Posts filed under Highlighter

Zebra Click Bright Highlighter 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!)

Where were these all my life? Bookworms rejoice, there's finally a wee chisel-tip highlighter that's perfect for highlighting fine print and closely printed text. I didn't know I could be so delighted about highlighters, but here we are.

Zebra, king of the school supply isle, has brought us the Click Bright Highlighters, which are both bright and clickable. This set of six comes in the classic neon colors: yellow, pink, blue, orange, purple, and green. They're not overly pigmented to the eye-searing level that some highlighters achieve, but they're a good balance of bright enough to draw attention. Unlike the standard capped highlighters, these are a click-retract model, which is so perfect for when you're holding a book in one hand and marking it with the other. No more removing the highlighter cap with your teeth! We've all done that, right? And despite the lack of cap, these still have a sturdy clip, so they can become the clip-on bookmark that all highlighters are destined to be.

The tip on these is also very good. It's a slightly angled chisel tip that is only 2 mm tall, which makes it so perfect for dainty work. It can even be used as a marker for writing, if one wants some neon calligraphy.

The ink is water-based, but not too wet or overly-juicy, so it doesn't bleed through paper. It makes me very sad when highlighters bleed through, so I was glad to see that these don't. They do feel a little dry when using them, but they don't actually dry out, even with their capless design.

I have to nitpick to find anything wrong with these, and the only thing I can come up with is that there's so much text on the body that it makes them look very cluttered and cheap. And to be fair, they are cheap, or at least inexpensive. The set of six sells for $10.50, with colors available individually for $1.75. That's a very decent price for what are now my favorite highlighters.

How much time have I spent slowly and carefully using the tip of a regular highlighter to mark fine print or novel text? So much time! These I can just swipe across the page without a care in the world. They're also perfect for color-coding in planners, even those with tiny grid lines. These have made my day literally and figuratively brighter.

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

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Posted on April 4, 2024 by Sarah Read and filed under Zebra, Highlighter, Pen Reviews.

Sakura Mixline Highlighter Review

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

When it comes to highlighters, I certainly wouldn't consider myself a power user. Most weeks, I don't even use a highlighter. But I still understand the value and purpose that highlighters provide for so many people every day. They're essential in stationery, but you'd be remiss to think that all highlighters are the same. I thought I had seen it all, but the Sakura Mixline has shown me a new trick that I'm still not sure I need.

The Sakura Mixline is a combination highlighter and fineliner that also packs in a hidden feature on the highlighter side. Along with a chisel tip highlighter, there's a small fineliner tip nestled on the bottom side of the chisel tip. So, when you highlight something, you also underline it with the fineliner tip. Amazing! To make it stand out even more, the two tips are different colors that provide a nice contrast on the page.

The back side of the pen has a dedicated fineliner tip, which is the same color as the underliner. Thankfully, the fineliner tip colors are darker, making them easy to write with and see on the page. You can even highlight them with the highlighter color on the other end of the pen to create more visual contrast. All of the colors work together quite well.

These lightweight pens are easy to stow in bags, and there's a clip on the larger highlighter cap so you can securely store them on a pocket. Even though the caps are different sizes, they can somehow post on each other! I didn't think this would work, but Sakura thought this one through. Last thing you need is to lose a small cap for a pen that will dry out quickly if left uncapped for an extended period.

So, how well does this highlighter system work? Do you have to hold it just right to get the optimal highlighter shade and underline on the page? In short, no. It's pretty forgiving and easy to use as long as you use a firm pressure and focus on keeping the angle correct. I was able to get perfect highlight + underline every time I tried after a few practice tries.

A downside of this firm pressure is that it can cause some smudging on certain inks that you're highlighting over. It isn't major in my testing, but it's noticeable.

The fineliners on the back of the pen work great. The lines are really crisp and the colors are bright while being dark enough to easily read.

The colors can be difficult to list out since there are two different colors in three places on each pen. Here's how the Juicy 3-pack colors work:

Yellow highlighter with blue-green underline and fineliner
Blue highlighter with orange underline and fineliner
Coral red highlighter with red underline and fineliner

The colors all contrast well and make a great set. If you need more colors, Sakura offer a Natural pack with three more combinations.

This is a really cool product. I know it's not something I'll reach for because it's a highlighter that also underlines stuff. I'll reach for it because it's a great fineliner tip and a great highlighter. I really don't have any use for underlining stuff that I'm already highlighting. But stationery doesn't exist to fulfill my limited uses — there's obviously a market for this product, and I love that there can be such nichè products in this hobby. It's awesome knowing that this highlighter fits someone's needs exactly for what they want to do.

At $9 for the 3-pack, these are on-par with other highlighter packs. Time will tell how long the ink lasts, but the tips seem very durable. I'm sure the ink will run out before the tips wear down. If you don't want the 3-pack, you can also purchase these pens individually, though the price is a little higher at $3.30 each.

I hope that this review finds someone that needs this product that wasn't aware of its existence before. If you need a highlighter that simultaneously underlines, Sakura have you covered!

(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 June 14, 2023 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Sakura, Highlighter, Pen Reviews.

Faber-Castell Textliner 38 Highlighter Review

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

These days, highlighters aren't essential to my workflows or journaling practice, but they're still fun to play with. I've always enjoyed adding a bright pop of color to printed or written notes, though I'm not sure the extra color actually aids in studying later. Either way, I think the more colors you have available for highlighting, the better. With the Faber-Castell Textliner 38 6-pack, you get plenty of options to differentiate your callouts.

The Textliner 38 is a slim body highlighter that features ultra fluorescent ink colors. The slim body is easy to handle and control when marking over text, and you also have the option of two different line widths due to the chisel tip. With the 6-pack, you get yellow, red, purple, pink, green, and blue color options, and they're all appropriately loud hues.

The chisel tips on these highlighters work really well. The broad side is about 4mm wide and the narrow side is just 1.5mm. Both sides are really sharp and lay down crisp lines.

The colors of each marker are fantastic, but I'm a little bummed with how dark the purple is on paper. I'd like it to be just a little lighter, but it's still perfectly usable as-is.

I haven't had any trouble with ink smearing under the highlighter with printed out pages, but some fountain pen inks or rollerball inks smear and feather a bit when using these highlighters over them. It's not a drastic amount of smear, but it's worth noting. If you only plan on using these highlighters in textbooks and printed notes, you should be fine.

Another thing I like about these highlighters is the shape. The slim shape is similar to a large bodied fountain pen, so it fits easily into sleeves, pouches, pockets, and cases designed for regular pens. There are plenty of highlighters out there that have a non-standard shape, and those can be problematic to store and carry. These highlighters don't share that problem, and they also have a handy pocket clip in case you need to attach them to something.

These Faber-Castell Textliner 38 highlighters work great, and I'd recommend them to anyone that needs a variety of colors for highlighting notes, textbooks, or their own handwritten notes or plans. Six colors is a great variety, but you can also buy an 8-pack for around $10 (Amazon affiliate link) that includes an extra yellow highlighter plus a nice orange one as well!

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

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