Uni Kurutoga Advance Upgrade Model 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil, Gun Metallic Body (M510301P.43), Black

TL: DRA freaking great high-quality mechanical pencil with many quality of life features that set it apart from everyone else. It has very minor drawbacks with the eraser. Purchase of separate eraser recommended.I have used this for a few months now, and I have to say that this is hands down! The best mechanical pencil I have ever used. I'm going to be honest with you all I've tried using other mechanical pencils after buying this to compare, and nothing besides this feels right anymore. The look fits any environment from professionalism to studying with friends. The weight and is perfect, and the material is top quality. Because of its ingenious lead shield, my lead has never been broken or wasted. The engine mechanism that sharpens the pencil lead as you write has actually improved my handwriting. Kuru toga is absolutely a quality brand that confidently boasts their craftsmanship in their work and is worth every well-spent cent.Now I know I have said nothing but positive things, but there is one drawback. Unfortunately, the high-quality eraser is super tiny and is hard to replace if you get to that point. The next flaw is also eraser-related, so the only way to refill the lead is from the top... yeah, that means no bottom-feeding the pencil lead, or you could damage the mechanism according to the box. The workaround I figured out is relatively easy all you need is to remove the current eraser and just leave the cap on then buy a separate eraser. Now, this other potential "issue" is dependant on your preference; the pencil lead size is 0.5mm, which is not bad, but I know others like 0.7mm pencil lead. Other than that, I have had no further problems with it.If you are looking for something that is high quality from top to bottom and feels great to write with for hours on end stop here and make this the final mechanical pencil you will ever buy.

I would give four and a half stars if I could, but given the choice between 4 and 5 stars, I'll stand by a 5-star rating. The pencil is well balanced, with a good fit and finish to the parts. Nothing is loose or rattling here. The automatic lead advancement works well too, but it doesn't quite keep up after a couple of pages of writing, needing a quick manual advancement. This is a minor thing, of course, but my impression was that the design of the pencil completely removed the need for advancing the lead whilst writing, rather than simply reducing the frequency. Otherwise, there is little to criticize here. It is comfortable, balanced, easy to use, attractive, and is neither too light nor too heavy.

The media could not be loaded. Japanese stationary is thrilling to explore. I had heard about a mechanical pencil that automatically turns the lead, and I knew I had to try it.Enter the Uni Kurutoga Advance Upgrade Model 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil. This writing instrument is a dream. The body appears to be half plastic, half metal, but it is perfectly balanced. The Uni Kurutoga Advance has a nice weighted feel, that feels solid and well made, but it’s not overly heavy. If you’re a pen person, you’ll appreciate the balance of this pencil. This pencil writes smoothly and doesn’t skip or bump, and the lead is dark and legible. Even better, unlike most mechanical pencils, the eraser stored inside the pencil erased cleanly and smoothly — most mechanical pencil erasers don’t do anything but smear the lead; not so with the Uni Kurutoga Advance. I haven’t broken a lead yet, so the diamond lead might be real.Although I’m not sure the rotating lead really keeps the writing thickness the same, the overall design is so great I have to recommend this pencil. I would be intrigued to try a smaller lead size — 0.3mm for example — and see if the lead thickness remains consistent.Overall functionality: A.

In the past, I've used the Uni Kuru Toga Roulette, but I found that since my handwriting is very choppy with short, rapid strokes, the lead would unevenly grind down on one side, making my lines inconsistent.I figured I'd try out the advance upgrade, as the lead rotation is allegedly twice as fast as the roulette. I was also looking forward to the heavier body, as I find heavier, bulkier instruments easier to write with. I'll be comparing the two throughout.The body is indeed heavier, but not quite as heavy as I anticipated. Unfortunately like the roulette model, the grip sleeve is the only main part of the pen's externals that are metal (the lead pipe, lead cap, clip, and tip cap are also metal). The body is still plastic, albeit a good looking plastic at that. I am not a fan of the lead cap on the top, because it's hard to put back on without accidentally clicking out more lead. With the roulette model, the lead cap is easy to take off and put back on, but it also never falls off. I wish the advance upgrade had more of that functionality.The main selling points of the advance upgrade are the double speed lead rotation and the retractable pipe slide like the dedicated pipe slide model. The lead rotation is indeed double speed, and the rotation is easily able to keep up with my longer strokes. However, the pipe slide is pretty annoying. I find lead actually breaks more with the pipe slide (which is supposed to protect the lead better) than my normal roulette model. Additionally, the pipe slide has no mechanism keeping it extended, so it will retract if you accidentally rub it. Then you have to click the pencil to extend the pipe slide again. If you accidentally drop the pencil and the pipe slide retracts and you try writing immediately, your lead will break. If anything, the pipe slide function makes the lead break more than a typical fixed pipe slide. the only advantage to having a moving pipe slide is that it retracts with your lead as you're writing.Although the advance upgrade and roulette are similarly priced, I find myself going back to the roulette simply because it's a more pleasant writing experience. Even though the roulette's slow lead rotation is a bit of a struggle, I honestly think it's a more worthy investment than the advance upgrade, even with the latter's bells and whistles. The pipe slide is more of a nuisance than anything, the metal grip sleeve has no grip (compared to the knurled roulette grip), and the design itself is not very wieldy.TL;DR - if you like fancy pencils with neat features, you'll enjoy this. If you just want a good simple pencil to write with, get the Kuru Toga roulette instead