, especially if you like your colors bold. The pigmented gel in the Uni-ball One is formulated to sit on top of the paper, so there's no bleeding or feathering, and you get the full effect of the color. It also has a fast dry time and doesn't smudge, making it great for lefties or swift writers. That also makes it ideal for quick notes, like planner appointments, class notes, or meeting notes. Or anything? I mean, really, this is just good ink.

So if you have an excellent ink and you want to take things up a level, what do you do? You put that great ink in a cool new pen body. The Earth Texture Color Series from Uni does this very well. These speckle-patterned special editions come in six colors: grey, white, brown, pink, green, and blue. This is the Grassland Green version, which is a lovely pale shade of green with grey and tan speckles on it. It's just a color effect--the word "texture" in the name is somewhat misleading, as the finish on these pens is a smooth matte. The speckle effect is worked through the plastic, so it shows some dimension. It's a lovely finish that looks almost like natural stone.

The plastic body feels very good in the hand, and it's a sturdy, well-made pen. It is deliberately weighted toward the tip, and the pen body is wider than a standard size, which makes it extra comfortable for long writing sessions. It does not, however, have a grip section, or any grippy texture at all, so some slipping can happen.

The pen has Uni's levered clip, which opens very wide, like a baby crocodile, to hold onto book covers or even a whole stack of paper. The click mechanism is very sturdy and satisfying. One of my favorite things about the Uni clicks is that the spring is attached inside the pen, so when you unscrew the body to change the cartridge, the wee spring does not go shooting into the air, or fall out and get lost. And this is definitely a pen worth refilling.

So, a great ink in a nice, refillable, attractive and ergonomic pen body. Awesome. I don't know what you'd expect to pay for such a thing, but I bet it's more than $4.95. I would have guessed at least twice that, if not three times. And if you pick a Uni-Ball One F from the standard series instead of the Earth series, it's only $4.50. I think that's a stellar deal.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on May 2, 2024 by Sarah Read and filed under Uni-Ball, Gel, Pen Reviews.

Uni Pin 0.38mm Fineliner Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Fineliners have been a staple in my stationery inventory ever since I stumbled across the Staedtler Triplus line when I was in college and hanging out with cool art majors. It didn't take long to discover that there were many better alternatives to the Staedtler staple, which led to lots of buying sprees and experimenting with different brands and sizes.

After realizing how quickly the tips degrade when using these pens for regular writing, I stopped spending as much time with them. But, they're still a solid pen that I love using from time to time when the urge hits. I'm not an artist, but I still get a lot of enjoyment out of fineliners.

The Uni Pin is a fineliner that I discovered through JetPen's fineliner sampler pack. I was recently reminded of the Pin in episode 609 of the Pen Addict Podcast where Brad and Myke talked about a recent bracket-style voting championship that Uni USA hosted on their Instagram account. The surprising winner over the other well-known ballpoint, gel, and rollerball pens was the Pin.

While I personally don't rank the Pin over any of my Jetstreams or Signos, it definitely made me want to take the Pin for another spin.

The Pin is a felt-tipped pen with a pigmented ink that is water-proof, acid free, and fade-resistant. In terms of archival quality, this is a fantastic choice. The ink is incredibly dark and consistent in color. The edges of the lines are sharp and controlled. There isn't any signs of feathering when you're writing with this pen, even on papers that tend to cause inks to bleed a bit.

One of the main reasons I personally turn to a fineliner is for the deep, saturated ink color and crisp lines. The Uni Pin fits this bill perfectly. Comparing it to the ubiquitous Staedtler Triplus, the Pin ink is so much darker, and the writing experience is much smoother. While the Pin isn't a "wet" writer by any means, it feels smooth and buttery when writing, where the Staedtler feels dry and scratchy.

Comparing the Pin to other Japanese pens in the same realm is a bit harder to do since they're all great. Probably the most popular fineliner is the Sakura Pigma Micron, and I personally find it difficult to find much of a difference between the Sakura and Uni. The main difference is price, where the Uni Pin is about 30% cheaper. When you're buying a lot of these pens in different sizes, that small price difference adds up quickly.

The 03 model of the Pin in this review is a 0.38mm tip. There are many other sizes to choose from, and the 01 (0.28mm) is another favorite of mine. Sizes range from 0.03mm up to 0.8mm. There are also other colors, though not a crazy amount. Just the basics: black, blue, red. You can also get gray and brown in some of the tip sizes as well.

If there's one thing that Uni's Instagram championship told us, it's that the Pin fans are out there in great numbers. That representation is a great reminder and testament to this humble little fineliner. This is something every pen drawer needs on hand for those precise and archival-ready tasks.

The Uni Pin fineliner is $1.75 per pen, so stock up on some different sizes and colors!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Uni, Pin, Fineliner, Pen Reviews.

Zebra bLen 3C 3 Color Ballpoint Multi Pen Review

The Zebra bLen has been a great addition to the stationery aisle over the last couple of years, and for good reason. The original ballpoint pen is a smooth writer, and the follow-up gel pen is an excellent competitor to the Pilot G2, Pentel EnerGel, and Sharpie S-Gel. On top of that, it brought updated barrel technology to the shelf with the introduction of a “vibration-free” writing experience.

As the product roadmap dictates, the next pen Zebra released as part of the bLen lineup should be a multi pen, and they did exactly that with the bLen 3C 3 Color Ballpoint Multi Pen.

I consider myself a big multi pen fan, and have used and reviewed dozens over the years. I’ll say right up front with the bLen 3C that I don’t like this pen.

Notice I didn’t say that this is a bad pen. I think it is good, not great, and maybe it will be a fit for your writing arsenal. But there are too many small things that add up in the cons column for me, and when you are going up against stiff competition in this category, that’s not going to be good enough.

Let’s look at some of the pros before I get into what makes the bLen 3C not for me.

For starters, the blue ink refill is excellent. I chose the 0.5 mm Grey barrel model, and while I do think that Uni-ball Jetstream ink is superior in every way, I like Zebra’s emulsion ink. In comparing those two inks directly, the bLen ink is a less clean writer, and has a bit of spidering between characters on occasion. Both of these things can be expected with fine ballpoint tips like this, but when you experience the clean lines of the Jetstream, even a little oddness is noticeable.

Secondly, I like the look of the pen. I mean, any pen that is inspired by the B1-series battle droid is a winner in my book. I could do without the plastic tip extension in front of the nose cone that gives it a sucker fish look (I’ll let you look that one up,) but overall its a good barrel, and has a great grip.

Thirdly, the price is fantastic. At $6 a pen, with 4 barrel color choices and two tip sizes (0.5 mm and 0.7 mm,) it is priced as good - or better - than any brand name entry level multi pen.

This sounds like a rave review - so what gives? The knock layout is a non-starter for me.

I didn’t notice the layout when I ordered the pen, but it was instantly noticeable when I began using it. Most 3 cartridge multi pens are designed with one of two layouts: The front click (often the using the clip itself,) is usually the Black ink cartridge in a 3 ink pen (or the pencil component in a 2+1,) or the clip is fixed and the Black cartridge is the first to the right of the clip when looking from the front of the pen.

In the case of the bLen 3C, not only is the Black refill in the center-back of the barrel, but its knock is a big, clunky, “what is this thing,” knock. Yes, they are attempting to visually match the bLen single cartridge design, but in doing so, made something odd and confusing looking. In addition to that, the Red ink is in what should be the primary slot for the pen (right-handed bias,) with the Blue ink around the other side. Could I swap the Red and Blue positions if so desired? On the inside, sure. The plungers? I’m not so sure without some surgery, which is not warranted even on a $6 pen I don’t believe. And none of that changes the weird knock in the back.

Why am I the way that I am, dear readers?

If the refills were brilliant (notice the Black and Red refills didn’t make the pros list above - they are much drier than the Blue,) I would get used to the weird knock style and layout. And the barrel is nice to hold and use. But I can’t get there when I have other great options available to me an arms reach away.

I love what Zebra has done with the bLen lineup since launch, and if you are a fan, and not as stuck as me on the knock design, I think you will like this pen. And again, for $6, it is a great deal. I’m going to stick with my single cartridge bLens for now, and see if they come up with something new to tempt me in the multi pen lineup in the near future.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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