Stabilo EASYStart Review

Reviewed by Amanda Hayes

It feels like as soon as the children break up from school, the shops are filling up with back to school merchandise, from water bottles to folders, uniforms to shoes everywhere is suddenly advertising new products. If, like me, you set out with good intentions to get everything early you will be bombarded with choice. I was lucky enough to be sent a pen and pencil from the Stabilo EASYStart range to help make an informed choice.

The EASYStart range is promoted for those learning and starting to write, but I found it equally comfortable to use and would say its suitable for any age and writing ability. Both items came in a professional looking carboard backed wrapper with see through sleeve front so you can see what you are getting. One of the major benefits of the EASYStart range is that they come in both left and right handed options, I had chosen right, as my son is right handed and the packs were clearly marked with a red R and a picture of a hand.

When my son opened the parcel, he was very happy as one of his school friends already had the EASYOriginal rollerball pen and thought it was brilliant to write with. The range comes in five colours and we had chosen green, which was a nice spring green and equally suitable for boys and girls or adults. On first inspection I thought the pen was a really odd shape and looked like it might be uncomfortable to write with. I couldn’t have been more wrong, the rollerball just glides along the page and rests easily on the fingers giving nice, smooth handwriting. The rollerball ink is refillable and comes in packs of 3 or 6 at around £1.00 each making it very cost effective.

The second product I was sent to try out was a pack of two EASYGraph Pencils. In the same green but with red ends, and little wooden semi circles all the way along they looked funky and interesting. The red ends signify that it’s a right handed pencil at first glance, but there is also a white hand and R stamped on the end of the pencil. When we got the pencil out of the pack, we noticed it was actually triangular, although the triangles had nice smooth edges, and not round as standard pencils. The pencils come with 3.15mm diameter lead and you have the option of 3 different lead types, HB, 2B and B, we were sent the standard HB. When we used it for writing we found that the little wooden semi circles were actually non slip grooves made into the three sides of the pencil, this made it super comfortable to write with.

We thought both products were excellent so will definitely be looking out for the other items from the range in the shops this summer, the EASYYergo mechanical pencils and the EASYBuddy & EASYBird fountain pens. I love a fountain pen so I’m keen to give these a try if we see them around.

Stabilo is a well-known household brand name and the quality of the pen and pencils i was sent from the EASYStart range didn’t disappoint. Highly recommended for children school age and beyond whether you are writing an essay or just refilling your pencil case.

Rating: 5 out of 5

RRP: EASYGraph Pencil £3.35 per pack of two; EASYOriginal Rollerball pen £4.29 each

This product can be purchased from Stabilo or all good retailers.