Best Inexpensive Chinese Pens

[nosygrammarian]

I believe Its an "unbranded" Huahong.

I've only found them available through Xiongfu1990 on ebay China.

 

They have a fine nib and are very nice indeed.

 

Ian

I asked. The response was, "these pens are homegrown." Sometimes generic pens can be very nice. It may very well use Huahong components.

[EricTheRed]

After reading this interesting thread and a few other related ones, I ordered a bunch of various Chinese fountain pens. Some were, as expected, made of low quality material and were lousy writers. 3 however stood out for their quality construction and smooth nibs...the Jin Hao 750, Jin Hao159, and Baoer 388. I am very impressed at their quality and low price. Outstanding bargains and writers. I never believed such low priced fountain pens could be this nice Time to order some more!

[mknoblauch]

After reading this interesting thread and a few other related ones, I ordered a bunch of various Chinese fountain pens. Some were, as expected, made of low quality material and were lousy writers. 3 however stood out for their quality construction and smooth nibs...the Jin Hao 750, Jin Hao159, and Baoer 388. I am very impressed at their quality and low price. Outstanding bargains and writers. I never believed such low priced fountain pens could be this nice Time to order some more!

For your next Chinese pens, check out the Jinhao 601 and the Baoer 100!

[Ian the Jock]

After reading this interesting thread and a few other related ones, I ordered a bunch of various Chinese fountain pens. Some were, as expected, made of low quality material and were lousy writers. 3 however stood out for their quality construction and smooth nibs...the Jin Hao 750, Jin Hao159, and Baoer 388. I am very impressed at their quality and low price. Outstanding bargains and writers. I never believed such low priced fountain pens could be this nice Time to order some more!

 

Eric

What were the "duffers"?

It's good to hear folks opinions on "let downs" and what to avoid, as well as the good stuff.

 

Ian

[jvcn]

I really think it's about playing the percentags with Chinese pens and my Jinhaos have been the most consistent 8 out of 9 599s and 2 out three x450 came without problems. The Baoer 388 had a bad nib. 3 out of 4 Wing Sungs I got years ago weren't good. And over half the Hero's I've got have had real problems. Even recently I got 3 Hero 616s. One was great, one was tolerable, one was bad. I bought two Hero's which looked nice in Beijing, but both have failed to write consistently after a year. The two Hua Hongs I got write well and so do the two Kaigelus.

[EricTheRed]

 

Eric

What were the "duffers"?

It's good to hear folks opinions on "let downs" and what to avoid, as well as the good stuff.

 

Ian

I prefer to discuss and recommend pens that I like, and I am very pleased with the 3 models I mentioned in my earlier post. But since you asked, the biggest let down for me personally, as my hopes for this pen were elevated based upon some glowing online reviews, was the large Wing Sung 590. When I received it, I immediately ran water through its convertor and nib and inked it up with Diamine Majestic Blue. Things quickly soured me on this fountain pen, however. I immediately noticed the pen's construction material, both plastic and metal parts, feels both cheap in the hand and looks like its parts came directly from the manufacturer's bargain bin. Additionally, it exudes a persistant, odd, unpleasant smell (like an old penny) that transfers to your hands and lingers on your fingers even after you put down the pen (yuck). Furthermore, the pocket clip came misaligned on the cap and the nib on mine manages to lay down both a dry and scratchy ink line that has the added benefit of frequently skipping when I write with it. From my experience, this pen is a horror show...

[richardandtracy]

Duffers. Oh dear. Here are a couple I didn't like:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/89856-guang-ming-812-review/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/222538-bookworm-675-yiren-601/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/233123-huashilai-a053/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/236998-huashilai-marbled-celluloid-2210/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/89867-wing-sung-812/

 

Then there was my Leonardo which was a disappointment more than anything. It wrote fairly well looked gorgeous, but not for long as the finish deteriorated rapidly.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/71608-leonardo-blue-chinese-laquer-pen

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[bobje]

Richard, your post is invaluable. Extremely worthwhile for you to share your experience and help us know what to avoid. Thank you.

[Duke of Buckingham]

I've tried a number of Chinese pens and my main complaint has been too-short and too-heavy brass bodies (I'm thinking Jinhao x450 and x750; great nibs to transplant to Indian ebonite eyedroppers).

 

My favourite are Heros - 616 jumbo, 338 flighter and 892 seashells.

 

The first two are Parker 51 clones, and the 892 is eye-candy of the highest order (review) which is engineered to take Parker 45 nibs.

 

(The Hero 338 doesn't get enough praise here. It's like a thinner Parker 51 flighter, or more accurately, a tribute to Hero's own 100 - a clone of a clone. . . The flighter is a tough pen that you can throw into any bag without worry. I liked it so much I bought it in black, but that version is a dud. My flighter has a great gold coloured - I'm guessing gold plated - nib, whereas the black bodied version has a scratchy metal nib.)

[4lex]

The best Chinese pens at the moment are made by Cross. But the best inexpensive Chinese pens are made by Parker.

[BigBuddha76]

With my monster size hands I like the Jinhao 159. But my smoothest writer by far is the X750. My daughter loves her 599.

 

Yes, I am a Jinhao junkie.

Edited October 27, 2015 by BigBuddha76

[wastelanded]

I have a Baoer 519 that consistently amazes me. Smooth nib, good strong build, always starts up.

[Ian the Jock]

I have a Baoer 519 that consistently amazes me. Smooth nib, good strong build, always starts up.

 

The 519 is a cracking pen, very similar to the 051 which is also a great pen.

I have a few Baoers and every one has been excellent.

 

Ian

[richardandtracy]

Having bought an open nibbed Baoer 801, I must concur that it's a great pen for the money. I have the astonishingly attractive 'Shimmering Sands' or 'Aurora' version ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/BAOER-801-Shimmering-Sands-Golden-Leopard-medium-Nib-Fountain-Pen-Good-/131552015289?hash=item1ea11c73b9:g:Fj0AAOSwu4BVnAZ0 ) and after a month it is still showing no sign of deterioration - which is fairly good by my standard as I seem to be very hard on pens.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Zookie]

I picked up a Jinhao X450 for cheap and swapped the nib for a Noodlers fine.

It's a nice Pen that I use daily.

I also have a Wing Sung 590, neat Pen, wretched nib, but the Jinhao nib fits nicely,so I swapped it out.

Now I have two very nice pens for less than 10 bucks total!

Life is good!!

[Precise]

There have been ads on ebay for a nameless fountain pen for $0.99 including shipping. The photo shows a black pen and close inspection of the central gold band says "Jinhao". I bought one and it's a Jinhao X450. I prefer the simple round section on the X750 over the semi triangular X450.

 

But the watch is probably a reject. The tines are of unequal width and both tines are bent to one side. I've been performing major surgery on these pens to make flexies. I can still do that with this reject.

 

But, as the saying goes, "You get what you pay for". After the ebay commission, how can they even mail it for this price? One possibility is that they are "buying" my email address for future ads.

 

Alan

[jimrittenhouse]

I have several Chinese pens; 1 x750 shimmering sands that my daughter has on long term borrow, four x450s of different colors and two blacks - one with a fude nib that I'm slowly playing around with.

 

Add in a new Hero 359 / three nib set that I got to repair two broken Safaris, since Lamy no longer sells parts, but I inked up the Medium nib with a cartridge in the 359 body and have been enjoying that, and about to pick up a couple more of the sets cheap in a sale. Two Baoers are coming in with that purchase, and there's a ,Jinhao 159 Orange awaiting my buying a bottle of Apache Sunset.

 

I agree that some of these are vastly improved with a better replacement nib like the Goulet #6, and a better converter - the supplied converters are crapshoots. But so far, nothing broken, nothing wretched.

[jimrittenhouse]

MORE: I bought the x450 $1 special, and it works fine; will eventually replace the Jinhao Medium nibs on the x450s I own with Goulet nibs (EF and one 1.1 for fun on the $1 one) because I just prefer a finer nib.

 

The Safari clones (Jinhao 599 and Hero 359) work perfectly well; I'm more inclined to the EF nib / front end that comes with the package set.

 

I did pick up the Baoer 388 and 3018 in the isellpens sale, and put 54th Massachusetts in the latter and Sailor Kiwa Guro Nano Black in the former, and both of them quickly stopped working. Then I put the Sailor ink in the black EF Hero 359 - no problems! Beats me as to what happened, but I have a lot more respect for the Hero 359 than I expected to!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Yeah, the 359 is surprisingly good. Slightly lesser build quality than the Safari, but I like their EF nibs a lot. I'm also pretty fond of the hooded Jinhao 599. Got that in three colors.

[TSherbs]

MORE: I bought the x450 $1 special, and it works fine; will eventually replace the Jinhao Medium nibs on the x450s I own with Goulet nibs (EF and one 1.1 for fun on the $1 one) because I just prefer a finer nib.

 

The Safari clones (Jinhao 599 and Hero 359) work perfectly well; I'm more inclined to the EF nib / front end that comes with the package set.

 

I did pick up the Baoer 388 and 3018 in the isellpens sale, and put 54th Massachusetts in the latter and Sailor Kiwa Guro Nano Black in the former, and both of them quickly stopped working. Then I put the Sailor ink in the black EF Hero 359 - no problems! Beats me as to what happened, but I have a lot more respect for the Hero 359 than I expected to!

the $1 x450 is a steal. Maybe literally. I still bought one.

 

All the pens you mention are good pens, even more so for their prices.