Pilot FriXion Biz Point 04 Review

I’m not sure where I was when it happened, but I have turned into a full fledged Pilot FriXion fan. I think it must be Pilot’s constant updating and improvements to the entire FriXion line that made me sit up and take notice. Have you seen how many products they have released just in the past year?¹

When the first round of the FriXion Biz came out, I wasn’t on the bandwagon yet. The barrel looked great, but it contained the standard 0.5mm conical tip that was present in the regular FriXion. A year or so ago, Pilot came out with the FriXion Point 04 - a needle tip 0.4mm erasable gel ink pen. Now we are in business! The FriXion Biz Point 04 was released shortly thereafter, and I finally picked one up last week.

I went with the Metallic Blue Body, and it is both fantastic to look at and to write with. The barrel reminds me a lot of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Cavalier barrel, but full sized as opposed to the slimmed down Cavalier. I also bought the blue ink refills, because I am weird about using different color inks than the body color (it comes with a black ink cartridge).

Looking at the written review², you can see how nicely the pen writes. Very clean lines, and no skipping to speak of. The shade of blue is lighter than most, but that allows it to be more easily erased, and doesn’t bother me a bit.

One thing that did bother me originally was the eraser placement under the cap. I am learning to deal with it, because in the case of the Biz, it would make for a less attractive pen if the rubber eraser was on top. If I was using a mechanical pencil I would have to remove the cap to get to the eraser too, right?

The Pilot FriXion Biz 04 has earned a place on my desk, and I reach for it often. I wouldn’t sign any official documents with it, but it is a fun pen to use in nearly every other situation.

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   Note to Pilot: The G-2 could use an update. ↩

   
   


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   Sorry for the terrible crop and the seasick photo angle. ↩

   
   

Pilot Acroball 0.5mm Blue Review

For regular readers of The Pen Addict, you know what type of pen I am referring to when I talk about hybrid ballpoints, but for the uninitiated, let me recap real quick.

Traditional ballpoint pens are oil-based inks, which gives them certain properties that aren't so great. They tend to be messy and have a faint smell, but they write very smoothly. They are also very low-cost to manufacture, which is why you see them everywhere you go.

Hybrid ballpoint inks have gained in popularity over the past decade with the Uni-Ball Jetstream line of pens. The Jetstream ink proved to be smoother, darker, and more consistent than traditional ballpoint ink. The cost was greater, but the results were worth it to many people.

In the last two years, all of the major pen manufacturers have jumped into the hybrid ballpoint category. Zebra has the Surari, Pentel has the Vicuna, and Pilot has the Acroball (called the Easy Touch Pro in the US), each with their own ink formulation. All of these rank as some of my favorite pens to use on a daily basis. The Jetstream has topped my personal chart for as long as I can remember, but there is a new sheriff in town.

The Pilot Acroball impressed me from day one with its smooth, dark ink and exceptional grip. You would think the grip wouldn't play into the equation that much, but it can be a very important piece of the puzzle. I use the 0.7mm Acroball in both blue and black ink quite frequently, but the Jetstream 0.5mm was still my favorite hybrid ballpoint. I love the super fine line!

When I saw the 0.5mm Acroball released at JetPens, I couldn't get my hands on one fast enough. The lines I can write with this pen are very fine and tight, and it has the same grip as the original, which I love. The real question is will this pen replace my beloved Jetstream Sport 0.5mm?

Yes.

There is one thing to remember about 0.5mm ballpoint pens before you jump into them blindly - they are scratchier than most pens. This doesn't bother me one bit because the actual output is more important to me, but I have recommended the Jetstream 0.5mm several times only to have readers tell me it was too scratchy for them. Compared to an 0.7mm gel ink pen or 1.0mm ballpoint, sure, they are scratchy. But all things considered, they write very well, and the Acroball 0.5mm may be the best of the bunch.

Pen Type-A: A Minimal Pen

I was followed on Twitter by @saywey yesterday afternoon, and while I am not an auto-follow-bot, I usually at least check people out to see what they are into. As it turns out, Che-Wei Wang is a big fan of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C, and along with his design partner Taylor Levy (they run the Brooklyn based design firm CW&T), they launched a Kickstarter project called Pen Type-A.

All of the technical details can be found on the Kickstarter page, but in a nutshell, this is a custom built stainless steel barrel that is designed to hold Pilot Hi-Tec-C refills of any tip size and color. When not in use, it is housed in a stainless steel sleeve that also doubles as a ruler. A pen made by designers, for designers.

Once this campaign is complete, the Pen Type-A will retail for $99, but while it is funding, you can get one for $50 through your Kickstarter pledge. I put my money where my mouth is last night and ordered one. I wasn’t the only one apparently, because when I went to bed the campaign was a little over $1400, and is now at $3140 and has easily surpassed its $2500 goal.

There is still plenty of time to get in on the early pricing - 29 more days in fact - so if this is something that appeals to you may want to consider jumping on this now.

(I get nothing for writing this post other than the warm fuzzy of supporting a cool looking project that pushes all of the right buttons. You can view my full Kickstarter profile right here).