(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.)
The Pentel EnerGel is arguably one of the best pens you can find in any random stationery aisle. They're widely available, and they might even be stocked in your office supply closet at work. If not, I suggest sneaking some in there.
The EnerGel ink is a blend of gel and rollerball ink. It's known for writing smoothly and drying quickly. It is sometimes described as a smudge-free ink, though I found all of the colors smear a bit--some more than others. While it does dry more quickly than some gel inks and claims to be good for lefties, I worry that it may smear when a hand is dragged across. It does okay with highlighter, but not great. Even the dry ink smudges a little, and will leave a residue on the highlighter tip. But the text was still clear, and it didn't perform any worse than most pens under the circumstances.
The writing experience was smooth, for the most part. I did have a little stuttering with the black ink, but the other pens wrote beautifully. The .7 mm line is broader than I'm used to, but I enjoyed it, and it showed off the intensity of the ink colors. The ink is very well saturated and bright. The 8-color Pearl set includes black, red orange, lime, sky blue, blue, and violet. I also tried the pink ribbon edition of the black pen. I love that Pentel has this line that benefits breast cancer research. I did have some trouble telling the difference between the pink pen and the black-ink pen in the pink body. They are identical except that the tip size is outlined in black for the black-ink pen.
The pen body is a very good build. And it's responsibly made, being 54% post-consumer recycled plastic. The silicone grip is latex-free and comfortable to hold. This Pearl edition has a pearlescent white body with transparent color accents that indicate the ink color (except in the case of the pink ribbon edition). They have sturdy, flexible clips and a solid click mechanism. The click button does rattle a bit when depressed, which is one of my personal pen pet peeves, but the other features more than make up for that small flaw. The body appears to be identical to the RTX model, apart from the body color. The ink colors are the same and they both take the same refills.
At $22 for an 8-color pack, or $2.80 for open stock, I think these are a little on the pricey side. They're comparable to the Uni-ball Signo pens, but considerably more than the Pilot Juice—which is, in my opinion, a better pen. But there’s a lot to like about these, and they're way more fun than the usual office fare.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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