[Pen/Pencil Review] The BIC Biro Fine Point Easy Glide in Blue Ink

Seriously, I wish the BIC Biro Easy Glide fine point (or any BIC fine point) ball point pens were available in the US. They would be one of my every day, always have one on me, pens. I’m constantly frustrated that BIC and Papermate and other manufacturers have arbitrarily decided the default pen point is now “Bold” and “Ultra Bold”. I can’t find “typical” ball point pen that’s under 1.0 mm and most of the BIC Crystal pens that I might’ve impulsively bought this back to school season are all 1.6 mm.

The only reason I have this lovely blue ink specimen is because fellow Texas author, Lou Antonelli, has the same love of fine point pens that I do. This was a gift from him – as was the black one I’ve reviewed, and the red I will review in the future. We’re still on the hunt for the GREEN ink ones. We are relying on our INTERNATIONAL friends to help us out on this one. HELP????

So, the high points… this is a 0.7mm point, they run 5.75″ capped and 6.5″ with the cap posted. The ink is actually dark for the fine line. The tungsten ballpoint does allow ink to flow easily. The blue is nice and rich. Though, if you don’t rotate the pen in your hand as you write, there is some ink clumping that can smear. But for the most part it’s a quick dry time. I hope it’s the tungsten design now that keeps the ink consistent. In the past I’ve felt that the ink started out dark and rich and then fade (like the ball stopped picking up ink or something) as you went down the page, but I don’t have that impression with this pen.

There’s nothing fancy about this pen. It’s simple, plastic, with no bells or whistles. The yellow ( or orange depending on which description you read) hexagonal barrel has no padding or ergonomic grip – which does lead to fatigue if you’re do a tight grip on pens like I do. But for a simple pen, it’s quite handy and nice. I would like to have a few boxes of each color on hand to have backups. I only have the one of each and I don’t want to use them up before I can find replacements.

The numbers:

1. How does it work? – 0.5 It’s decent. No frills. No padding. Ink can be a bit clumpy and will smear if you’re not careful (and/or left handed).
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s an inexpensive, plastic, no frills pen. The grip and feel is hard plastic. But you’re not buying this pen for the grip, let’s be honest.
3. Material – 1 For an inexpensive plastic pen, it’s solidly built. The cap and barrel are secure. The logo doesn’t wear off easily.
4. Overall Design – 1 -It’s a classic BIC pen that hasn’t changed in decades. It is what it is.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – These are going to be more expensive than they should be because you have to import them from some other country. Bleck.

4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils

Tags: Ballpoint, BIC, Biro, Crystal, Fine Point, ink, Lou Antonelli, pen review