The Pentel Flexfit II Ballpoint

The friendly folks over at StationeryArt.com were kind enough to send over this Pentel Flexfit II Ballpoint pen in blue to review.  The Pentel Flexfit is unique because of the custom 11 position adjustable grip, and the sturdy clip that also acts as a way to retract the tip of the pen.  Some of the pictures in this review require a close up look, so be sure to click on the photos to see the unique details of the pen.

Right off the bat, there are two things about the Pentel Flexfit II ballpoint pen that would typically make it a no-go for me, but so far have not been issues at all.  Usually I don’t enjoy writing with a ballpoint pen (writing sample and details below) but this pen writes much nicer than your typical ballpoint pen.  The second thing is the style of the grip that requires me to hold the pen in almost the same position constantly.  Although you can’t really rotate the pen between your fingers as you write which I do, you can slightly adjust up and down the grip section.

Pentel Flexfit II Grip close up in the normal position

As I said before, the thick rubber grip of this pen is one of the things that makes it very unique.  It is made of soft rubber that has three concave and textured strips that run down the length of it, and three smooth flat panels that alternate between them.  Through the translucent grip  you can see a left arrow (shown in the photo above) and above it there are five vertical lines that act as markers, there is a right arrow and corresponding markers on the other side as well.  In the center there is a faint red line (much easier to see in person) that lets  you know which of the 11 positions you have locked the grip into.  As you twist the grip to one of the 5 positions on the left, or 5 positions on the right, the top of the grip stays in place, while the center and bottom turn in the direction you have selected.  The end result is a grip that goes from having the 3 textured and 3 smooth sections going from perfectly straight to more and more gradually curved down the length of the pen.

The Pentel Flexfit II grip adjusted completely to one side

The next photo shows the grip of the Pentel Flexfit II twisted completely to one side.  You can see the faint red centering line is now lined up directly the vertical all the way to the far side of the grip.  Hopefully you can also see how the formerly straight up and down sections of the grip have now been flexed a bit to create a more contoured grip that can be customized to your writing style.  For me what this did was make it so that I could find that perfect position for the top knuckle of my middle finger.  It might sound insignificant, however it does create a much more comfortable writing experience in my opinion, although I do have to force my self not to turn the pen as I write, which I don’t know when I started doing, nor do I not know why I don’t have the issue when writing with my fountain pens.

A closer look at the grip only slightly adjusted

I’m hoping I did a good job describing how the grip adjusts, but I just wanted to provide one more photo of it in only a slightly adjusted position.  This photo shows the pen being adjusted to only the first position away from the neutral center position.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see the red centering line and the black line that it now lines up with.

Pentel Flexfit II Ballpoint 1 mm Writing Sample

Being that ballpoint pens are not my favorite to write with, I was not expecting much from the Pentel Flexfit II when it came to the way it wrote.  I was pleasantly surprised though, and would say its close to being on par with the Uniball Jetstream in how it writes.  The ink lays down a pretty dark and solid line and glides across the paper effortlessly.  The ink is described as being a “special low viscosity” ink so in comparison to the more tacky oil based ballpoint ink, it just writes nicer.  In addition to the writing sample above you will also notice that the pen clips right onto the notebook.  The clip itself is very strong and also acts as the way that you retract the tip of the pen, instead of using the plunger.

Pentel Flexfit II 1.0mm Ball Pointpen Review Summary

This is a great pen if you do a lot of writing and have trouble getting that perfect comfortable grip.  Although it might not end up being your absolute most favorite pen in terms of what the way it writes, I’m sure it will be towards the top of the list, and with the added benefit of the adjustable grip, you might be able to look the other way in the writing department anyway.

Thanks again to my friends over at StationeryArts.com for providing the Pentel Flexfit II ballpoint for me to test drive and share with everyone here.  They have a ton of other great pens to so be sure to check them out.

©2016, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.