Uni-ball Vision Elite Liquid Ink Rollerball

Uni-ball Vision Elite 0.8mm

The name is what sold me on this pen. The Uni-ball Vision Elite. I'm expecting this pen to be 'Epic'. The name Vision Elite makes me feel like I should be prepared to be totally amazed by this pen, so I bought it to see if it lives up to it's name.

The pen uses "Airplane safe technology" which sounds very posh. All this means is that the pen has a reservoir which absorbs expanding air preventing ink from being forced out due to changes in air pressure on a flight. So no in- flight leaks. I'm not a regular flyer and the idea that a pen might leak on a plane had never occurred to me until now. But if you are a jet setter, a leaky pen is something you no longer need to worry about.

Get your boarding passes ready

It looks very stylish for a plastic pen. I love how the colours slightly confuse me. Are the ends grey or silver? And there is no clear line where the colours change. They fade into each other beautifully. The lid ties in brilliantly with Airplane Safe Technology theme even if it was probably unintentional. The oval shaped windows, with not much to see when you look through them. I can almost see the faces peering out. And the top of the lid is like a futuristic cockpit, the pilots taking their passengers to an unexplored land filled with all things stationery.
As amazing as the lid is, it doesn't post well. Unless you push it on with quite a bit of force it will just ping off, which can actually be quite fun for the childish pen fans out there. My son and I had a fun little competition to see who could ping it the furthest. The unimpressed hound ran for cover.
As a lid itself it's very secure and trustworthy.

 See through strip so you can monitor your fuel ink usage

The Uni-ball Vision Elite is super smooth to write with. The ink flow is flawless, not a single blip. Minimal pressure is all you need to get clear, crisp lines on paper. And if you are someone who presses hard, the result is exactly the same. I will just say that with this pen, the quality of the paper does make a difference. On my cheaper, rougher notepads I was getting alot of fuzziness. But when used on the right paper, this pen writes like a dream. I found that the smoother the paper, the better the writing experience.

writing sample - Uni-ball Vision Elite

The ink dries fairly quickly, even on less absorbant paper and after 5 seconds max it's completely dry and smudge free. The ink did show through the page ever so slightly on the notebooks I used but nowhere near enough for it to be a problem. I could happily use both sides with no issues.The packaging says it uses "tamper proof uni super ink that will not wash off when immersed in water, acetone, glycerin, bleach or other chemicals used by document fraudsters". So document fraudsters beware. You will not get the better of this pen.

Comfortable Criss Cross Grip

The transparent grip with it's criss cross pattern serves it's purpose well. It's comfortable to hold despite being plastic. My fingers experienced no slippping at all.

Refillable

The Uni-ball Vision Elite is refillable and the refills are easy to get hold of online. The refill is pretty much the whole pen, minus the case and lid.

So is the Uni-ball Vision Elite as Epic as it sounds? Maybe not Epic, but it's close. I would feel confident using this pen for important documents and forms, work assignments and pretty much everything else, as long as the paper is of a reasonably good quality. If you're a rollerball fan then this is a pen I would recommend trying for yourself.

Uniball Insight Liquid Ink Rollerball

Uniball Insight

These are my Uniball Insight Liquid ink Rollerball pens. The bright colours immediately grabbed my attention. The pens are made of plastic and the colour of the pen is the same as the colour of the ink. Although wouldn't it be interesting if that wasn't the case?! Purple pen with green ink and green pen with red ink. I'll put it in the Uniball suggestion box, although I wouldn't be surprised if such pens existed already. When I realised that the same set which also includes a pink pen is available I felt a little sad inside. I think the pink pen and I would have got on like a house on fire.

 

0.7 mm tip

The pens have a stainless steel 0.7mm tip which gives you a 0.5mm line. The finer the tip the better for me. My handwriting looks a little less clumsy with a finer tip.The smooth plastic grip is slightly thinner than the barrel so my fingers slot in very comfortably with no slipping. The pens are lightweight and I don't feel the need to grip them tightly. The colours on the tip are a nice touch. The lids are very secure and need that extra little bit of strength to remove.

'Insight' into how much ink is left

The pens have a see through strip on the barrel which allows you to see how much ink is left. Such a simple but very effective idea. It means I can see at a glance how reliable my pen will be at completing the task assigned to it. This pen speaks the truth and allows me to make decisions accordingly.

 liquid ink bubbles

The Uniball Insight pens use liquid ink which flows from the tip beautifully. It doesn't matter how much pressure I apply, hardly any or pressing hard, the result is the same. It writes smoothly but theres just enough resistance on the paper to prevent the pen from running away with me.
I love the ink colours. They are bright and cheerful although I would have liked the purple to be a little bit brighter so it stands out more.The pens claim to be waterproof and fade proof although I haven't actually tested this out for myself. The packaging states that "The ink will not wash out of clothing" so I'll take it's word for it. I'm not prepared to ruin a t shirt in an effort to prove it wrong. I'm now reassured by the strong lids as I definitely don't want accidental ink blotches anywhere knowing it will be permanent.

lovely colours

The picture doesn't do the colours any justice but I wanted to show what I mean with the purple.

press me

The lids make me want to press them as if they were a magical button. Press down on it and your child will be ejected from their computer chair and fired off to the park to actually play with real people and experience fresh air and sunshine. They are not actually buttons and don't actually press down but if they did, I'm sure thats what they would be for.

The Uniball Insight is fun, colourful and a pleasure to write with. This is a pen that I'd be happy to use for any occasion, be it doodling and making the most of the colours, or toning it down with the black or blue for a work assignment or letter writing. It ticks all the boxes.