Review: Twsbi Eco Fountain Pen

The Twsbi Eco is quite a value proposition that boasts a piston-filling mechanism at its low price point of just over $30. It's one of the coolest fountain pens in its price range, mostly due to the pen's large ink capacity and demonstrator components that let you see everything.

I bought this pen during my visit to Yoseka Stationery and my experience was exceptional. The staff were very friendly and even let me refill this pen for free after purchase. Prices at the store are pretty good and I definitely recommend visiting Yoseka if you ever find yourself in New York City.

The pen comes in a clean, simple plastic box with a few other things. There's a manual and a handy diagram that shows you every component of the pen, as well as a wrench for disassembly and some silicone grease. The packaging is substantial for the price point and every included item seems of pretty good quality. To top it off, there's a nice cardboard sleeve that fits perfectly over the plastic box for a nice presentation.

The Twsbi Eco comes paired with a #5 Jowo nib. The design of the nib is nice and features a little scrollwork. I got this pen in a broad nib and it writes as expected. While using this pen, I have yet to encounter any problems such as skipping or hard starts that were more than slightly inconvenient. I would say that the Eco's writing experience offers incredible value for its position in the market.

The only negative experience I've had with this pen is with carrying it around. Over the past few weeks, I've had it stored in my backpack and I've noticed that this pen has been pretty leaky compared to others. This may be from the large ink capacity that lacks a shut-off valve or something else entirely, but I find it slightly annoying to clean the pen every time I uncap it.

On a more positive note, something I love about this pen is its body. I find it very solid and aesthetically pleasing. With lighter inks, such as this yellow in my Eco, you can see virtually any component of the pen in action. Sometimes I find myself staring at the pen's intricate parts in awe.

One note I'd like to add: I am aware of potential cracking problems with the material used in Twsbi pens and I have yet to find any issue with mine, even though I've been roughing the pen around quite a bit.

As mentioned earlier, this pen features a piston-filling mechanism. Pens usually only feature cartridges at this price range, so this change makes this pen stand out in the market. Refilling this pen is pretty much like using a massive cartridge converter and is relatively simple.

The trimmings of the Twsbi Eco are silver-toned and do a great job at accenting the pen. On the cap band, there's some plain Eco branding. The only other hint of branding is a red piece of plastic featuring the Twsbi logo on the top of the cap. Everything feels like it's high quality.

I would recommend this pen to anyone looking for a relatively affordable, reliable workhorse fountain pen. The Twsbi Eco's ink capacity is huge, the writing experience is great, and it comes in many different colors, including some more expensive special editions such as rose gold.

This pen has a lot of charm to it. One of my favorite things to do with it is to stare through the crystal-clear body at the ink inside the pen and slosh it around. There's something pretty magical about the Eco's simple, yet weirdly elegant design.

If you happen to have a little over $30 burning a hole in your pocket, you can't go wrong with the Twsbi Eco. I've found a lot of joy out of mine, and I think you will too. There's a reason why the Eco is one of the best entry-level fountain pens in the market.