Posts filed under Multi Pen

Pilot Acroball Spotliter 3+1 Multi Pen and Highlighter Review

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

It's been a little while since I've looked at a multi pen, so the timing is perfect to take the latest Acroball multi pen for a spin. The Acroball Spotliter is a 3+1 multi pen, which doesn't sound like anything unique at first glance. 3+1 multi pens are usually a combination of three ink colors and a mechanical pencil component, but that's not the case with the Spotliter. In lieu of a mechanical pencil component, the Spotliter has a small highlighter tucked into the top of the pen — as well as the expected three ink choices.

I've spent a lot of time with Acroball multi pens in the past, and this version sports the same refills as other models. This means you'll get a buttery smooth writing experience, bold colors, and decent life before it's time to replace the refill. If you're a fan of hybrid ballpoints, like the Jetstream, you owe it to yourself to try Pilot's offering at some point. I'm not sure which one I like better at this point — Acroball versus Jetstream. They're both so, so good at what they do. In a lot of cases, I like the aesthetics of the Acroball multi pens more than the Jetstream. And in this specific case, the highlighter on this pen is something that Jetstream doesn't offer...yet.

Pilot Acroball Spotliter 3+1 Multi Pen and Highlighter

Writing with this pen is identical to other Acroball multi pens. It's a great experience, and I love these multi pens. The refills are 0.7mm and come in black, blue, and red. Standard stuff. Let's focus on the unique part of the Spotliter: the little highlighter on the back. It's not often that I need a highlighter, but when I know I need one, I'll grab one from the closet or carry it with me in a bag. It's tough to beat a dedicated highlighter in terms of ergonomics and how long the ink will last. This is similar to the idea of carrying a dedicated eraser with your pencils — they're just better than what you find on the ends of pencils. But, just like with the pencils, it turns out the best highlighter is the one you have with you. In a pinch, the highlighter on the Spotliter is a fantastic little tool.

It works exactly as you'd expect. Uncap the highlighter, mark over stuff to emphasize it with a bright translucent color, and get back to writing. To me, it's somewhat fiddly to flip the pen over, uncap the little highlighter to use it, then recap and flip over again. I'd much rather use a separate highlighter if possible. But the fact that I have one in a multi pen makes it very interesting for those instances when you don't have a highlighter on hand.

Similar to the small erasers on wood case pencils and the even (comically) smaller erasers found in many mechanical pencils (the ones that are hidden under the lead click button on the top of the pencil), this highlighter is more of an "in case of emergency" solution as opposed to a full-on replacement for a dedicated highlighter. That being said, this highlighter performs as well as any standard dedicated highlighter I've used, which is more than can be said for erasers. It really is a fantastic solution if you find yourself occasionally needing a highlighter.

While the highlighter tip shape and color are great, I do have a couple complaints. For one, the ink chamber is really small and you won't get much life out of this highlighter. I don't have any numbers on how long it should last, but I wouldn't bet on it going very far. Fortunately, Pilot sell replacement highlighter components that you can snap in instead of tossing the whole pen. That's fantastic. Plus, you can choose between yellow or pink ink.

My bigger complaint is how easy it is to accidentally remove the highlighter component from the pen body. If you grab the cap and pull straight out, the entire component slips out. According to the instructions, you have to rotate the highlighter cap to uncap it. This works great every time provided I remember to do it correctly. My muscle memory is ingrained to just pull caps off to remove them, so this has been tough to re-learn with this pen.

Pilot Acroball Spotliter 3+1 Multi Pen and Highlighter Writing

Also, given how easy it is to remove the highlighter component, I worry that it could come off in a bag or pocket and get lost. It really doesn't take much pressure to remove it, and I just know I'll lose the highlighter at some point if I'm not really careful.

Aside from those concerns, I'm really happy with this pen. It's great having a multi pen I already know and love, but with a new hidden feature tucked into the back. I don't need a highlighter often, but it's easy to swap this pen into my "out of the house" kit with a similarly sized Acroball to ensure I have a tiny highlighter around if needed.

The model I have is the blue body with pink highlighter, but you can also get a black body and/or yellow highlighter. The highlighter refills are almost $3 and available in pink and yellow.

The Pilot Acroball Spotliter 3+1 multi pen is just $9.75 at JetPens. It makes a great addition to any kit, and I highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for a good multi pen or if you haven't yet tried the Acroball ink.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge 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!

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Pilot, Acroball, Multi Pen, Pen Reviews.

Uni Jetstream 4&1 4-color .38 mm Ballpoint Multi Pen and .05 mm Pencil 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 check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

I've stood firmly against multi-pens in the past. I had my reasons--they were too big to hold comfortably, all the moving parts seemed ill-fitted or would rattle when writing, pieces might break, there was never enough of some of the ink colors, refills were hard to source, and I generally preferred to just carry a variety of writing tools with me rather than mess with those inconveniences of the multi-pen. But those were the multi-pens of yore, and the more recent models I've tried have grown on me. And then when Uni starts putting Ghibli characters on them, well. Then they become must-haves.

The Uni Jetstream 4&1 Kiki's Delivery Service 4 Color 0.38 mm Ballpoint Multi Pen + 0.5 mm Pencil is by far the most multitudinous multi-pen I've tried. Black, red, blue, and green ink each have their own clicky tab, and then the clip, when pushed down, reveals a mechanical pencil. Underneath the finial cap hides an eraser. This is the writing tool equivalent of the Swiss army knife.

Despite its complexity, it is fairly well made, though it hasn't done away with all my multi-pen woes. The body is sturdy, and not as thick as one would think for all the refills it contains. The rubber grip does a lot to help the writing comfort level. And while the refills are small, they're filled with Uni's excellent ink--a ballpoint that feels and acts with the smoothness of a gel pen. Replacement refills (Uni XSR 80-38) are easily obtained at JetPens. The mechanical pencil works well also, though it's a little fiddly to depress the clip for more lead, and the eraser is miniscule. The clip feels like the weak point of the pen. It does rattle a bit, and its springiness (necessary for it's pencil-deploying function) detracts from its clip functionality. I do worry that it will get broken or jammed if I toss the pen in a backpack or pocket without some kind of case or padding--and having it in a case does defeat some of the always-readiness that is the main benefit to a multi-pen. But only time will tell on its durability, and so far all is well.

While it may be big and rattly, I've never felt so prepared for any writing situation. It has everything I need to carry for work, AND it has Gigi on it. I've used it more than I thought I would, and even contemplated a backup copy. It isn't inexpensive for a pen at $24.50, but it's not expensive for four pens and a pencil. Overall I'm very pleased with it.

(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 March 25, 2021 by Sarah Read and filed under Uni-Ball, Jetstream, Multi Pen, Pen Reviews.

Ohto Blooom Multi Pen Review

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

I've always had an affinity for multi pens, which has led me to quite the collection of both low cost and more premium multi pens from various manufacturers. From what I've seen, there are two main ways for selecting the different refills inside multi pens: individual slide buttons and rotation systems. With the former, simply press down the slide with the color/component you want to use. To retract, just half-press a different slide. With the latter, you rotate the grip section to cycle through the different refill components. But, one of my favorite and most magical types of multi pens is the kind that rely on gravity to make a refill selection.

These are much more rare, but I think they're the coolest. The Ohto Blooom is one of these, and it's available at a really good price. If you're unfamiliar with this type of multi pen, the basic premise is that you hold the pen parallel to the floor (or horizontally) and make sure the refill you want is positioned at the lowest part of the pen. To help you with this, the manufacturers print the color/component names on the opposite side of the pen barrel. So, if I'm looking at the pen and the "RED" label is on top, the red refill will come out when I press the nock.

The other cool thing about this style of multi pen is that they almost always use a separate button to retract the refill. In the case of the Blooom, there's a small black button on the top of the clip that makes a satisfying click/clunk when the refill springs back into the pen body.

It takes a little getting used to, but once you understand how to select the different refills inside the pen, it's such a fun and magical experience every time. I have no idea what's actually inside the pen that allows this all to work, but I imagine it's some kind of round gate that only allows one refill to pass through when the nock is pressed — the one closer to the earth's core!

Once the novelty of the selector mechanism has worn off (that's an over-statement, as it never completely wears off), you notice how sleek and slim this pen is. It's similar to size and diameter as a normal single refill gel pen, which is quite a feat. Most multi pens have a fairly large diameter in order to accommodate all the refill choices. The body is made entirely of metal, and the color options are vibrant and unique. I went with the Denim Blue option, and I'm really happy with the color. I'm not a huge fan of super-dark interpretations of navy, and this color features a lot of cobalt and dark green tones that add a lot of visual interest to the pen. Given the complexity of the color, it also shifts and changes a bit in different light.

There's minimal branding on the pen — only the name is printed on the middle of the body section, and there aren't any other markings or symbols on the pen besides the refill color/component indicators. The clip is very stiff and strong. It can be quite a challenge to fit it over anything thicker than a nylon pocket sleeve, shirt sleeve, or thin jacket pocket. Fitting it over a jeans pocket is quite snug, but it can be done.

The grip section has a subtle but effective milled texture. The grooves are shallow but provide just enough feedback to give great control of the pen when writing.

What really surprised me about this pen is the refills. It ships with 0.7mm black and red ballpoint ink refills and a 0.5mm mechanical pencil component. I was expecting tepid results from the ballpoint refills, but it didn't stop me from purchasing the pen because the D1 refill size means you can customize this pen from a large assortment of D1 gel refills. But, I was shocked when I started writing with the included ink refills. I was convinced I was writing with a gel refill and double-checked the JetPens product page at least twice to make sure there weren't different varieties of the pen that shipped with gel refills instead. These ballpoint refills are smooth and crisp. They're on the same level as Jetstream or Acroball ink. I've been really impressed by these. They're also really well-priced compared to other D1 refills. At just $2, they're a great deal. You can imagine (and will probably experience the same) my dismay when I realized that Ohto only offers the two refills that are shipped in this pen: 0.7mm black and red. Why, Ohto?! These are great refills that deserve more variety, and I don't understand why they haven't expanded this excellent little product. Maybe it's part of their plan — I certainly hope so.

The 0.5mm mechanical pencil component works exactly as you'd expect. There's also a tiny little eraser hidden under the nock cap.

Now, let's get to maybe my favorite part of this pen: the price. Gravity-operated multi pens are generally on the more premium end of the price spectrum, but the Ohto Blooom is only $28, and that includes the refills. This is an exceptional deal, and makes this pen a great treat or gift. It serves dual purposes as a writing instrument and a fidget toy!

You can pick up your own Ohto Blooom in Denim Blue as seen here, or you can choose from Ice White, Fade Red, and Iron Gray.

(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!