Faber-Castell Poly Flow Fountain Pen Review

Like many other German stationery brands, Faber-Castell excels across many price points. The fancier, more expensive, products tend to get most of the press, but if you are a general stationery lover, their lower-priced office and school pens are well worth checking out. The Faber-Castell Poly Flow Fountain Pen is a perfect example.

A basic box, with a sticker on the end that matches the pen color.

The Poly series of pens features a lightly-textured, but firm, exterior barrel material, and yes, some wild colors that spoke to me. I had to have this Purple and Orange gradient model, named Punchy Melon, because look at it! Ok, don’t run away because I love the vibrant colors - there is Black, too!

Crazy colors or not, the Poly Flow has been a blast to use, and not just because of the aesthetic. For starters, the nib is excellent. I shouldn’t be surprised, because nearly every basic beginner nib I’ve used from big companies like LAMY, Pelikan, Pilot, Platinum, etc. are all excellent. They know how to treat first time users right.

This goes for experienced users, too, because while the Poly Flow is only available in Medium, I find it wonderful to write with. It doesn’t have purely round tipping, but rather a slightly square style that works well with my handwriting. It’s controllable, which on a wider nib feels great.

The ink flow has been perfect through the #5 sized nib and feed. It uses international cartridges and converters, so I grabbed one of my standard converters (it does not come with one,) and inked it up with Montblanc Bram Stoker Purple because matchy-matchy. Perfect, right? Like I said before, I should stop being surprised at how well a nib like this can perform.

It’s a bit of an optical illusion, but there is a “shape” to the barrel and grip section.

The main consideration for the Poly Flow is that it has a rounded-edge triangle shape throughout the barrel, which also appears in the grip section. This is for ergonomic reasons, but only if your grip is already ergonomic, or you want to learn are more traditional writing grip. It’s not as extreme as something like a LAMY Safari, but you will want your fingers to align to be comfortable.

Another note on the shape: to cap the pen, you need to line up the cap and barrel ridges to snap tight. It’s simple, but if you aren’t paying attention, you will find resistance until you rotate it to close.

For $22, I’m thrilled with what the Faber-Castell Poly Flow brings to the table. It’s as fun to look at as it is to use, and the nib is a real standout. I can see it getting a lot of use at home, or tossed in a bag and used on the go. There are plenty of colors, and even some Ballpoint and Gift Set options as well. Well done Faber-Castell!

(This product was purchased from Goldspot at a discounted price.)

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Faber-Castell Hexo Rose 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.)

I'm a big fan of fountain pens that can deliver a solid fundamental writing instrument along with unique or delightful design elements for under $50. This has to be a difficult price range to deliver on, and not everyone succeeds. In my experience, the biggest letdowns in this price range usually come in the form of a unique looking pen that just doesn't write well. At $50, you want something that looks nicer than a disposable or $20 entry level pen, but you also want it to write as well as any of the fantastic pens in the lower price bracket (if not better).

The Hexo from Faber-Castell is an entry-level fountain pen with a modern design and fantastic build. The name "Hexo" aligns with the hexagonal shape of the pen body and cap, but the corners are rounded off and smooth to make it comfortable to handle. The Rose color that I have now is a light pink — almost difficult to detect unless there's plenty of light. Otherwise it looks silver or champagne.

The broad matte black clip contrasts the aluminum body well, and also does a great job of keeping the pen attached to things. It's really strong, but easy to use.

One of my favorite features of the Hexo is the mechanism that auto-aligns the cap to the barrel so that the hexagonal lines match. When you design a pen with lines that go from top to bottom, you have to assume that a large portion of buyers will be compelled to make sure those lines always line up, and I really appreciate them thinking ahead and making that process automatic for me. This is accomplished with some small guides on the grip that ensure the cap lines up. The click fitting for the cap also makes this pen easy to uncap/cap, and features a satisfying click to let you know it's capped securely.

On top of the aligning cap, the grip section also has a similar alignment guide for screwing it into the body. Once you reach the end of the threads when screwing the grip onto the body, the final quarter turn positions the grip so that it aligns perfectly with the body. It's hard to explain how satisfying it is to achieve perfect alignment on this pen with zero effort. It's so good that I think it's the biggest selling point of this pen. Faber-Castell has seen the OCD crowd, and they have delivered a fantastic pen for us.

Aside from the design and nifty alignment features, this pen is actually really good at being a writing instrument as well. The steel nib is firm, but provides a crisp line with plenty of feedback. The EF size in my pen is right on target for a European-style nib size. Mine is smooth and required no tuning or tweaking — it wrote well out of the box. The nib and feed provide great flow when writing, and the good seal from the cap means you can uncap and start writing immediately without waiting or scribbling a few lines to get the ink flowing. It's a workhorse in the writing department.

The grip section features a flared shape that provides a nice butt for your fingers to rest into when writing. Something else I appreciate is that the shape is uniform in diameter, meaning this will work well for right- or left-handed writers who use some form of standard-ish grip. The grip provides just enough shape to be useful for many grip styles. Pens that lean into the three-finger tripod grip alienate a lot of people who don't grip pens that way, and the pen is either uncomfortable or unusable. With the Hexo, it's really comfortable, functional, and inclusive.

The light weight body and contoured grip are further complimented by the larger-than-average diameter of the pen, which I find to be more comfortable. Not everyone will agree with me, but I like pens that are a little wider for writing in cursive or for writing for extended periods. All three of these design choices result in a really comfortable writing experience.

The Faber-Castell Hexo is a fantastic entry-level pen from a company that knows a thing or two about stationery. At $42, it’s easy to recommend as a stylish, modern alternative to other sub-$50 pens. The $50 price point has a few "luxury" brand pens that don't deliver on the writing instrument fundamentals, but this is not one of those. This is pen that nails the fundamentals, but also provides some nice extras like the unique design, auto-aligning cap, and wider body. If the Rose color isn't your thing, you can also find this pen in black, silver, bronze, and blue. And, you have a choice of EF, F, M, and B nibs. This is a great pen for gifts, introducing people to fountain pens, or as a nice treat for yourself!

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

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Faber-Castell GRIP 2011 Mistletoe Ballpoint 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 thing I love most about ballpoint pens that use the Parker style refill is that I can pick a pen that I like and know that I have a whole lot of options when it comes to what refill I use. This makes a pen much more versatile and useful.

The Faber-Castell GRIP 2011 Mistletoe is a ballpoint pen that features a unique three facet body and round grip dots all over the body and grip. It looks visually interesting due to the odd shape of the barrel and the grid pattern of dots that extend from grip to clip.

The Mistletoe variant of this pen is what gives it the rich metallic color. It's a "Teal Black," but it looks like a dark gray with blue-ish tint in every light I've put it under. Under a high power flash, the blues and greens of the teal come out a bit, but they're still soft. Still, the metallic bits in the paint add a lot of character to the color and work well together with the grip dots and clip colors. Regardless of what the color is called, it's a nice-looking color that I enjoy.

The knock mechanism on this pen is very satisfying to click. It doesn't require a lot of pressure to operate, but it makes a fantastic click sound and crisp feel that reminds me of a clicky mechanical keyboard switch. If you're familiar with the Parker Jotter knock, you might know how heavy duty and noisy it is. It's also satisfying, but in a different way. The GRIP 2011 click is much gentler and refined, and I absolutely enjoy clicking it.

The clip on this pen is incredibly strong. It's difficult to lift with your finger, but it has no problem sliding over a pocket or bit of fabric. The clip strength means this pen is secure when attached to something. I really appreciate how strong the grip is while also being incredibly easy to use. In my book, a weak clip that causes you to lose a pen is as bad as a clip that is too strong and stubborn and requires two hands to remove.

The nose of the pen unscrews from the grip section so you can replace the refill. The seam for the cone can be hard to spot because it blends in really well with the body. Since this is a Parker-style refill, you can roll with any number of excellent refill options. The included refill is really great, though. It's a blue 1.0 mm refill that is really smooth and consistent. The blue ink is on the darker side, but still easy to distinguish.

Combine the smooth refill with the three-facet body, and you've got a really comfortable pen. I like the grip provided by the three sides and the grippy dots, and I think the shape should work with many styles of grip, not just the three-finger grip that is considered "standard."

The Faber-Castell GRIP 2011 is a little longer than most pens that use a Parker-style refill. One of the perks of this refill is that it's short but still packs a lot of ink supply. But, there's no reason the pen has to be shorter — in the case of the GRIP 2011, the extra centimeters of length give the pen a great balance when writing. Whether the length is functional or aesthetic, I like the balance of the finished product.

At $25, the Faber-Castell GRIP 2011 is a unique and well made ballpoint pen option. The pretty color and unique style doesn't look like anything you can buy off the shelf at an office supply store, and you're guaranteed to continue using for (hopefully) the rest of your life given the accessibility of the refill size.

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

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

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