A bit over a month ago, TRU RED, available at Staples.com, sent me over a care package with several of their new stationery products. From meeting notebooks, to journals, to pens, they sent it all! I’m not going to be able to review everything, but I’m going to focus on a couple of different items for review, and mix in at least one big giveaway tomorrow.
Until then, let’s focus on the new TRU RED Retractable Quick Dry 0.5 mm Gel Pens, shall we?
Classified as “Business Essentials” right on the packaging, these gel ink pens are a step up from your standard office supply fare. Are they as good as the premium pens - the Pilot G2, Pentel EnerGel, Uni-ball Signo 307, and Paper Mate InkJoy - in this category? No. Do they hold their own at around half the price ($1.25/each vs. $2.50)? Absolutely.
The fully rubberized barrel actually reminds me of the InkJoy. It is lightweight and comfortable to hold, with a solid knock and clip. From a writing perspective, they are smooth, but not glassy smooth. If I strolled into the office one day and these were the gel pens of choice, I would be happy. If I were a dyed-in-the-wool pen addict, I would be able to notice the difference between the TRU RED, and, say, the EnerGel.
What about the quick dry aspect of this pen? I’d say they live up to that billing. For each color, I filled in a grid square with the pen, bushed my finger on my shirt to ensure it was dry, then ran it across the ink splotch. The black, purple, and teal left a slight ink trail, while the blue, red, orange, and lime left none. If I let a few seconds pass, I’m sure there would be no smearing at all.
Speaking of the ink colors, This 12-pack comes with two each of black, blue, red, purple, and teal, with one each of orange and lime. I’ll need to take it up with the orange lobby for equal representation in the future, and I may even speak up for lime, because it is a nice, readable lime green.
All of the colors were good, but I did notice two things. One, the purple is very dark for a purple gel ink. That can be good or bad, depending on your desires. In relation to other brands’ stock purple, it is darker. Secondly, the blue ink wrote with a wider line than its 0.5 mm counterparts. I’m not sure if that’s ink related or tip of the pen related, but it left a different line than the rest. All of the others were a nice, clean gel ink line, as I would expect from this size.
Overall, the TRU RED Retractable Quick Dry 0.5 mm Gel Pens are a good budget friendly gel ink pen. They don’t rank ahead of the best pens in this category, but at this price, they don’t have to.
(Staples.com provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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