TWSBI ECO Fountain Pen Clear EF Nib

These are the best pens. They’re easy to fill and hold a solid amount of ink, write so smoothly, and are easy to throw in a bag and go with the twist cap. They’re an excellent starter fountain pen at a reasonable price for anyone looking to start somewhere in the ink and fountain pen world. Highly recommend. This particular style is a little boring, being clear, but it’s a great price for a solid pen, and it allows me to have more inks currently inked up to swap with my moods in writing. There are also some great colors in this TWSBI Eco line, if you want something a little more fun.

I’ve been using this pen for about 4 years now, and I’m finally ready to compare it to others. First, I have to agree with some reviewers that this pen, even with an EF tip, seems to write a bit bigger and wetter than other tips this size. So, I’d say it’s more like a M tip. I also use a couple of different Pilot pens, both in F and EF tip, and I can honestly say that this pen needs cleaning almost never. In contrast, Pilot pens dry out at the tip and don’t write smoothly or at all sometimes if they’re not used regularly (at least once a week). But not this TWSBI ECO pen! I can let it sit for weeks and not touch it, and when I pick it up to write with it again, it’s as if it were brand new and writes just as smoothly as when I first filled it. Another thing I love about this pen is the amount of ink it holds. It never really dissipates while it’s sitting, unlike the Pilot pens which seem to evaporate the ink a lot more. I have a couple of these ECO pens, so sometimes one will sit while I use another, but they’ve all been consistently used for about the past 4 years now. If you love to write or sketch with fountain pens, but don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars, I highly recommend this pen. It’s a great choice for a pen that won’t break the bank and will keep writing for years with little to no maintenance.

TLDR: After using it for a few days, I’ve been very satisfied! While the included instructions were a bit too artistic for their own good, (several pictures with arrows, checks, and X’s) that led to a lot more looking stuff up than I would have hoped. I like the aesthetic of fountain pens, and I’ve been using Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens for a while so I knew I would enjoy writing. So take the rest of this review from that perspective. Nice weight, easy to fill and clean, great seal on the cap, and I love the transparent plastic on the pen. It’s both great to see my ink for aesthetics and well as helping me understand what’s going on in the pen since I’m kinda new here. Especially to piston fillers! So far I’ve used it for about a week. I’ve filled it with one ink, used it, washed it out, filled it with a new ink, and been using it ever since. Really easy and a joy to use! Easy 5 star, I will come back and update this review ONLY if something bad happens to the pen in the future. If you don’t see any update, presume it’s still running strong, or I’m dead. :)

Loved the TWSBI Eco Fountain pen so well I now have three and plan to order more. (For different color of inks. I'm currently using TWSBI inks.) My TWSBI all have extra fine nibs. They glide across the paper, writing is effortless, goodbye writing fatigue. They consistently lay down a beautiful thin line with no skipping or blotting. The body is beveled so no rolling off the desk. The caps post solidly on the body with no wobbles. Caps screw on so there's no chance of it accidentally popping off. All three of mine are clear and although the bodies are thick I can easily see the ink color at a glance. Filling them is a breeze, they pull up ink so well. Cannot find anything to complain about with these pens. I have fountain pens that cost three or four times more than these that I no longer reach for, that's how much I love these.

This pen is very well made and looks much nicer than its cost. I got this pen in an extra fine nib. It is definitely much thicker than other fine or extra fine. Nibs from Japanese manufacturers. In fact, it is very similar to my pelican medium nib. So do not expect a fine line. There is no line with variance but the feed does lay down a nice amount of ink. Also, the piston filling function works very well and the cap seals the nib when not in use and can go a week without being used and still write immediately.

I've had a Lamy safari, and a Pilot Metropolitan for some time now. I have to say that this TWSBI is exactly the pen that I've wanted this whole time. With the Lamy the nib became unstable after a while, a wiggled around a lot. I got the extra fine Lamy, and from the get go it put down a really thick bold line, with a ton a bleeding. I also had to buy a separate converter for it which sucked. The Pilot I got in an extra fine as well. The Pilot being Japanese EF really was extra fine. But it was scratchy, and some longer strokes for writing English would fade in and out. Then comes the TWSBI Eco. Let me tell you, this pen looks like something from the future. Very minimal, and being made of clear plastic makes it look like something space aged. The writing of this pen is much thinner than the Lamy EF, but thicker than the Pilot EF. It puts down what I would consider a fine line. The amount of ink is just right for a fountain pen, meaning on light weight paper it has a high chance of bleeding through, but on medium and heavy weight this pen wrights like a dream. It put out a very smooth, and consistent line. There is enough ink that on heavy paper the end of the stroke is a little darker than the beginning (something I love visually). The ink capacity is great, and takes noodlers fine. I would highly recommend this pen for someone on a budget.

Doesn’t dry out and clog like my Pilot ones do. I would recommend this pen.

Received this <EF> Eco today and immediately filled with Iroshizuku asa-gao (same ink as my <F> Metropolitan). I kinda wanted a demonstrator and my self-imposed 3 month new pen buying waiting period was up. First, it looks cool especially w/ the purplish blue asa-gao. AND it writes just as good as it looks. Writing wise, it's smooth and although the EF Eco nib line width is about the same as the Pilot Metro F nib, the ECO is wetter and maybe feathers a tiny bit more than the pilot. This is on a standard, decent quality legal pad with no bleed through for either pen. HOWEVER, and this is big for me, the ECO spanks the metropolitan when writing with the nib upside down. I can write small, fast and fine with zero scratching, ripping or skipping. Lol, I can't believe I'm geeking out about a pen...

Una pluma muy asequible que llama la atención en cualquier lugar. Da gusto usarla, el plumín EF es demasiado fino, pero la escritura es muy agradable.

My favorite fountain pen, it has a bit of feedback and I had to adjust the tines but it writes smoothly, and it feels amazing holding it.

Sono entrato da poco nel mondo delle stilografiche e ho fatto molta ricerca online prima di approdare a questa TWSBI ECO. E' la mia prima stilografica e devo devo dire che sono molto molto soddisfatto! La penna arriva in una confezione semplice, ma con tutto il necessario perfino per la manutenzione! La mia è la versione "Demostrator" EF, ossia totalmente trasparente come quelle dei rappresentanti del tempo, con pennino Extra Fine. L'ho scelta così perchè volevo vedere i meccanismi interni e se si verificassero perdite da qualche parte, mi è parsa una buona idea :) Le plastiche sono molto belle e non sembrano per nulla economiche, anzi! Danno un'impressione di cura e ottima solidità. Sto ancora facendo pratica, ma l'ho caricata con un inchiostro J.Herbin e mi trovo bene. Riesco a scrivere su tutte le carte normali da fotocopie e quaderni scolastici senza problemi di impuntamento nonostante il pennino molto sottile, ma il meglio di se la da su carta molto liscia di buona qualità come la Rodia. Che altro direi, certamente la ricomprerei a mani basse! AGGIORNAMENTO OTTOBRE 2025 A distanza di circa 2 anni e mezzo resto davvero molto soddisfatto! C'è stato un momento in cui non l'ho utilizzata per un paio di mesi in estate e il l'inchiostro si è seccato sul pennino. Non è un difetto della penna, è inevitabile se non la si utilizza per tutto questo tempo! Ho risolto semplicemente sfilando il pennino e lasciandolo a bagno in acqua per qualche ora. La penna è tornata a funzionare come prima, confermo la grande qualità di quest'oggetto!

Déjà possesseur d’un modèle Diamond 580 (version F), je trouvais le trait trop épais lors de certains dessins en petit format. J’utilisais le revers de la pointe mais je perdais la glisse agréable et la régularité du débit, ce qui fait tout l’attrait de ces plumes. J’ai donc décidé d’investir dans un modèle à pointe EF. Le trait est moins pataud, ce qui me convient plutôt bien en terme de précision. J’ai posté un exemple de la différence entre les deux plumes. Les traits plus courts ont été réalisés avec le dos de la plume. Cela donne au final une grande diversité d’épaisseur de traits. A noter que le choix de l’encre est hyper important afin d'obtenir à la fois une belle densité de noir, un séchage rapide sur papier (mais pas dans le stylo), et une résistance à l’eau si on souhaite travailler dessus à l’aquarelle ou lavis par la suite. J’en ai testé de nombreuses. Ma préférée : LIQUITEX (ENCRE ACRYLIQUE). La CARBON INK n’est pas mal mais son unique défaut, c’est qu’elle a tendance à se diluer ou à baver (lors d’un gommage) si vous chargez un peu trop votre trait et que vous ne patientez pas suffisamment longtemps pour obtenir un séchage complet de l’encre. Elle est plus délicate à utiliser. La LIQUITEX, quant à elle, est opaque et sèche extrêmement vite (quasi immédiat !) . L’intéret de ces stylos TWSBI réside dans leur agréable prise en main, leur système de réservoirs (dont je vous invite à bien suivre les conseils d’utilisation avant usage - lubrifiant sur joints !), et le fait que le trait même rapide n’est (pratiquement) jamais interrompu. Un vrai régal ! Bon dessin ;)

Having purchased my first TWSBI, the Diamond 580 AL fitted with a Fine nib many months ago, it had been the intention to buy an additional nib unit in EF. A slight change of mind led to this. However, the TWSBI ECO pen is almost identical in dimensions and ink capacity as well as functionally and operationally identical although fitted with a plastic piston assembly rather than the metal one used in the AL range. It loses some metallic trim and there are minor design changes. The ECO is available in a few transparent colours plus a clear version. Despite owning several fountain pens of which the majority were individually several times more expensive than this when new, it is the 580 that has been that most often used for the known certainty that it will write immediately the nib contacts paper and that fact is never in doubt. The more expensive pens, with the exception of one brand whose models share similar features and writing characteristics, need priming, shaking or some other intervention to get them to write and are not always effective. TWSBI may not be the best built or the most comfortable fountain pens to use, the acrylic is too smooth and slippery between the fingers, but they are reliable and the fill mechanism is very simple to use, in principle not unlike the converters on many other pens but with greatly increased capacity. No leaks or bubbles of ink are dropped onto paper and their simple and constant reliability is sufficient. The nibs are usually almost smooth out-of-the-box and one or two written sides of text on A4 is usually sufficient with most to remove any residual roughness. Extra-Fine nibs need rather more initial use before a similar level of smoothness is achieved. Once settled, the nibs can be buttery smooth even on paper of moderate quality. Ink flow is inclined to be generous resulting in the pens being 'wet' writers. That can be a nuisance if using wider nibs as clarity and letter-form are likely to suffer but ideal for the finer ones as it helps improve their legibility. Because of their 'wet' characteristics, there are certain inks and ink brands that are best avoided with the broader nibs as they are also 'wet' but excellent companions for the two finer ones. If maximum writing smoothness is achieved, the pen would be ideal for school or college use for its ink capacity alone, general note-taking and personal correspondence and especially for written exams where the writing duration of a full reservoir could be vital. With the Extra-Fine nib and its lower use of ink relative to Fine or Medium, its ink reserve will be sufficient for at least a couple of days of intensive writing, a week or more with lesser use. The only real downside of the system is the possible need for access to ink when it runs dry and the time required to refill (only a few seconds); using ink cartridges is not an option. For exam-takers and students writing voluminous notes a second such prefilled pen would be an affordable option when bought wisely. A maintenance kit is included but its use is best reserved for the skilled and knowledgeable users only to avoid permanent damage. ADDENDUM - the pen was subsequently returned as it twice dropped large blobs of ink onto paper. Having written several sides of A4, its nib was still not flowing across the paper as it should and exhibiting a degree of 'bite' that was considered excessive. Comparison was made with another example with the same nib purchased by a colleague from another supplier at about the same time (the brand and model had been discussed as she wanted an inexpensive fountain pen and the seller was recommended for its range) and that was far superior on paper and did not drop ink. One was since purchased from that seller and its performance is slightly superior again to my colleague's example.