Recently Pentel of America sent me a couple of their new EnerGel pens, the EnerGel X. As you know, I'm a big fan of the regular EnerGel pens so I was pretty excited to try these guys out and see how they measured up to their more expensive cousins.
The first thing I noticed was that the EnerGel X has a tinted barrel that matches the ink inside. While this isn't a big issue for me because I tend to use black ink exclusively, if you are a person who likes to have different colored inks available, this would be helpful for a quick grab. They're retractable, which is a huge plus in my book! They sport a nice, comfortable grip and they are super lightweight. Throw in the fact that they are refillable and you have yourself an all around good workhorse pen.
The real test for me, however, was how well they would write. I mean, of course! What good is a nice looking pen if it doesn't write well?? I'm happy to report that these pens were just as awesome as the EnerGel I've always loved. Crisp, thin lines with the 0.5mm tip, and nice fill in with the gel ink on the 0.7mm tip. The ink dried super fast - something I've come to expect from Pentel's excellent gel ink. My final thoughts? These are some pretty good pens for being inexpensive. They write well enough to be your go to pen and still affordable enough that you don't cringe when (not if, but when) someone walks away with them. I know I'll be keeping them in my backpack when school starts up again.
(As a Pentel PEN-Fessional, I was provided these pens for free from Pentel of America to try out and talk about. Your mileage may vary.)
