Zebra Surari Emulsion Ink Pens
There is a brand new pen from Zebra over at JetPens, the Zebra Surari Emulsion Ink Pen, which you may have also seen over at our friends blog, The PenAddict. According to the product description over at JetPens, the ink in the Zebra Surari combines the smoothness of an oil-based ballpoint pen, with the vibrant colors of a gel ink pen. The first thing that came to mind as a comparison for these was the popular Uniball Jetstream line which is also a very smooth writing line of pens that is a mix between a ballpoint and gel ink pen.
Zebra Surari Emulsion Ink Pens
When I loaded up my cart with these at JetPens, I grabbed a majority of .5mm and .7mm and also grabbed on 1.0mm version. I didn’t go nuts with the color options, but there are plenty to choose from. In addition to the lineup that I selected which you can see in the photo above, I couldn’t resist grabbing one of the black on black versions, called the Dark Black. For some reason I’ve had a thing for all black pens, whether its my Monteverde Stealth Fountain Pen, or my Uniball Jetstream Sport, I’ve now got a third pen to add to that subset of my collection.
Close up of Zebra Surari Emulsion Ink Pen
From a design perspective, the Zebra Surari is what I’d consider a “bright n’ shiny” type pen with lots of color accents, and a glossy finish. The short clips are made of the plastic that is a bit more stiff that makes that sort of high-pitched “plink” noise if you pull on it and release it quickly. The grip on the Zebra Surari is rather understated, but very effective and comfortable. It has a soft smooth rubbery feel with a few grooves laid into the rubber for additional traction.
Zebra Surari Emulsion Ink Writing Sample and Impressions
Zebra Surari emulsion ink pen writing sample – click to enlarge
When I started writing with these pens, I was pretty impressed with how smooth they wrote, even the .5mm point which is usually one of my favorites. They lay down a nice crisp, clean, and consistent line, much like I would expect, and I would say that they are on par with the quality writing experience of the aforementioned Uniball Jetstream. The writing sample above was done with my Whitelines graph paper notebook, which is always great for these types of comparison writing samples.
If push comes to shove, there are some minor differences between the writing experience with the Zebra Surari and Uniball Jetstream pens, and a close look by clicking on the writing sample above shows what I think is the biggest difference. When you click on the larger photo of the writing sample and look towards the end of the page, you will see that there seems to be a pattern where the Zebra has the very minor and very occasional ink splotch. Conversely, if you look at the Jetstream, there is a very minor hint of some white space where the line is not 100% solid. On the other side of the coin, you don’t seem to get any white streaks in the line with the Zebra Surari, while you do get some very minor ones with the Jetstream. So in summary, the hugely over critical comparison shows some minor ink splotches with the Zebra, but a very consistent and solid line.
Personally I don’t think you can go wrong with either pen, it might just come down to your preference for looks and style or your loyalty to one of the two pen manufacturers. At only $1.50 each, they are definitely worth picking up from Jetpens next time you place an order.
Great review and pics, thanks!
@Speedmaster – Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it.
Superb review, i was over at JetPens.com and was debating whether i should get these pens on not (I was looking for the Darker black version of the Zebra Surari, but unfortunately the are out-of-stock), your review definitely helped me make up my mind that i cannot go wrong for $1.50. Again, thank you for an excellent review.
Great review.
So far, I give a clear preference to the 0.5 mm Surari over the 0.5 Jetstream. The Zebra pen is noticeably smoother. I’m not sure there is any difference in the larger point sizes.
Also, I think the Surari has the better grip. No surprise as grips are not Uni’s strong point and Zebra makes one of the very best for the Sarasa Clip line.
I still think the Jetstream line in most of its styles is the better looking pens, but the all black Surari isn’t bad at all.
@OSG – Does the all or dark black Surari have a different (darker) ink then the standard black? In one of their pictures, JetPens shows different writing samples for the two pens.
Thank you for the excellent review. I have just one Surari in purple (0.7mm), but it leaves too many blobs/clumps behind. That’s one of the reasons why I dislike ballpoints, but I’ve never written with a pen with so many blobs behind. I tried other colours in the store and they all seem to suffer from the same problem. Definitely not my favourite pen, and I’m thinking of passing it to someone who’s not so particular about pens!
@Nandanam – Glad I could help you out, sorry to see that the dark black one was out of stock, Im always a big fan of the all black like that.
@Der Bingle – Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! I love the fact that you are so passionate about the Uni vs. the Zebra grips, Im ok with both, but I love hearing the arguments for and against…totally helps me get a different perspective, so thank you.
As for the dark black vs the regular black, I did a quick test and I really don’t see any difference…but more importantly, I looked at the info stamped on the actual ink cartridges and they are exactly the same…good question though.
@Ruby – No problem, glad you found it helpful. I guess there are certain elements in the manufacturing process of pens like this that will result in some amount of clumping or leaving behind of small streaky spots…seems like its a trade-off where you will get one or the other.
I think I have to revise my opinion on the smoothness vis-a-vis the Jetstream. I’d still give the nod to the Zebra pen but not by as much as I stated earlier. I guess I hadn’t written with a 0.5 Jetstream in awhile.
@OSG – Thank you for the information on the refills.
As others have stated, environmental factors must play into how tacky a grip is. At times, a particular grip isn’t as good as it is at other times. Though I still stand by my opinion that Zebra makes better grips then Uni. And the grip on the Pilot Acroball is better then anything by Uni, too.
Just did a little experimenting: the pencil refill unit from the Pilot Light 4+1 fits inside the Surari perfectly. You can advance the unit and retract it perfectly too, and assuming you have some lead extended it’ll write ok. But the lead won’t advance via pressing on the “knock” of that bay.
So close 😉