ZEBRA P-BA96-BL Lighted Permanent Ballpoint Pen Light α 0.7mm Blue

Perfect for writing in the dark! (Though instructions say not to look at the light? I’m not great with writing with my peripheral vision yet…)

The pen writes well. It uses a D1 ballpoint refill. I changed it out to a Uni JetStream SXR-200-7 D1 hybrid ballpoint/gel refill. If you wanted to stay with Zebra, the ESB gel refill is also good. The clicker is good and uses a double spring system. The clip is just OK. Overall, the pen is comfortable to hold and has some subtle texturing where your fingers hold the pen while writing. But the flashlight is the star of the show. It's the reason this pen commands $10 instead of $4. It's the reason the pen gets 4 stars from me. And it's the reason it doesn't get 5 stars. Allow me to explain. The flashlight is super easy to deploy. Just click twice. It has a built-in diffuser, so this is a very floody "beam" that brightens up when the pen is next to the paper but really spreads out in a room. I would guess that the pen offers maybe 3-5 lumens max. With the diffuser, it's actually a great "moonlight" beam if you need to get up early in the morning and don't want to disturb others while you move about. There are other flashlight pens that are more powerful, but they are more tactical in nature. The Zebra gets two main jobs done: illuminating what you are writing when it's dark, and moonlight mode so you can see where you are going in the dark. Chef's kiss and four stars! However, the color of the light is very "cool." The color of lights emitting from flashlights are measured in CCT or correlated color temperature. Anything over 6000K is considered cool (like a flourescent bulb). 5000K is considered neutral. Less than 4000K is considered warm (like the sun). I would guess this light probably measures 7500K. The tint almost hurts your eyes if you look at it closely (which you will when writing in the dark). Had they made this pen in warm white, it would be a home run and 5 stars. So close, Zebra!

So nice to see what I’m writing in the dark without flipping on a light

I purchased this for late night writing, so I keep it by my bed stand along with a small notepad. The glow in the dark aspect of it works quite well. The tip and the end cap both glow for some time after you turn off your lights, making the pen easy to find in the dark. I don’t like cycling clicks in order to turn on the light. I purchased the pen solely to write in the dark, so I don’t need a mode where the light doesn’t turn on. In addition, I don’t like how bright it is. I just want to take notes, not have a flashlight to light up my room. I wish I could adjust the brightness level. Overall, the pen works exactly as I wanted it to, though if you have the opportunity to get the red light version, I would recommend getting that instead if you don’t want the pen to wake you up when you take a note.

Writes well in the dark

Waaaaay too bright for me. I can get migraines from bright lights so I could not use. Light is extremely bright.