Zebra bLen 0.7mm Gel Pen Review

The Zebra bLen ballpoint is a fairly new pen that has quickly risen to the top of many stationery lists. And now, the newer gel variant of the bLen is here to compete with the Pilot Juice, G2, EnerGels, and Uno Signos that you can find on many store shelves.

At around $7 for a pack of two pens, the bLen is a great value that is comparable to other gel pens that have been on stationery shelves for decades. The version I have uses a black 0.7mm gel refill that leaves a delightfully dark and saturated line on the page.

According to the marketing materials, the bLen provides an "innovative vibration-free writing experience" due to a "gap-free internal system to reduce noise and a brass weight at the tip to lower the center of gravity." The pen is silent when writing, meaning there isn't any rattling or other noises as you move the pen across the page. You can also sense the lower sense of gravity, which is a nice touch and makes the pen easier to handle when writing.

These are nice features, but I wouldn't call them unique. I have plenty of gel pens that don't make noise while writing, but they don't tout quiet operation in their marketing materials. In all, it's a great feature even if the marketing is a little heavy handed.

It all comes down to simple questions that anyone can answer after a few seconds with any new pen: does it write well, and does it feel good in my hand?

In the case of the bLen gel pen, the answer is "absolutely" to both questions.

The pen is really lightweight overall, and it requires little effort to hold and control. The contoured grip is covered in a grippy silicone material that feels great. And, it's nice that the pen makes zero noise or vibration when in use.

The refill produces a smooth, dark line with crisp edges, and it dries really quickly. In my tests, it was smudge-proof within 3 seconds. The 0.7mm tip size is quite bold, and I'm glad it's still able to dry quickly while laying down so much ink. I don't choose black ink first in most cases, but this is exactly what I want from a black ink. It's bold, dark as night, and crisp at the edges of the line. It's fantastic.

The refill also starts up immediately and flows consistently. There aren't any globs or skips with this refill. It really is a great refill.

Comparing this pen to other comparable pens, it stacks up well. It performs similarly, so it will likely come down to a decision of personal taste and availability. All I know is that if you have a chance to pick up a Zebra bLen, you definitely should. If you can't find any locally, you can pick up a pack from Zebra directly or from Amazon (US store affiliate link).

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

Zebra bLen Ballpoint Pen Review

I was late to the Zebra bLen party.

When the 2020 OKB48 results dropped, a pen I had never heard of slotted in at number two. New pens sneak up on me all the time, but I would expect them further down the 48-pen list. Not directly into the number two spot.

I had a friend reach out at the time and offer to send me over one to check out, as they were only available in Japan on launch. And it was good. I liked it. And then I misplaced it, or maybe even gave it away. Why I didn’t slot it into the review queue at the time is odd for me, but now that the bLen has become even more popular, and propagated worldwide, it is time to correct that miss.

The marketing of the bLen revolves around two things: Zebra’s emulsion ink technology, and unique barrel construction.

Originally launched as Z-Mulsion ink, this was Zebra’s answer to the hybrid ballpoint ink technology popularized by the Uni-ball Jetstream, and later, the Pilot Acroball. What hybrid ballpoint inks offer is a far superior ink formula over the purely oil-based traditional ballpoint ink. It’s smoother, darker, cleaner, and more consistent. In short, this ink is far better than typical ballpoint ink.

Z-Mulsion didn’t exactly take off for Zebra on it’s first go-round. But going back to the drawing board and building around a solid refill put them on the path to a better product in the end.

In collaboration with Japanese-Canadian designer Saki Oki, the bLen barrel was engineered for silence. How often have you heard that in pen design? And if you haven’t, you know exactly what it means. Often times when using pens, primarily retractable pens, there is rattling going on in the barrel. It could be from the tip area where the refill is exposed, or it could be in the internals where the knock mechanism resides. The bLen was designed to eliminate all of that sound and vibration.

And it works. The Zebra bLen barrel is lightweight, and solid. The knock engages cleanly, and is quiet. The tip is cushioned, and smooth. Overall, Zebra delivered on their design ideas.

That design allows the refill to shine. Zebra always had something with the Z-Mulsion ink, but it didn’t land from a design and marketing perspective. Now with this unique barrel design, the refill performance is able to be noticed. I have an 0.5 mm Blue and an 0.7 mm Black in hand to test, and they are fantastic to write with. The 0.7 mm will win the popularity contest due to the tip size, but I, of course, have a soft spot for the 0.5 mm.

As much as I like this ink (especially the Blue 0.5 mm,) I do think both the Uni-ball Jetstream and Pilot Acroball do it slightly better. If the Jetstream was a 9 out of 10 ink performance, the Acroball is an 8/10, and the bLen is a 7/10. Still good, but a clear third place for me. The barrel practically makes up the difference, though. It’s that good.

The lines on both pens are consistent, and fine. Compared to similar tip sizes in gel and rollerball pens, the line from ballpoints is narrower on the page. The ink doesn’t spread on the page like the other two, despite the same manufacturing size of the tip.

I did see a little bit of what I call “spidering” in some of my writing, more from the Black 0.7 mm tip than the Blue 0.5 mm. If you look at the word “meaning” above, you will see a strand of ink from the bottom left of the A, to the top of the I-like a spider’s web.

I’m really enjoying the Zebra bLen now that I’ve given it some dedicated usage time. At $2.50, they are competitively priced, and have become more widely available. With the success Zebra has seen with this pen barrel, they launched a gel ink bLen option as well, which I’ll be looking at soon.

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

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