BENU Pixie Emerald Green Fountain Pen Review

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

The Benu Pixie has gotten a lot of attention and hype ever since it launched since it's a new entry in the pocket pen category. Pocket pens are exciting because they usually have some sort of interesting or unique design due to the size constraints. While pocket pens aren't for everyone, the Pixie is certainly one to consider if you're a fan of the small form factor.

The BENU Pixie in Emerald Green and Silver Trim is the one that called out to me, and I couldn't be happier with the look of this little pen. The material is a mix of a rich, royal blue and a vibrant emerald green that both have sparkly, reflective particulates floating around to add character and dimension to the luxurious colors. Where the green and blue materials meet, there's a band of gold/copper flakes that do a great job of marrying to the two hues.

The pen body and grip section are both made of the same blue material, while the cap is split 50/50 between the blue and green. The gold/copper flake band and debossed BENU logo fall directly on the border of green and blue material. The area of the cap that has the logo is also slightly concave. Either capped or posted, the pen is gorgeous. The silver BENU logo and nib match well with the green and blue materials.

Like a lot of pocket fountain pens, this pen also relies on you posting the cap when you want to write. When the cap is posted, the length of the pen is comfortable for writing as long as you like. It balances nicely and the fit of the cap on the back of the pen is snug and secure. It's easy to operate, and the cap only takes a couple of turns to remove or screw on. The pen body without the cap is just impossible for me to use, but I'm sure some people could make it work. I'm not sure why you'd want to when the posted setup is so comfortable, though.

The silver #5 Schmidt steel nib worked great out of the box for me. I chose an EF point since this such a tiny pen, but it's actually comfortable enough in my hand that I could have easily gone for a large nib. In my mind, smaller pens are easier to use when they have small nib tips, but that's entirely unrelated. The Pixie can easily handle large, wet nibs with no problem.

But, large, wet nibs will fly through short international cartridges, which is the largest refill you can fit in this little pen. This isn't a problem for anyone that's used a pocket pen before. The diminutive size means they're also paired with a small ink capacity. You could probably find a converter or two that can fit inside the tiny body, but I'd stick with the short international cartridges. Either that, or you could convert this into an eyedropper pen pretty easily provided you have some silicone grease. There are plenty of threads mating the grip to the pen body to ensure a tight seal.

I was hoping the concave area of the cap would provide a nice stopper for the pen to keep it from rolling around, but this is unfortunately not the case. The concave detail just isn't prominent enough to offer any sort of stopping power, so the pen rolls freely on uneven surfaces. This is a slight bummer, but not a deal-breaker.

I also wish there was an option for a clip on this pen. Pocket pens can be tricky to secure to things given their unique sizes, and a clip can be handy if you don't plan on carrying this pen loose in a pocket or bag. I'm betting that they didn't include a clip so as to keep the minimal aesthetic and to avoid covering the beautiful material. Still, I like to think it could have been done tastefully if they really wanted to.

LAMY AL-Start, left, Kaweco ART Sport, right.

The Benu Pixie has been an absolute pleasure to use. I like pocket pens and really enjoy a Kaweco Sport. The Pixie is similar in size, but a little shorter both when capped and posted. For my hand, it doesn't seem to make much difference in terms of feel between the two pens. Once again, BENU has given us a bunch of gorgeous material options to choose from. While I still adore this Emerald Sea colorway, there are several others that are still calling to me. I just don't need that many pocket pens. Right?

If you want a Pixie of your own, you can peruse the different options at Vanness. There are several material options split between two main categories: silver trim and gold trim. The trim and materials are meant to compliment each other.

At $72, the Benu Pixie is priced in a way that makes it really difficult to turn down. It's cheaper than most BENU full-sized pens, but you still get the stellar materials and color options. Sure, it's more than double the price of a Kaweco Sport, but it's well worth it in my mind due to the custom materials that give the pens most of their character. Either way, if you like the color, you won't be disappointed in the performance.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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BENU Daily Mate Creative Thursday Fountain Pen Review

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

As if any of us needed more of an excuse to have a specific fountain pen for every day of the week, BENU has taken it upon themselves to make that personal decision an even more difficult one. And we love them for it.

The BENU Daily Mate is a collection of fountain pens that share the same physical design, but with a range of seven colorways — one for each day of the week — and they're all spectacular. Each of the colorway options is vibrant and energetic in their own way, and they're all paired with a great fountain pen shape.

After SO MUCH deliberation on which single pen to choose, I landed on Creative Thursday. This was a really difficult choice because I genuinely liked each of the seven options, and you never really know how a pen will look in person once you receive it. Luckily for me, BENU's photography did a great job of representing the true colors of the Creative Thursday pen. The mixture of vibrant purple and a swirl of dusty amber look great together, and then the glitter particles just accentuate the colors and bring it all together. It's such a pretty pen and I enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoy using it.

All of the color options use the same silver clip and nib, and they all have the same physical design. The pen is what I'd call "full size," though I can't point to a specification for that label. It's slightly longer and wider than a Lamy Safari, but very similar to the Opus 88 Demo and Nahvalur Nautilus pens. More specifically, the pen is 5.5 inches (14 cm) long and 0.70 inches (18 mm) in diameter at it's widest point. The grip is a nice size — just 10-11 mm in width — and has a gentle taper toward the nib with a nice lip at the end of the grip to keep your fingers from slipping onto the nib while writing.

Writing with the pen is effortless. It's balanced really well when unposted, and I can write with it for long periods without discomfort. The overall weight is low given the materials used (acrylic) and the modest #6 nib. After using the pen for a short while, it's easy to tell that BENU designed this pen to be a work horse. It excels at its job.

The nib on the pen is a #6 stainless steel Schmidt, and mine worked flawlessly out of the box. The fine tip on mine is true to size for a western nib, and it makes crisp lines while feeling smooth on the page. Since this is a ubiquitous nib, it would be trivial to swap it out for something else if you already have a favorite customized nib that you'd like to swap in for the fine, medium, or broad nib options that BENU provide.

The design of the pen uses a classic shape with almost squared off ends. Both ends of the pen have a slight convex shape that give the pen a softer look and provide plenty of space to showcase the gorgeous material. The cap of the pen is a simple shape with only the clip and the BENU logo on it. The body, though, has ten grooves that extend along the length of the pen body and add a nice, soft textured feel and provide plenty of additional surfaces for light to reflect from. When unposted, the grooves also serve to keep the pen from rolling away.

The grip section of the pen is the only deviation in terms of materials. It's a single color, and it's fantastic. In the Creative Thursday colorway, the grip is a vibrant purple color that is slightly translucent and also has some reflective particles suspended in the material to add depth. It's a lovely pairing with the richer colors of the pen body and cap.

My only complaint with this pen is that there are so many threads for the cap to screw onto the body. It requires 5-6 full rotations to uncap or cap the pen! That's a lot, and it's certainly a bit unusual. Most pens only need 1.5 to 3 turns to work the cap. 5-6 just feels tedious.

The pen comes in a standard BENU cardboard box along with a cartridge converter already installed. Two thumbs up for that decision, as I don't need any more generic black or blue ink cartridges! The cartridge converter appears to be a standard Schmidt converter and works well.

The BENU Daily Mate is $120 for any of the fine colorways. Seriously, the most dangerous part of this pen is that it's really difficult to only pick one. I'm really happy with the Creative Thursday option I got, and I'll practice some self control and avoid buying any more (for now). But if any of these colors speak to you, you can be sure that the pen won't disappoint once you get it in hand. For the price, it's difficult to find other fountain pens that offer this level of vibrant, unique material options.

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Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Benu Pixie Royal Blue Fountain Pen Giveaway

Released earlier this year, the Benu Pixie has been the perfect addition to the the ever-expanding Benu Fountain Pen lineup. Kimberly reviewed hers back in April, and I have the Royal Blue model with a Fine Steel Nib to give away this week. Read the rules below and get to entering!

Benu Pixie Royal Blue Fountain Pen Giveaway