[Pen/Pencil Review] Zebra R-301 Rollerball Pen
The Zebra R-301 Arrow Tip rollerball pen was on sale at Office Depot this weekend, so I picked one up to try – needing something to review this week. I tagged along with my husband who needed adhesive dots for the FenCon Art Show packets (like I wouldn’t go to an office supply place – HAH).
The R-301 is a refillable rollerball with “smooth flowing” liquid ink cartridges, a 0.7mm tips, and a stainless steel barrel with black plastic accents. The grip is textured black plastic. It measures 5.125″ long capped and 5.875″ with the cap posted. The cap snaps securely in place but spins on the post making it seem less secure than it is. The stainless steel body is very light – almost feels like aluminum – and weighs almost nothing. There’s no heft to the pen at all.
The ink cartridges are longer than an international fountain pen cartridge, but seems to be designed the same. I may try using a normal fountain pen cartridge in it at some point, since the R-301 only comes with two cartridges of black ink. The ink itself is dark, very quick drying, and pretty smooth. The website says the pen comes in blue as well, but I didn’t see one where I was shopping.
Overall impressions are…okay. The “snap to begin” claim on the packaging was a little optimistic. It took some priming to get the ink flowing the first cartridge I put in. The rollerball line wasn’t consistently dark until I’d written with it for about half a page. There were skips and lighter areas. But after that first half-page, it seems to be laying down a good, consistent line. Having only used it a very short amount of time, I have no idea how long the cartridge ink will last.
It won’t be a “most favorite” pen, but it a good, serviceable pen for under $5. I give it 3 bronze pencils.
