[Pen/Pencil Review] ONLINE Switch Fountain Pen with Stylus
This week’s pen is an interesting combination of Old School and New School – it’s the Online Switch Fountain Pen with Stylus that I picked up at Paradise Pen Company this past weekend. The Online brand is out of Germany and makes pretty nice modern fountain pen. This is no exception. The Switch is part of their “Young” line.
The Online Switch gives a nod to those of us who live on the edge between old school writing and the digital world by creating a fountain pen with a stylus in the barrel. And they do it with style and quality and with the beginner fountain pen user in mind. And…by reading up on Paradise Pen Company and ONLINE’s website, this pen works with an App called “ONLINE Discovery – Learn to Write” which is a collaborative effort to help kids (or anyone) learn to write on both paper and tablets. I’ve just downloaded it, but haven’t had a chance to play with the app yet (I JUST found out about it). But HOW COOL IS THAT?
The Switch is about 5.75″ long with the cap on and 6.25″ long with the cap posted. The barrel is about the size of those Kindergarten pencils – wider than your typical pen, but with a soft-ish plastic and a molded ergonomic grip. The light plastic is durable but comfortable and pretty well balanced. The cap posts securely but has no clip and comes in some fun colors. The website only has a few, I managed to get a lime green one at the Dallas store.
The iridium nib is a medium width – but a thin medium. So the line doesn’t seem bulky. The ink flowed well on handmade paper with no skipping, feathering, or smearing – it does come with a single blue ink, standard cartridge. The barrel is long enough you might be able to get the long cartridges in it. The stylus is quite responsive without being squishy. LOVE THAT.
The quibble? As with another pen/stylus combo… The cap posts over the stylus, so if you’re going back and forth between screen and paper, you have to either leave the cap off or keep taking it off and on – but there’s no other way to really do the stylus with this pen.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 It works really well. The stylus is responsive. The nib and ink flow smoothly on paper without skipping or pressing hard.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – This is designed with comfort and ergonomics in mind. The triangular grip fits well. The soft plastic barrel is comfortable with great balance.
3. Material – 1 It’s strong quality plastic with softer bits for comfort and ergonomic molding.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – The cap doesn’t have a clip. That’s a problem. No good way to secure it to a pocket or notebook. If you have the cap posted, you can’t use the stylus.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – You have to get this online or through a store like Paradise Pen Company. Paradise currently has them on sale for $19.99 – which is pretty good for a decent beginner fountain pen (and the app is free) – but it’s an investment pen and you have to find it.
4.0 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
