Zebra Zensations Sarasa Fineliner Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

Who can resist the allure of a pack of brightly colored fineliner pens? Not me. Probably not a lot of you. Honestly, why try? Especially when they're from Zebra.

This pack of 12 fineliners is part of the Zebra Zensations line--art and coloring tools perfect for zentangles or other relaxing ink crafts. I've played with a lot of fineliners and have a decent stash of them already, so I'd planned to pass this pack off to the kids after the review. But I like them so much they snuck right back into my pen cup. They're now among my favorites.

The pen body is sturdy black plastic with a colorful wrap that shows the color of the ink. The clip is also the ink color, so it's easy to tell what you're reaching for. The clip is fantastic. It's strong but flexible and has enough room that it can clip to a book cover or a nice chunk of pages. The grip section is also in coordinated colored plastic. It's slim and tapers a bit, so there may be some slipping if you're using the pen for longer periods. I found it very comfortable to hold, though.

The tip is a .8 mm "needle point" felt tip. I've been a bit spoiled by insanely fine tips, so calling this a fine/needle point seems off to me. I'd consider this to be a fairly broad fineliner, but its lines are very crisp and precise.

The ink is water resistant, acid free, and archival quality. The colors are very rich and vibrant, and the tip provides excellent coverage. I think they're fantastic for coloring and journaling and I suspect artists would get good use from them as well.

Despite all this awesomeness, they're at the low end of the price range for fineliners. It's $1.75 apiece for open stock, or this pack of 12 costs $19.

If you need to get some colorful zen into your life, I'd snap these up.

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

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Stabilo Sensor Fineliner Marker Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

Fineliners are usually fairly standard in build and purpose, but every now and then, one with a unique feature comes along. The Stabilo Sensor boasts a cushioned felt tip that retracts into the metal casing. It's not a feature I've encountered on other fineliners I've tried. I can't decide if I like it or not, but I do think it has its uses.

The body is plastic, the same color as the ink, which is always nice. There's an angular cap with a sturdy clip. It clicks securely in place and posts well. The grip section is comfortable to hold and not too slick. The ridges provide enough grip that your fingers don't slip when applying pressure to the tip. I do think it would have been better with a cushioned grip, but I didn't experience any trouble during short writing sessions. It does take a fair amount of pressure to retract the tip all the way, but I don't think it's intended to be written with that way. That would cause some serious hand fatigue.

The retractable tip is meant to help with writing comfort. It's also meant to enhance the pen's use with rulers and stencils, and to allow for a consistent line when applying different levels of pressure. It also helps preserve the integrity of the tip. I can see how the springiness would help with the life of the tip, where pressure will retract it instead of flattening it. Those with heavy writing hands may find that this fineliner lasts much longer than the standard ones. But I didn't get good line consistency with different levels of pressure. Writing with pressure created a much broader line--which isn't the intent of the feature, but was kind of a cool feature by itself. There aren't many fineliners that offer any line variation. It could be a fun thing to experiment with, though experiment may wear out the feature if abused, I suspect. Still--it could be a fun thing to use for a few bullet journal headers.

This pen has been available for some time in standard colors, and now the new sets include a fun variety--though the sets have three of the same colors (teal, purple, and pink)--and then the Bright set has a lime green and the Colortangle has black. The groupings seem a little odd to me, but they're also available as open stock. The ink is well behaved and the colors are saturated and bright. I could see this being a popular pen for coloring books, if they released a better variety of colors.

Overall, I think the Sensor is very useful and the unique feature makes it a bit fun and interesting. It's perfect for drafters or doodlers, and it's priced well to be good for office or student use.

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

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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!

Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner Marker Pen Ultramarine Blue Review

I have tested and reviewed a lot of pens over the years, but I am always looking for something new to try out. Readers have recommended that I review the Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner for quite some time, and now that JetPens has started to stock them, I finally have easy access to what happens to be a very good pen.

I grabbed two on my initial order - Black and Ultramarine Blue. While I might use black on a more regular basis, I always like to review some of the non-standard colors, and Ultramarine Blue is a winner. According to the color chart on JetPens, this shade falls right in between Turquoise on the light side and Dark Blue on the darker end of the spectrum. If you have ever tried the Uni-Ball Light Blue ink it reminds me of that a little.

Performance wise, there are no issues to speak of. The water-based ink does bleed through the page just a bit, but like I mentioned in the written review, that is the norm for this type of pen, where the Sharpie Pen is the exception. The long barrel is lightweight and easy to hold, and my lines were clean and sharp.

The best part about this pen is that it is only 80 cents, so for less than a buck you can try out one of the 25 colors available. That is a can’t lose proposition in my book.