The Pilot Acroball 3 (0.7mm): A Bad Joke & A Review

First the joke…

Then the pen…

The Acroball 3 is one of those pens that grows on you…unlike that lame joke. When it first arrived, I liked it just okay, but lately I find myself using it more and more. Even though it’ll only run you 675 pennies (hardly anything!), there are a number of details that add up to making this pen a favorite.

THE CLIP:

The clip sports a super sturdy spring that makes it easy to clip the pen onto notebooks, pockets, messenger bag pockets, or purses. It simply stays put. It’s also fun to play with when you have some nervous energy to burn. Not that I ever do that.

THE GRIP:

This section of the pen is rubberized, with a subtle herringbone texture that makes the grip feel exactly right. Under the rubber, the body of the pen is not entirely solid, but feels to be constructed of narrow, but sturdy, ribs. (I’m guessing here, but that’s what it feels like.) Because of this, the grip area “gives” just a little when you press on it. Again, it feels absolutely perfect to me. If you look VERY CLOSELY at the picture, you can just about make out the “ribs” that I’m talking about.)

THE INK:
A few samples…

As you can see in the above samples, the colors are true and the lines are crisp and clean. I think the writing experience has gotten better the more I use the pen (e.g., the black seems to have gotten blacker), which may be why I went from feeling “meh” to feeling “wow.” Because it’s a ballpoint, there is just a bit of white space in the line, but it’s so slight that it doesn’t bother me at all (and I’m a stickler for that).

Jetpens describes the ink as being a “newly created oil-based ink that has 1/5 the viscosity of conventional oil-based inks.” The result is a super smooth writing experience. REALLY smooth…not Ink Joy smooth. (Hee.)

Now here’s my favorite part…
THE VISUAL CLUES:
The biggest problem I have with multipens has nothing to do with the pens and everything to do with my brain (or lack thereof). I pick up the pen intending to write in black, but then I forget to check which tip has been deployed, and, DARN, I’m writing in red. HAPPENS. ALL. THE. TIME. That issue disappears with the Acroball 3 as there is a visual clue…a tiny band of color just above the actual writing point. Black, blue, red…there it is…right where I’m looking when I’m ready to write. The mush brain issue is GONE.

Black ink clue

Blue ink clue

Red ink clue

My knock-knock joke was bad, but this pen will knock your socks off.

Orange you going to buy one?

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