Posts filed under Zebra

Zebra Sarasa Nano Vintage Color Set Review

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

The Zebra Sarasa gel ink pens are well-known to anyone in this community, and it's for good reason. They feature vibrant colors, smooth flowing gel ink, and a nifty spring clip for attaching the pen to things. When I received a pack of Sarasa Nano pens, I was curious to find out what made them different than the standard Sarasa Clip version. While the Nano line is a bit more premium, they still use the same refills.

The Zebra Sarasa Nano line's main difference is the clever internal spring that provides a nice suspension for the refill to ride on while you write. In practice, this makes the pen feel like a smoother instrument when writing thanks to the small amount of give the spring affords when exerting pressure on the tip. Aside from this, the Nano also has a premium metal nose cone and a completely black body (unlike the transparent body of the Sarasa Clip).

Another key difference from the Sarasa Clip line is the tip size selection. For the Sarasa Nano Vintage Color set I have, you only have one choice: 0.38mm. There are some other Nano pens that have matching body colors and use a 0.3mm tip, but for all the pens with a black body, they all use a 0.38mm tip size. Compare this to the standard Sarasa Clip line, which offers options from 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7, and a handful of 1.0mm tips.

Luckily, you can swap in any standard Sarasa refill in the Nano body if you want to use the fancy spring suspension system on larger tip size refills.

So, how does the Nano perform compared to other pens that don't include a shock absorber? It's a subtle difference, but it's definitely noticeable — especially if you are comparing with other 0.38mm pens at the same time. With any small tip size pen, it can feel like the refill is a bit scratchy given the tiny size. For me, I tend to be a bit heavy-handed, so this scratchy feeling is something I can agree with on typical small tip pens I use. With the Nano, it doesn't feel as scratchy or like I'm writing with a stiff nail.

If you press the tip of the refill against the page and apply pressure, you can see the refill retract slightly as the spring absorbs the resistance. When writing, it's extremely subtle to the point that you don't realize it's happening. I assume that this is by design — if you could actually feel the tip springing while you write, that would be incredibly distracting and would require you to alter your writing style a bit. The pressure is just right for normal writing.

Aside from the satin-finish metal nose cone and internal spring system, this is a standard Sarasa. The clip is largely the same — the only difference is the shape of the clip is a bit more petit compared to the standard Clip line.

The five colors that are included in the Vintage Colors Set (for $12.50) are Cassis Black (dark red), Green Black, Blue Black, Blue Gray, and Sepia Black. There is also a "Basic" color set that includes what I think to be the better color combination (pink, red, orange, blue, and black). The Vintage colors are all dark, but the blue black, green black, and sepia black are incredibly hard to tell apart. For me, the colors in this set do not excite me. But, for other people, this could be a great color combination that they love! That's the beauty of stationery.

The final difference I'll point out between the standard Sarasa Clip and the Nano is price. At JetPens, the standard Sarasa Clip is $1.75. The Nano, however, is $2.95. This is likely due to a variety of factors, such as the extra bits for the spring suspension, the metal nose cone, and the fact that (I believe) the Nano is a newer product. Still, when you remember that both pens use the same refills, it's a bit difficult for me to swallow the large price gap. I'm a huge fan of the Sarasa Clip body — I think they're really comfortable and work great. For me, the Nano body and shock absorber don't do much for me. For almost twice the price, it doesn't make sense. The shock absorbing body is novel, but I can also adjust my writing style to suite the standard Sarasa with little effort.

The Zebra Sarasa Nano is an interesting product, but I'm not sure it differentiates itself enough from the standard line to justify its existence. I'd love to hear other opinions about the Nano and how it works better for you than the standard Sarasa! For me, I'm happy to stick with my dozens of Sarasa Clips for the time being.

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

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Posted on December 18, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Zebra, Sarasa, Gel, Pen Reviews.

Zebra Pitan Gel Pen with Magnetic Holder Review

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

You can't deny the usefulness of a notebook that has a built-in pen loop or sleeve to keep a pen nearby at all times. Some notebooks come with this already attached, but you've long been able to buy add-on pen loops to attach to your favorite notebooks. If you're looking for something a bit easier to use and that has a slightly magical feel, then take a look at the Pitan from Zebra.

Magnets are magical, so you'll always get my attention if there are functional magnets involved in a product or design. The Pitan is a retractable gel ink pen that magnetically attaches to a small tray. The tray has a strong clip that attaches securely the back cover of thin notebook covers. It's an easy and convenient way to add a pen to a notebook, but it's just as easy to remove or move to another notebook.

Let's get the obvious out of the way: in most situations, a pen loop is more secure — especially if the pen clip goes over the elastic loop for more grip. But with that extra security, you lose convenience. Getting the pen out is a simple one-handed action, but putting it back in the loop is likely a two-handed operation. Even still, an elastic can also fail or lose the pen in the right circumstances.

The magnetic Pitan is a fantastic compromise of convenience and security. Despite how it looks and feels, it is surprisingly stable and strong. When the pen is attached to the magnetic tray, it rolls a bit and can slide up and down the length of the tray a few millimeters, but shaking the tray or notebook while the pen is attached isn't enough force to jostle the pen free of the magnets. I was apprehensive at first, but after more and more ridiculous shake and sling tests, I'm really happy and impressed with how well the magnetic tray holds the pen in place.

Where the strength of the magnets fails, though, is if another object forces the pen off the tray or rolls it away from the notebook. This isn't a big deal when the notebook/pen combo is on its own, but it becomes a problem when it's thrown into a collection of other objects, like a bag. The pen still manages to stay attached longer than I would expect, but it will likely get forced off the tray if there's enough motion inside the bag.

Adding to the strength of the magnets, the clip that secures the tray to the notebook is even stronger. It's painful trying to open the jaws of the clip with your fingers, and it takes concentrated effort to install it or remove it from a notebook cover. The marketing materials says there is some protective plastic in the clip, but you'll likely have permanent indentions and marks on the cover of the notebook after using this clip. When removing the clip from a soft cover or cardstock cover, there's a fairly high chance of tearing the cover if you aren't mindful. As long as you're gentle and patient, it works great! I have zero concerns about the clip coming loose.

Unfortunately, the clip is so tight that it only works on thinner materials. I wasn't able to install it on my hard cover Leuchtturm notebook no matter how hard I tried. It also did not want to cooperate when trying to slide it onto a soft leather cover. In practice, this should be limited to thin paper or plastic materials. This was a bummer to me because I love hard cover notebooks. I'm sure I'm not the only one, so just be aware if you want to pair a pen holder with a favorite hard cover notebook.

Finally getting to the actual pen, we have a minimal pen body with a retractable tip that uses Zebra's Sarasa multi-pen refill (the JK model). There are a handful of other options that will swap in easily for this refill, which is a 0.5 mm black refill out of the box. I'm not sure if it's just my refill or something more common to the Zebra Sarasa multi-pen refills, but it's noticeably scratchy compared to the full-size 0.5mm Sarasa pens I have on hand. Zebra is the only brand for which I don't already own several different multi-pens, so I don't have any other refills to compare against. I'll be picking up a few refills or a multi-pen soon to find out! The JK refill is much larger than the D1 refill, so that's not an option in this pen.

The pen is comfortable to use, and it's more than adequate for using as a scribbling pen for notes and short-form writing. The minimal and uniform body would make it difficult for me to use comfortably for long periods.

The click mechanism is nice and crisp, and there's also a cord loop attached to the top of the pen. It's a neat aesthetic choice, but I don't like how it feels on my thumb when operating the click mechanism. Functionally, you could attach this pen to other things using the loop, which would be handy if you're not around your notebook or if you want to tether the pen to the notebook as a secondary method of making sure it doesn't fall off and get lost.

Overall, this is a really fun pen to use and play with as a fidget toy. It's surprisingly strong, surpassing all my expectations in terms of being jostled or slung loose, but it still seems too easy to lose in a bag. The burnt orange color is pretty and would be a nice accent to a notebook cover.

At just under $15, the Zebra Pitan is something I would happily recommend for the utility and joy it provides. Obviously, this is a pen and notebook storage solution that locks you in to this one type of pen and refill. The writing experience and refill options just aren't quite enough to convince me to daily this combo, but it's still intriguing and fun enough to kick it around for more low key situations.

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

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Posted on September 25, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Zebra, 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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