Pentel Energel XM BL77 Retractable Pen Review

I think it’s safe to say that not all predictions come true. The most obvious are the various prophecies of the end of the world. Then there’s the paperless office, whilst George Pake was proved right when he had an inkling that we’d be able to “call up documents from files on the screen” & be getting mail from a “TV display terminal with a keyboard” we still seem attached to the good old pen & paper. If my recent experience with a Pentel gel is anything to go by I for one won’t be giving up on handwriting anytime soon.

Here is my review of the Pentel XM BL77 retractable gel pen.

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The Pentel EnerGel XM is a retractable gel pen with a 0.7mm metal tip writing a 0.35mm line. This is what I’d call a chunky pen but it remains light in the hand. The grip section is rubberized & is split into 4 vertical panels with rows of grooves that do a pretty good job preventing the fingers slipping. The barrel has a metal look, its silver with a color-coded panel displaying a logo & is home to the metal pocket clip. These Liquid Gel pens are available with a choice of black, blue, red, green or violet ink. The green ink version of this pen makes our top 5 green ink pens.

Pentel’s high-performance ink technology provides a fusion of liquid & gel inks in these pens, it is also acid-free & quick-drying, making them popular with lefties. The writing experience was positive, the nib glided across the page producing text with not one blob or smudge to be seen. I’ve written before of my habit to frequently click the buttons on retractable pens, this one moves firmly with no annoying rattles.

Like so many companies today Pentel is committed to producing environmentally friendly products & the Energel XM is made from 54% recycled material (excluding the ink & refill). They also have special pens in their XM range where they donate a percentage of the pens price to charity for every pen bought.

A paperless office is not something I’m likely to achieve but given that the Pentel Energel is refillable & recycled for now my conscience is clear.