Sharpie S-Gel Pens review

 

It has been almost a year since I've had these and I think I'm ready to give a review.

Sharpie S Gel pens were heavily advertised across Youtube and other social media platforms. It piqued my interest because Sharpie, the permanent marker, has always been one of my favourite writing tools, whether it was to create posters or write on parcels or to even take notes, Sharpie markers have been with me through thick and thin.

I was quite excited to hear that they have gel pens available and I really wanted to get them. I was very hopeful. 

very sleek design

These were advertised as:

• having vibrant colours (black, red and blue)
• smooth writing

They claim:

experience a high-performance gel pen

Features:

• Contour rubber grip (for a comfortable writing experinece0
• always vivid writing (with intensely bold ink colours)
• no smear, no bleed technology (for an exceptional writing experience

They were sold out everywhere! I finally stumbled upon a Walmart and they had one pack of these left! 

writing (please excuse my messy writing) lines look nice... writing not so...

These are medium with a 0.7mm point tip.

(They also come in Fine 0.5mm and Bold 1.0mm)

writing bled through pages... (Muji notebook)

impressions:

• smooth but felt a bit runny
• has a slight sharpie scent (like the marker but very toned down)
• it is smooth but not on all paper
• it leaks through paper
• it is smear proof (and quick dry)
• it is not waterproof

I really liked how they felt in my hands. The rubber grip made it easy to hold the pen and the plastic body made me wonder whether it was metal or plastic. It has a nice matte finish.

I was also disappointed that it isn't smooth on all papers. It leaked through my Muji notebooks (Muji notebooks have higher quality paper than normal loose-leaf lined paper). 

random doodling... (disclaimer: I can't draw!)

Drawing:

It didn't take long for me to realize that these pens were made for drawing more than writing. For drawing and doodling, they do a nice job (whether you are drawing lines or circles) but when you are writing, I found it tough to write nicely.  The ink colour is definitely very bold and vibrant. I haven't had the chance to use blue and red (once I get to test them out, I'll leave an update here).

I had a drop of water on my desk and this 2 week old writing smudged :(

The ink/gel was a bit runny and made it hard to write letters (most of my writing ended up looking like cartoon, sans comic writing). 

highlighter and smear test

When they claim that their key feature is smooth and consistent writing, it isn't for words... it is for drawings... for drawings, it was definitely a smooth and consistent experience. 

Overall, I liked how bold and saturated the ink colour was. I like that it was smooth and vibrant. However, I was not impressed by the ink bleeding through my pages and not being permanent. I was disappointed to see how the ink smudged after being in contact with a small drop of water. For a Sharpie product, I would expect the writing to be permanent. 

I would continue to use this for drawing and doodling but there are much better options for writing.

Score: 7.8/10
Website: https://www.sharpie.com/pens/gel-pens/sharpie-s-gel-medium-point-0.7mm/SAP_2096134.html