Posts filed under Pentel

Pentel Energel RTX 0.7 mm Lilac Gel Ink Pen Review

Lilac is my wife’s fourth favorite Pentel Energel RTX color.

How do I know this? She told me yesterday, when sharing that she was out of her favorites.

On Mother’s Day.

R.I.P., Mr. Pen Addict.

I should have been more prepared. But hey, if I was, I wouldn’t have this article to write, late on Sunday night.

We had a great weekend. We were at a Pickleball tournament all day Saturday (duh,) and Sunday, I spent all day with her, the kids, and our respective moms, both of whom live nearby. I usually sneak in a few hours of work during the weekend, finalizing whatever review post I’m planning on for Monday. But I was still running behind this weekend, with the Chicago Pen Show and Grand Jury Duty still in the rear-view mirror. And, I was having too much fun otherwise.

Around 7 p.m. Sunday night I told her I needed to work for a bit, at least settle on a topic for Monday - even if I finish in the morning. She said “Why don’t you write about my favorite pen?” Dang, she is a smart one.

I already knew what the pen was, the aforementioned Pentel Energel RTX. So I said, “Great idea! Grab me your favorite color and I’ll write it up.”

She couldn’t find Navy Blue.

She couldn’t find Turquoise.

She couldn’t find Violet.

With every miss, my guilt increased.

She finally settled on Lilac, which she told me was her second favorite purple, and still one she liked a lot. So, Lilac it is!

Any Pentel EnerGel is easy to review. I already love them, and they are my favorite gel ink pen to recommend for most users looking for a high-quality 0.7 mm gel ink line, and a wide variety of colors. Is this pen my favorite gel ink pen? No, that honor goes to the Uni-ball Signo UM-151, which I can get in my favorite 0.38 mm tip size, and the same variety of ink colors.

Most people aren’t me, “fortunately,” my wife would interject, and the Pentel EnerGel is the best of the rest for the wider audience.

She has used this pen for years, putting them through the wringer at her job on a daily basis. Not once has she had a bad word to say about it. The refill writes smoothly and consistently, the barrel is sturdy, the knock never fails, the clip always works, and so on. The only complaint is that she can’t keep people from stealing them.

Maybe that is the next frontier for pens - in-barrel tracking devices to reclaim your favorite from grabby hands. (Cross tried, but it didn’t stick.)

When I use one of her EnerGels around the house - mainly for grocery lists, or on sticky notes on her desk - I always enjoy them. They are a real treat to use, and the ink colors are fun. Pentel has made other options that are close to making my every day rotation, like the Euro or Clena, but never the perfect one to land in that rare S-tier air. They are A-tier all day long, which is a pretty great place to be.

Myself, I’m not in as good of a place. I’m in the doghouse until I get her pens ordered, and delivered. Time to make that happen!


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Posted on May 15, 2023 and filed under Pentel, Energel, Pen Reviews.

Delfonics x Pentel Sharp P205 Mechanical Pencil Review

Long-time stationery fans are certainly familiar with the Pentel Sharp series of mechanical pencils. On the market for over 50 years, they are a classic workhorse mechanical pencil, used by students, artists, professionals, and general stationery lovers like myself.

Why do I like this pencil so much? It is lightweight, with a narrow plastic barrel that tapers towards the metal nose cone. The entire feel and shape of this pencil is designed to disappear into your hand and provide exceptional control and sight lines from the tip. With this design, it became one of the most popular technical pencils ever made.

Over the past decade or two, Pentel has leaned into special editions for the Sharp series, mainly in the Japanese market. I’ve been able to add a few to my collection, and am always on the lookout for more. An orange barrel had always eluded me - unless I wanted to go the eBay route - until I spied this Delfonics x Pentel Sharp at Vanness Pens.

The product color is listed as red, but it is clearly a reddish orange in my book - even leaning more to the orange side of the spectrum. I purchased my favorite 0.5 mm lead size for those fine, fine lines, but it is also available in an 0.9 mm.

While the barrel color made the purchasing decision easy for me, I was curious about them working with Delfonics for this pencil. Pentel has dabbled in collaborations, most notably with Craft Design Technology, who has taken many of Pentel’s classic designs and reimagined them into a premium brand. This more direct collaboration with Delfonics surprised me in its simple styling, and is not something I recall seeing much of from the brand.

It wouldn’t shock me if these types of “Brand X Pentel” collaborations were more widely available in Japan. Delfonics, a Japanese brand themselves, is mostly known for their paper goods and stationery accessories, so collaborating with a big big brand on a popular product - even if that collaboration is a simple barrel stamping - is a good match for both.

For my money, Pentel has the best mechanical pencil lineup on the market. There are single pencils, like the Rotring 600 or Uni-ball Kuru Toga, that may be better, but as a full collection from top to bottom, no one does it better than Pentel. They are consistently high quality, fairly priced, and feature my favorite stock graphite in the Pentel Super Hi-Polymer. Even the eraser is top-notch.

The Pentel Sharp is an all-time stationery great. The only downside I can list is that the barrel may be too small and light for larger hands. Even the price is right, at under $6 for standard editions, and around $8 for limited and special editions, and collaborations like this one.

I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the classic black P205, or the pale blue of the P207. But these bright colors - I’ve added more since acquiring this one - are the ones I want living on my desk.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

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

Pentel Sharp Rave!!!

Posted on April 24, 2023 and filed under Delfonics, Pentel, Sharp, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil Reviews.