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

This is the best pencil I've ever owned. My first kurutoga broke in my backpack somehow, so seeing that they released a metal version, I splurged immediately. The lead rotates a lot faster in this version making it more suitable for writing Latin Alphabet letters, and the writing quality is perfectly consistent. My only peeve with this pencil is the eraser has a short durability and has a metal cap which is a little inconvenient given I don't want to lose it. Since my eraser was entirely used up (around 2 months of use), I've been using a high polymer eraser separately from the pencil and that has been working much better.

This is a really awesome, functional and well built pen. The technology of it is really cool, and I would think should cost even more than it does making it an awesome buy in my opinion. It writes very well, has a nice heft to it making it easier for me to draw and write well with it. I absolutely love this pen, Ive purchased 4 now.

This pen is fantastic. I've been a long-time fan of the system, and this latest model did not disappoint. Two features stand out: first, the grip — it's much more comfortable than previous versions, offering stability with a great metallic feel. Second, the design is sleek and modern, surpassing the previous model in appearance. The blue and black options are particularly sharp. Overall, it’s a solid, high-quality mechanical pencil.

I love love love this pencil!I went through a stage of only using pencils, and this was great! I have a few notes, but overall it’s great!Pros:- Great build, it feels like GOOD quality.- The colors are nice and don’t wear.- It’s comfortable. I have bigger hands and usually get fatigue easily. This helped prevent that for me.Cons:- The eraser comes out really easy, I ended up carrying a handheld eraser with me.- It’s a little heavy, and I feel like I wouldn’t get writing fatigue as easy if it was a little lighter.- The press & twist feature doesn’t work for side writers. I write with the side of everything I use, not too drastic but I found that this didn’t work for me.Great pencil, will continue to use. Some notes, but I love it

Writes so well. I have a bit of a Kuru Toga collection and this one is now my go to more often than not. Smooth. The only improvement (other than a bigger eraser) I’d suggest would be to make the barrel smaller on the grip end. It’s a little too big for me when I’m making lots of notes in a small space, sometimes grab a regular Elite instead.

Durable, comfortable in hand, always a sharp tip, and not insanely expensive like some stationary hobbiest gear.

Just received my Kuru Toga Advance Upgrade 0.5 mm mechanical pencil.TL;DR = What an Excellent Pencil! And the W-speed engine makes a big difference.Prior to owning this, my "go to" pencils were: (1) the Pentel GraphGear 1000 0.5mm (limited edition black), (2) the Pentel GraphGear 1000 0.7 mm, and (3) a standard Uni Kuru Toga 0.7mm (black barrel).My standard Uni Kuru Toga *works*, but is a distant 3rd place because of two issues. First, the lead sleeve doesn't retract, leaving it to poke holes in my pockets, digging into me if I move wrongly, and/or accidentally getting broken off on a hard surface. Second, while the Kuru Toga engine *works* (and is awesome), it was designed for writing Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. Those use MUCH shorter strokes than the Western (Latin) alphabet, so the lead is turned more gradually than I would like.Enter the Kuru Toga Advance Upgrade.PROSIt has the new W-speed engine. (I assume the "W" stands for "Western Scripts.") This rotates the lead roughly TWICE as fast as the standard Kuru Toga engine so that it stays sharper when writing in English. I can confirm this works, and works well.The lead sleeve is retractable. I could wish that it had the niftier mechanism found in the Pentel GraphGear 1000, but it certainly works well enough that I can carry it in a pocket without breaking it or having it stab me.The lead sleeve "rides" up with the lead as you write. This little trick reduces the number of times you have to click to feed the lead, and is a welcome feature. (If you want a true auto-feeding pencil, Uni makes the Kuru Toga "Dive" which advances the lead every time you lift it from the page. It even has a feed speed adjustment!)The color is vivid. Mine is a deep vibrant red and the metal and plastic parts all match without color variation. It is a beautiful, professional looking writing instrument.CONSThe Kuru Toga Advance Upgrade is both shorter and lighter than my GraphGear 1000. This may be a "PRO" to you if you prefer a less-weighty pencil, but I would spend an extra few dollars in a heartbeat if they made a heavier, all-metal version.The sleeve requires pressing on a hard surface to make it retract. This is just a MINOR nit! But I prefer how the GraphGear auto-retracts when I squeeze the top of the pocket clip.Coolness Factor?My standard Kuru Toga has the window that shows the engine. When I pull this out in front of any fellow pen/pencil afficionado, they ALWAYS immediately ask about it! Of course, my "Advance Upgrade" pencil looks a WHOLE lot more professional... but I'd certainly buy a version that had the clear window around the engine. Better yet? Sell a version that has swappable lower barrels -- you could then "dress it up" for professional meetings, or "geek it up" when you want the coolness factor. (Are you listening, Uni?).

I was hoping to switch things up from my Rotring 600, especially because the tips can be so incredibly fragile.Pros- Feels cool, looks cool- Comfortable grip- Rotating feature is cool, if not terribly usefulCons- Tip is unstable, which kinda defeats the whole point of having a self sharpening tip