Pentel Energize PL77 Mechanical Pencil Review

Pentel Energize PL77 Mechanical Pencil Review

Sunday night, just got home after an 8 hour drive, feeling a bit run down, getting some stuff ready for work the next morning, time to quickly choose a pencil for the coming week…well there it was, the EnerGize Pencil by Pentel. To make matters worse, Monday was the first day of the new financial year, so lots of reports to write…I was certainly going to need an extra dose of energy.

Well, that was a couple of weeks ago back at the start of month, so now I’ve finally written this review and got it published.

The Energize is a little bit of a change from the pencils I’ve been using lately. It’s a rather plain shape – basically just a long straight tube. No bulbous grips, tapering or curving bodies, etc. Instead Pentel have done a great job with the colour scheme. My silver-grey version really does look great – it’s simple, stylish, and yes, somehow energized looking.
Picking it up, this pencil is lighter than I expected. I know it’s only plastic, but with all that metallic colouring I still sort of half expected a little more weight. As a lightweight pencil the balance is fairly neutral. As for the grip, well, it’s a rubber grip and we all know my opinions of those. Hold on, back it up, change the record - I am impressed with this rubber grip. This is one that gets it right. The surface is not slippery. The concentric wave pattern grooves feel almost like little flanges sticking out to massage your fingers and they do add to the grip. The compound has just that little bit of cushioning to it under finger pressure. This is the grip that other rubber grips aspire to be. This is a rubber grip that I do not object to – coming from me, that probably counts as serious praise. Well, that’s my opinion anyway.

The lead advance is a standard push top ratchet mechanism. 10 clicks will get you 10mm of the 0.7mm lead. That’s quite a bit for Pentel. The tip is a retractable cone, so it’s fully pocket safe. Underneath the top button is the usual small disappointing eraser. You pull that out to load the lead magazine. It’s a fairly wide diameter tube so you can get a decent supply of lead in there. The top button is an unusual one. Firstly it has a sort of click-fit back onto the pencil rather than the usual push type feel. It’s also fairly gentle so you can definitely get it back on without activating the lead advance. The cap also has 4 little slots cut into the top of it, similar to the Forte Pro II as recently reviewed on this blog by AndrewJ. After his review was published, Andrew mentioned that he had been told that such slots were breathing slots in case a small child swallowed and chocked on the top button. I don’t know if that’s actually true, but it very well could be, and it’s obviously a good idea. Of course, on the Energize, they also double as cooling vents. :-)

One strange thing did happen to my Energize. Twice the front section unscrewed from the body. That’s very strange for me and Pentel, but then the rubber grip does sort of make me twist and rotate the pencil around, so that was probably the cause of it. Giving it a little extra twist when tightening back up did finally cure this problem.
The pocket clip is another piece of superior stuff. It is metal, good and sturdy, works well, and really fits in with the overall look of the pencil. See how the shape of the top of the body, and the graphics all lead your eye out to the pocket clip.To me, everything about this pencil indicates that one day the Pentel design department assembled their “A-Team” and this is what they came up with. Get yourself one.

• Best Points – Lots, but I’ll single out the rubber grip again.
• Not So Good Points – I don’t want to put anything here.
• Price Range – Economy/Low.

Dimensions – Length 150mm, diameter 11mm. Balance point about 75mm up from the tip.