[Pen/Pencil Review] Padrino Tech Ball Point Pen – Black Ink

This week’s pen is one of my birthday pens from Paradise Pen Company. This is one of their signature brand pens – a Padrino. This is the Padrino Tech Silver Ball Pen in black ink. This is a moderately priced gift/luxury ball point pen. It retails for $45, but right now it’s on sale for $15 online (and probably in store, if you can find it. I think I got the last one at the Dallas store).

The Padrino Tech has a brushed silver barrel with a smooth, modern sweeping clip. The pen has a twist mechanism that extends and retracts the Parker Style refill – which lets you refill with ball point or gel ink in a variety of colors and point styles. The one that came with the pen was a 0.7mm Parker style black ball point ink.

The pen writes smoothly and has a good weight and balance. It’s about 5.5″ long which is long enough to be comfortable with a medium diameter for a decent grip – no ergonomics. The finish can show dirt – I thought I saw dings, but just buffed them out with little effort.

If you need a gift pen, or a pen just to look good on your work desk, you can’t go wrong with this one. With the easily findable refill, it’s easy to use over the long-term. The sale price, makes it quite reasonable for a graduation gift or any other reason. It’s a well-built pen, which is something I’ve come to expect from Paradise Pen Company. Padrino is their “house” brand and stands up to more expensive brands.

To the numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 It’s good. It’s a smooth ink in a decent point. The twist retraction mechanism is smooth and easy to use.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – It has no real ergonomics. There’s no good grip, just the brushed metal finish.
3. Material – 1 It’s a solid metal pen with good mechanisms. It has a strong, artistic clip. The finish seems like it shows marks, but cleans well and easily.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s a standard twist mechanism ball point pen. But it works well, looks good, and cleans better than I expected. This is a pen that will live out its investment.
5. Price Point – 1 – If you pay full price, it’s expensive at $45. The fact that even the website has it for $15 makes it a good value for its class – but it may actually be a clearance item, which means you need to get it while you can.

4.5 out of 5 Bronze Pencils