Muji, as a brand, is known for being “brandless”. They create simple, utilitarian products that do not have any outward branding on the items. The stationery products that Muji creates are no different, including the Muji 0.25mm gel pens (approx. $2.50 each) that I picked up in New York oh-so-long-ago with Myke and Brad on our 2018 world tour (details here).
The pens are hexagonal with a soft touch feel. Not rubbery per se but a very matte feeling. The entire pen barrel matched the ink color contained within and the cap is clear with a colored dot on top printed with the point size. This is the only permanent information on the pens.
The bar code info stickers on the pens can be removed making these pens the brandless bits of Muji perfection they are meant to be (see top photo for the stickerless pens). Without the stickers, these pens make my designer heart swoon with their clean lines and simplicity.
Since these gel pens are the micro 0.25mm tips, they have a needlepoint tip.
The caps snap into place with a quiet click, probably thanks to the soft-touch surface. They write super smooth and the fine, fine 0.25mm means I can write like the mouse I am.
Since I tend to doodle and draw on anything and everything, I thought I’d also test how waterproof these gel inks were, on the off-hand chance I decided to add marker or watercolor. They are water resistant, but not waterproof. In other words, if you were to drip condensation from a beverage, your writing wouldn’t be lost but it would smear a little.
One last test was to see how the Muji Gel Pens performed on Col-o-ring cards which are a bit more toothy than the Rhodia paper I normally use for pen reviews. Since, like I mentioned, I like to use gel pens for drawing and Col-o-ring cards are similar in texture and weight to some drawing papers. The pens worked great on the cards. They skate along smoothly on the Col-o-ring paper though any paper with tooth may cause a rollerball to pick up stray paper fibers over time so you might need a scrap of smooth paper to restart them if they get choked.
I went ahead and wet this sample too, just to see if the results were better or worse on a thicker stock. I think there was more evidence of ink bleed on the Col-o-ring paper but the writing remained so I would still say the ink is water resistant but not waterproof.
Overall though, next to the the Uni-ball Sign RT and Needlepoint, these are probably my favorite gel pens. Sadly, this particular model is not available on the Muji website but if you are in a city that has a Muji store, I highly recommend making the effort to go and pick some of these or any of their pens up.
Tools:
- Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet and Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
- Pens: Muji 0.25mm Gel Pens ($2.50 each)
I love these pens. They make my favorite refill (Pentel Slicci) even better since these barrels are a bit bigger than the standard Slicci barrel. Sadly, it seems as if Pentel is discontinuing the line based on the meager stock still available at Jetpens. Funny that you posted this review now. I was just trolling Muji’s site looking for these.
Hi Ana, great review. Muji products are great. The light blue looks really cool.
I live in Toronto , where can I buy it or can I order and ship to my place?
Check with Wonder Pens or Laywines and see if either are carrying the cases. They are both shops in the Toronto area.