Pen + Gear Gel pens review and comparison to the Paper Mate Inkjoy Gel
Walmart have some exclusive stationery via their Pen + Gear range – one of which are some 0.7mm gel pens which look very similar to the Paper Mate Inkjoy Gel pens.
So let’s see how they compare!
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Pen + Gear Gel Pens versus Paper Mate Inkjoy Gel
The pen shape and colors of the pen body are very similar. The main difference is that the Inkjoy gel has a comfort grip while Pen + Gear does not.
There is a minor difference in the appearance of the retractable part of the pen but both pens retract smoothly so it’s just aesthetics.
Pen + Gear Gel Pens
Obsessed with these rainbow colours!
The pen + gear pens wrote smoothly with no ink skipping. The colors were just as bright as the pen body and I can actually see the yellow ink.
If you want to zoom in to take a closer look, right click on the image > open in new tab or press CTRL and + on your keyboard
Paper Mate Inkjoy
If you read my blog you’re already familiar with the Inkjoy pens but here are some fresh swatches 🙂
So which pens are better?
Color range
The Inkjoy gel come in packs of 10, 14, 20, and 36 with various colors. The Paper Mate website says there are apparently 30 different colors. They also recently introduced bright pens for writing on black paper.
Pen + Gear gel pens comes in 12 different colors (‘staple’ colors that most people look for in a pen range).
Note: I only have the 10 pack of the Paper Mate gel pens.
Winner: Inkjoy Gel
Ease of writing
I’ve mentioned countless times on this blog how smooth the Inkjoy gel pens write. The ink never skips either.
Pen + gear pens also write smoothly with no ink skipping.
Winner: tie
Ghosting and indenting.
I swatched both pens in a Plum Paper notebook. It has 70lb / 105GSM paper which isn’t very thick. As such, both pens had some ghosting (about equal amount). Neither pen had indenting on the back side of the page.
Winner: tie
Tip sizes
Both come in 0.7mm tip size although the Pen + Gear looks slightly thicker on the page (might be hard to tell but if you scroll up to the swatch photo above, it’s particularly noticeable to me in the green and yellow swatches).
I couldn’t see any other tip size options at Walmart for the Pen + Gear range. The Inkjoy Gel comes in a 0.5mm tip.
Winner: Inkjoy Gel as it comes in 2 tip sizes
Style of the pen
Both have a similar shape, size and are retractable. The push down section of the pens are slightly different but only for aesthetics, it makes no difference when using the pen.
Winner: tie
How long does the ink last?
I’ve been using the Inkjoy Gel pens for more than 7 years and the ink still hasn’t dried out. I only just purchased the Pen + Gear pens so I’m not sure how long the ink will last.
Winner: TBA
Price
The price of the Paper Mate Inkjoy gel varies depending on the pack size you purchase. A 14 pack of the Inkjoy Gel is $32 USD ($16 USD on Amazon at the time of writing this post).
Walmart’s Pen + Gear are only $5.74 USD for a pack of 12. I thought they were priced wrong, it seems too cheap!
Winner: Pen + Gear
So which pens do I recommend?
The price point for Pen + Gear is so ridiculously cheap for basically the same thing as the Inkjoy gel, I would just get the Pen + Gear unless you want more unique colors offered by the Inkjoy Gel.
I suspect the ink in the Pen + Gear may not last as long (as I’m struggling to think of another reason for the huge price difference).
If you’re looking for more dupes of the Paper Mate Inkjoy Gel pens see this post.
More pen reviews
- After trying more than 20 pen brands, these are my top 5
- High Versus Low Stationery Comparison: Planner Pens
- What type of pens write best on correction tape? (gel pens vs. ballpoint vs. marker pens)
- 10 Pen brands that are available in a pack of 20 or more colors
- Favorite Pilot Pens for Planning (Roundup)
See the rest of the stationery I bought in the USA in this post.
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Hi Rachel! Thank you for testing the Pen + Gear pens! I’ve been having trouble with the Inkjoy Gel pens I purchased about 2 years ago. If I don’t use a color every day, it seems to clog up or set like gelatin because I have to roll it quickly between my hands (imagine rubbing your cold hands together to warm them), plus “slam” it on a pad of paper, (on the long side of the pen barrel, not the tip) to get the gel going again. I love how the Inkjoy writes, smooth and clear, easy to read except for the yellow which is very pale. But I think with the price difference and an easy to see yellow, I may switch to the Pen + Gear.
Hi Karen, I haven’t had the problem you’re describing… are you storing the pens horizontally? The yellow is definitely more obvious with the Pen + Gear pens.
Yes, I do store them horizontally. Is that why they set-up/gel??