SARASA dry Review: An Ultimate Pen With No Smear
Ink is an essential factor when choosing a writing instrument. If you use poor quality ink, your handwriting will be blurred, and you will have ink on your hands, causing a lot of stress. In this SARASA dry review, I’ll show you the features of SARASA dry with writing test and some of the points to keep in mind before purchase.
Basic Features
| Length | 139.4mm (5.49 inches) |
| Diameter (Ø) | 10.9mm (0.43 inches) |
| Weight | 10.9g |
| Mechanism | Knock Type |
| Ink | Water-based ink |
| Ink Color | Black / Red / Blue |
| Pen Tip | 0.4 / 0.5 / 0.7mm |
| Price | JP ¥165 (approx. US $1.5) |
There are three ink colors to choose from and three nib thicknesses available: 0.4/0.5/0.7mm. In Japan, you can buy one for about $1.5. So, the pricing is about the same as the other ordinary cheap pens.
Design
This is what it looks like. It’s an inexpensive pen, so to be honest, the design is nothing special and looks like pens you can find anywhere.
Ink
The main feature of this pen is the ultra-fast-drying ink called “DRYJELL ink” developed by Zebra.
Features of DRYJELL ink
1. Fast-drying
DRYJELL ink used in SARASA dry is an ultra-fast-drying water-based ink. This ink contains a new ingredient that quickly penetrates the paper. The time it takes to dry is reduced by 85% compared to conventional inks. You can actually trace the ink with your finger right after writing without any problem.
2. Smooth and comfortable writing
The low-viscosity gel ink is light and smooth. So your hand will not get tired even after writing for a long time.
3. Thick ink
The use of dark ink dyes results in fairly thick, clearly visible handwriting with vibrance.
Writing test
The most remarkable feature of this pen is its quick-drying property. So even if you rub it with your finger right after writing, the ink doesn’t stick to your finger at all. And it doesn’t blur either, which is just amazing.
I think SARASA dry is perfect for left-handed people who suffer from blurred ink caused by their own hands touching the ink as they write.
Comparison with other pens
Here is a writing test using paper from LIFE Noble Notebook and comparing with other companies’ pens.
As you can see, SARASA dry is quite vivid and clear in color.
In addition, I’m using a 0.4mm thick Pen Tip, but it still looks thicker than the 0.5mm pens from other companies. This is because the nib has a relatively high volume of ink. It makes an excellent ink flow to give a very smooth writing experience.
For this reason, it is better to choose one level thinner SARASA dry than the thickness you normally use. (e.g. if you usually use a 0.5mm pen, 0.4mm is recommended)
Things I Noticed
Apart from the basic performance, here are a few other things I’ve noticed.
No water-resistance
Of course, it is water-based ink, so it is not water-resistant at all. I dropped a drop of water on an oil-based ballpoint pen (JETSTREAM) and SARASA dry ink for the experimental purpose. And the SARASA dry ink immediately bled into the water. Even after wiping it off immediately, the discoloration and the blurred ink remained the same.
Also, I sometimes had ink on my hands when I put my sweaty hands on the ink for a while. So people with sweaty hands need to be a little more careful.
Possibility of bleed-through
To achieve a high level of quick-drying, the ink is designed to penetrate paper quite easily. So depending on the type of paper, there may be a possibility of bleed-through. It was fine with my copying papers and notebooks, so it may not be that much of a concern.
Having said that, I have seen some reviews saying that the bleed-through came out when used on thin paper notebooks. So I guess it totally depends on which notebook you use.
Compatibility
SARASA dry is a C-300 typed refill, the most widely used type of ballpoint pen in Japan. Therefore, it is possible to replace the refill with the body of a ballpoint pen from a variety of companies.
I found that I could insert the refill into the body of Uni’s “JETSTREAM” and Pentel’s “Energel series” without any problem. However, I could not insert it into Blen due to the size of the lead, although it is produced by the same company Zebra.
Where Can We Get?
I’ve picked out a few online pen stores that offer international shipping.
I’ve also written the summary of how to order from Amazon Japan using the Amazon Global service, so please check that out if you need some help.
Overall Score
The one-of-a-kind, super-fast-drying ink is of outstanding quality, and I hope you will try it and experience its excitement. The writing experience is also very smooth and stress-free. So I have no complaints about its performance.
However, it looks no different than any other inexpensive pen. Suppose you are particular about the design of writing instruments as well. In that case, you can take advantage of its high compatibility and use it with your favorite pen’s body that matches the SARASA dry refill.
I hope this SARASA dry review was helpful for you!
