First, let's talk about the conclusion#
- For writing in English, use traditional ballpoint pens (oil-based ballpoint pens).
- For writing in Chinese, use gel pens (rollerball pens).
- For mixed Chinese and English writing, either buy two pens or use a fountain pen if you can afford it, otherwise make do with what you have.
Recommended brands: Bic, Zebra, Pentel, Mitsubishi.
Now, let's talk about the reasons#
When it comes to stationery, pens are an inevitable topic. The most commonly used types of pens in daily life are pencils, ballpoint pens, and fountain pens. With mechanical pencils and fountain pens, you often get what you pay for, with higher prices usually indicating better quality. However, ballpoint pens are different. Even if you spend a lot of money, you still only get an average quality pen.
Mechanical pencils and fountain pens often have advanced technology in high-end products, which significantly improves the writing experience. However, ballpoint pens rely more on the ink cartridge, so pens in the 100-200 price range are already at the limit of writing improvement. More expensive ballpoint pens focus more on the overall quality and feel of the pen.
For example, Japanese brands like Bic and Zebra have various limited edition designs, ranging from plastic to wood to full metal pen bodies. However, there are some differences between these two brands. Zebra has released various limited edition styles on the JJ15, which have been heavily speculated and earned the nickname "plastic pen factory".
On the other hand, Bic constantly innovates pen body designs and makes full use of leftover materials from fountain pens. For example, in the S series, there are S3 with plastic bodies, S10 with metal bodies, and S20 with wooden bodies. In the TimeLine series, there are pens named past, present, future, and eternal. In the Fumi Raku series, there are pens made of Nanbu iron and white pottery. Bic has taken pen body design to the extreme.
I haven't mentioned domestically produced ballpoint pens because I believe they are assembled products. Take the brand M&G as an example. From M&G's 2015 IPO prospectus, it can be seen that the pen tip and ink are the core raw materials for writing tool manufacturing. The overall manufacturing level of domestically produced pens still has a certain gap compared to Japan, Switzerland, and Germany. Therefore, M&G still relies mainly on non-domestic production, with only a small portion using domestically produced pens. This raises a question: if you are buying a high-end M&G ballpoint pen, since it is imported and assembled, why not just buy an imported ballpoint pen? Moreover, there are certain requirements for the compatibility between the pen tip and ink, and M&G's may not be as good.
I'm not criticizing domestically produced stationery, I just dislike M&G's "changing the body but not the core" approach. When recommending some good pen models (like M&G's small brush pen, Triple Density, etc.) to others, I sometimes end up disappointed. Despite this, M&G has developed quite well over the years and has been deeply rooted in offline retail terminals. It can be said that almost every small county in China has dozens of M&G stationery stores. With funding, development is only a matter of time, and I have high hopes for M&G.
When we are choosing pens in a stationery store or watching review videos by bloggers, we often come across names like "ballpoint pen, gel pen, water-based pen, hybrid pen, gel ink pen, rollerball pen," and so on. Although we don't need to distinguish them too clearly, in order to choose the right pen and avoid being misled by the store, we need to learn some common knowledge.
In terms of scope, ballpoint pens include:
- Water-based ballpoint pens (water-based pens)
- Gel pens (rollerball pens)
- Oil-based ballpoint pens (oil-based pens)
- Hybrid pens (a combination of gel and oil-based pens)
The above is a strict distinction, but in practice, we usually refer to oil-based ballpoint pens as ballpoint pens (the type that writes smoothly and is particularly suitable for writing in English), which may also be called atomic pens or rollerball pens. If we don't want to make a strict distinction, we generally consider gel pens as gel pens.
Currently, Bic and Mitsubishi's mid-to-high-end ballpoint pens come with hybrid ink cartridges by default. These pens have almost zero compatibility with other ink cartridges, so you can only buy their own ink cartridges and cannot replace them with cartridges from other brands. Because of this, there is a wide variety of pens on the market, especially for students and office workers. A good pen can be visually pleasing and comfortable to use, which can inspire the desire to write. However, selecting the "perfect pen" from many options requires not only money but also additional time costs. When making a purchase, we need to clearly define the writing scenario, purpose, and price range.
Speaking specifically about ballpoint pens, there are many self-sufficient enthusiasts, but most of them are simply hobbyists. Of course, there are also a small number of stationery merchants and pen manufacturers among them. So, if you have money, you can experience a good pen (body) and write a review. I prefer those interesting reviews, even though they may not be very accurate, they allow me to feel the author's true love for pens. If the review is aimed at ordinary consumers, then too much professional knowledge represents failure.
Finally, I would like to recommend a few ballpoint pens that I personally like:
- Bic V5RT, water-based pen, three-point support, smooth writing, but fragile.
- Mitsubishi SXN-1000, hybrid pen, metal wire drawing, matte texture, good compatibility (can be used with mainstream Japanese gel ink cartridges), similar to Asics running shoes' soft rubber (αgel).
- Bic S20, hybrid pen, wooden pen body, curved shape, perfect balance, poor compatibility. I particularly like its mechanical pencil counterpart.