Posts filed under Uni

Uni Limex Ballpoint Pen Review, feat. R.E.M.’s “Sitting Still”

Uni Limex Ballpoint Pen Review

The Uni Boxy 100 is a pen I’ve long admired. It is a classic office supply pen, most likely found on desks and in cabinets across Japan for the last 40 years.

And it’s great. I’d say it is right where it belongs - in the office - but that would be underselling it. Is it the Uni-ball Jetstream? No. Is it better than 9 out of 10 ballpoint pens I’ve used, and worth residing on my desk? Absolutely.

If you are still interested after reading those few words above, then you may find the Uni Limex to be a fun pen to add to your arsenal.

Uni Limex Ballpoint Pen

What is Limex? A nearly inexhaustible raw material, often used as a paper or plastic replacement. Now, my stance on stone paper is well known, but this is a different rock altogether. And I dig it.

There is no difference in the Limex barrel shape, design, or functionality over the Boxy, but there is a slight weight difference - 7 grams for the original, 9 grams for the Limex. Still, it is a rather lightweight pen, making it good for nearly any use.

Uni Limex Ballpoint

The color of the barrel is great, too, taking on the off-white appearance of its namesake material. I keep inspecting the barrel to see if I see any small, darker bits in the material, and there are none. It’s very clean.

Like the Boxy, the Limex ships with an 0.7 mm standard black ballpoint refill, and I enjoy using it. The lines are clean and sharp, and while there is some slight scratchiness from time to time, it’s remarkably smooth for an 0.7 mm that feels like an 0.5 mm.

Uni Limex Pen

As much as I enjoy this pen, there is a kicker. One of the most popular kickers of all, in fact: Price! It’s $3.50, versus the $1.75 of the Boxy. In my original Boxy review, I thought the price was high, and that was from the perspective of buying them as an office pen by the dozen. So of course I think the price is high for the Limex, but it’s different in my mind. This is a singular pen purchase. It’s unique, it’s cool, it has a story, and I’m not trying to stock the entire office with it.

In short, it’s fun. And that’s what I enjoy most about stationery.

Uni Limex Writing

If you have some spare time after this short review, fire up your music player of choice and give “Sitting Still” by R.E.M. a listen. I got on an old school R.E.M. kick last week, with the album Murmur in heavy rotation. Days later, and countless internet searches later, “Sitting Still” is still stuck in my head.

Why? It is literal nonsense, while being an absolute banger.

I wanted to use the lyrics for the written part of this review, and if you know anything about this song, then you know that is asking the impossible. That’s what makes it so great. Enjoy!

(I purchased this pen at regular price from Yoseka Stationery)

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Posted on June 7, 2021 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Uni, Boxy, Ballpoint, Pen Reviews.

Uni SXR-600 Jetstream Ballpoint Refill Review

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

It wasn't that many years ago that the Uni Jetstream ballpoint pen revolutionized the humble ballpoint pen, but that doesn't mean it can't strive to continue being exciting. There's always new pen bodies and cool new multi-pen designs that will further the line, but what about different refill shapes? That doesn't sound very exciting until you hear about the particular shape refill that Uni is experimenting with for their SXR-600 refills: Parker-style.

The Uni SXR-600 is very plain — it's a single refill that is available in only one color and only two tip sizes, black and 0.5mm or 0.7mm, respectively. I prefer availability of color and tip options over everything else, but I'm still excited about this particular black refill simply because of the refill shape. The Parker-style refill is fairly ubiquitous, and possibly one of the most common refill types you come across in ballpoint pens. Up until now, my favorite refill has been the Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 due to its smoothness and crisp, dark lines. But, if I could swap in a Jetstream refill of my preferred color and size, I certainly would. That's why the Uni SXR-600 is so exciting: the possibility.

The concept is very simple: if your pen accepts a normal Parker-style refill, the SXR-600 will fit. Aside from the fit, though, does this new form factor feature the same great writing experience as the normal lineup? Yes, it absolutely does. That was my concern before trying this refill out. There was a possibility that the new refill shape could require a different ink formula or something that might negatively affect the writing experience, but that isn't the case here. Whatever Uni did to make this work, I can't tell any difference between this refill and any other regular Uni Jetstream refill when writing.

I chose the smaller 0.5mm refill for my tests, and it features the same ultra-fine and crisp lines that I expect. In every way, it meets my expectations based on using other Uni Jetstream pens. If your concern is that this uniquely-shaped refill won't feel the same as your beloved Jetstream pens, you can go ahead and file that worry away for good.

Now, that doesn't mean it's all roses and good times. This refill is expensive. At $7.25, it's a good deal more expensive than my lovely Schmidt EasyFlow refills, which are five bucks a pop if you buy them individually. I'm not sure why the refill is so much more expensive. Sure, it uses a metal cartridge over plastic, but I can't see that driving the price up by multiple dollars. Still, this isn't completely out of the ordinary for Parker-style refills. Five to ten dollars is a fairly common price per refill in this category, so it's not so hard to swallow when put in that context. What is hard to swallow, however, is that normal Jetstream refills are less than a couple of bucks.

The other current problem with this product is the lack of color and size variety. I'd be willing to spend a lot more money on several of these refills if there were (any?) more color options. Offering only black and only two size options feels like a market experiment more than a full-fledged product launch. Maybe Uni is seeing how these do before they invest more in building out the line? Maybe the availability in Japan is much larger and it's just the US market that they're experimenting with? I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind this, but I hope they decide to ramp it up soon!

With all that in mind, you really can't go wrong with the Uni SXR-600 refills as long as you like black and either a 0.5mm or 0.7mm tip. These refills can quickly spruce up an old ballpoint pen you have laying around, providing that lovely hybrid ballpoint ink writing experience that we've all come to love so much because of Uni and the marvelous Jetstream.

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

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Posted on April 1, 2020 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Uni, Jetstream, Pen Reviews.