[Pen/Pencil Review] The Staples Strata Liquid Rollerball 0.5mm in Blue Ink
Today’s pen is the Staples Strata 0.5mm rollerball with blue ink. Strata is Staples’s “house” brand of pen. It’s a fairly typical, disposable rollerball, but has something last week’s pen didn’t, a “true” 0.5mm point feel.
The Strata is 5.5″ long capped and just at 6″ with the cap posted. It has a slightly squishy rubber finger grip, which makes a bit of suction on the cap. So getting the cap off to post can take a wee bit of effort, but you’re not going to lose it. It also posts securely. The length is comfortable and fairly well-balanced in the hand. The drop between the grip and the tip of the pen has rounded edges so there isn’t a lot of digging into the fingers if you tend to “choke down” on a pen.
The ink is what the packaging says. It’s a smooth line. I haven’t encountered much in the way of glops. If you run your hand over it immediately after writing, there will be minor smearing-which left-handers should be aware of-but it dries in less than a second. For an “extra fine” point, the ink is rich and vibrant. I believe it’s fade resistant, and I just ran a bead of water over a sample, no smearing. So, yeah, water resistant. For a “liquid” rollerball, it’s a solid pen that lives up to the packaging.
If you’re looking for bulk/multiple pens per pack workhorse disposable pens, I would take a look at the Strata. They’re solid. They’re kinda pretty with a variegated gray/silver body. The stainless steel clip is tight and secure-and pretty with the open cut-out in the center. It’s a good little pen.
Now to the numbers.
1. How does it work? – 1 – It works fine. Smooth flow. It smears in the first second then is dry. Water resistant. Good color
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – It’s solid, but I’m going to knock it back a touch because of the grip material. It almost that spongy memory rubber stuff that’s good on retractable grips, creates more of a vacuum seal on the cap.
3. Material – 1 It’s plastic. It’s meant to be disposable. It is what it is.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s a decent body design. It’s decent ink. It’s a solid pen for what it is.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – They are really affordable when they’re on sale. Normal price point is about $1.60/each. They are proprietary to Staples, so it’s not like you can shop around. Though not overly expensive, there is a cost consideration to take into account. If you can get them on sale, do that. It’s what I did.
4 out of 5 bronze pencils.