(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
For those times when you need to carry a pen, but are extremely limited on space, the OHTO Minimo might be the right tool for the job. But being small and easy to stow comes with plenty of trade-offs. What exactly is this pen meant for?
There's a fairly robust market for pocketable pens to choose from, and they can be surprisingly comfortable to use once they're uncapped and posted. The Fisher Bullet is a prime example of this. It's small enough to be stowed in a small pocket, but the posted length makes it comfortable for writing notes. I wouldn't want to write a novel with the Bullet pen, but I could if I really needed to (and had plenty of extra refills). Is the Bullet still too large for your needs? Maybe you want to stow a pen in a wallet or pocketbook. Maybe you want to store a pen inside a notebook without worrying about damaging the pen or the notebook spine. If your ultimate concern is size, then the OHTO Minimo is an interesting choice.
The Minimo is among a class of pens that I don't lump in with the pocket pen class. The Minimo is even smaller — so much so that it's uncomfortable and difficult to use. But the main point of this pen is to stow in places other, more comfortable, pens just can't. I've tried a few of these pens and mechanical pencils in the past. They're generally billed as something you can slip into a small notebook, a wallet, pocketbook, or other small space for those "just in case" moments where you don't have another pen available. Ever seen the pen on a Victorinox knife? That's the level of minimal design we're talking about.
The Minimo is only 9 cm/3.56 inches, which is small enough to easily fit into a wallet or pocketbook. It's also only 3.6 mm in diameter, which is quite an accomplishment. This is barely large enough to allow space for the D1 refill and spring to fit inside the barrel. And, it even packs in a retractable mechanism and a nose cone that threads onto the tiny barrel. From an engineering standpoint, it's impressive that they were able to get the tolerances this tight. This pen feels solid and reliable. The retractable mechanism is similar to other larger pens that feature a switch on the upper side of the barrel (like the Tactile Turn Side Click). Depress the top to extend the refill, and press the tab to quickly retract. Operating the retracting mechanism is flawless, which I'm still impressed since it's all so small.
Replacing the refill is a bit fiddly just due to the small size of all the components. The spring is the same length as the refill, and there's a small metal cap that slips over the back of the refill to provide a place for the spring to stop. And, since this is a standard D1 refill, your options for replacement are abundant.
The bright green barrel color I chose doesn't seem to be available right now, but the black and pink options look good too. There's only a small OHTO Minimo brand logo next to the tiny clip, and it's a bit difficult to notice it since it's so small.
The included refill is a 0.5mm black ballpoint that writes really well. It can require a small scribble to start going, but it writes smoothly and reliably. Since it's a small D1 refill, I wouldn't expect it to last very long, but that's not really the point with this pen.
So far, so good, right? Sure, but I haven't talked about what it's like to write with this pen, and that's where the negatives crop up. To get straight to the point, this pen is a difficult to use, uncomfortable, and generally awful as a writing instrument, and this entirely due to the small physical size. There's just nothing to hold onto when trying to write. It's only marginally better than writing with a naked refill. Writing out a whole A5 page (double-spaced) left my hand cramping. I don't want to use this pen. But, I guess it's better than nothing.
What's the point of this pen? At $8.50, the cost is low enough to justify storing it in something that you generally always carry with you in the event you need an emergency pen. Other than that, the other legitimate use case I can see (and my personal favorite) is just the novelty of the tiny form factor.
Speaking for myself, I can always find room for a small pen that is also comfortable to use and that doesn't leave my hand cramping after a few sentences. But that doesn't mean the OHTO Minimo will be forgotten in the back of a drawer — it's an excellent fidget toy and conversation starter. And maybe this could be your standard loaner pen when someone asks if they can borrow a pen? They'll definitely give it back to you.
(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!
