Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoint branding

Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoint pen review

7 April 2014 By ian

Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoint retracted

I am not the best person to review ballpoints, I must admit. They have their place, I know, but they will never, for me, be as good to use as any other kind of pen.

Having said that, thanks to Pure Pens I have one of these Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoints so I felt I should let you know what I think of it.

Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoint end on

The refill is fine, for a ballpoint. It’s fairly smooth, though not as smooth as some (such as the Monteverde soft-roll, for example). As with every ballpoint I’ve ever known, it false-starts all the time. If you want a wonderful writing experience, don’t buy a ballpoint. It will take a variety of refills if you don’t like the one it comes with.

Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoint review

The raison-d’être of this pen is the grip. Faber-Castell are so pleased with this grip they named the pen after it. What is the grip like? Actually rather good, despite being triangular. It’s soft and comfortable and pleasant to use.

Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoint deployed

The pen as a whole is well put together. The clip is good and firm and the knock mechanism is smooth and clicky in the right ways. This feels like a pen that justifies its price.

Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoint branding

The style, of course, is a matter of taste. It isn’t to my taste and although this feels like a good quality pen it looks like a cheap one. There are other colours available but they all look cheap and childish to me.

From a purely objective view, this is a good quality ballpoint pen. From a subjective view, it’s a ballpoint pen in a style I personally don’t like.

Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Ballpoint handwritten review

Thanks to Pure Pens for sending me this pen to review. These views are entirely my own.