POLAR Pen/Stylus review

The POLAR Pen was a successfully funded Kickstarter project late last year and is now available to the general public. It’s a modular pen, it’s a magnetic toy for grown ups and it’s even a stylus. Let’s take a look.

Note: Images can be clicked to view a larger size.

Package contents

13 magnets
2 caps
1 clip
1 pen tip
1 stylus tip
1 black ink cartridge

The POLAR Pen is a writing instrument that is made of 13 individual magnets and other components including the cap, pocket clip, tip and stylus tip. These parts are not magnets, but are made from steel and coated with a Black zinc finish. The components stick to the magnets due to their large content of nickel and iron.

The pen’s name is based on the North and South Pole of each magnet. The pen comes fully assembled as you see here and is available in either Silver or Black versions. I was sent the Silver version which has neodymium rare earth magnets that have been coated in Nickel and then plated in real Silver. The finish is shiny with a very fine texture.

The pen cap pulls off to reveal the black ink tip. The POLAR Pen comes with Nanodot’s own ink cartridge, but this pen is also compatible with Pilot Hi-tec-C pen cartridges and the Uni-ball Signo UM-151 or Uni-ball Uni-Gel Grip refills.

The ink cartridge included with the POLAR Pen lays down a smooth Black line of ink that resists smearing. Weighing in at 2 ounces, the POLAR Pen feels heavy and not very balanced – especially if you post the cap on the other end.

The end cap also holds the capacitive stylus tip. FYI: the tip is replaceable if it gets damaged or worn out. The stylus worked pretty well on my iPads and Android tablets. I won’t say it’s the best stylus I’ve ever used or the worst. It gets the job done.

As a pen and stylus, the POLAR Pen is not anything special. The uniqueness is the fact that you can take the pen apart and do other things with this pen. Check out the video below:

I was able to do all three of these things, but not without pinching my fingers multiple times. That’s one of the downsides to playing with strong magnets like the ones used for the POLAR Pen. If you set one magnet down on the table and are within a few inches of the rest of the magnets they will snap together even if your flesh is in the way. Ouchy! I should also mention that you should NEVER give this pen to small children who might swallow the magnets. This can cause serious injury or even death.

You might be wondering if the magnets can harm your phone, tablet or other devices. Here’s some info about this that I found in the FAQ on POLAR’s site.

The magnets have no affect on cell phones, tablets and modern laptops with flash storage. I would not recommend putting them in direct contact with any spinning harddrive. Having said that, I have kept two pens in my laptop bag for a few months, with an external spinning hard drive, and have had no ill effects.

The pens do not have an effect on modern day plastic credit cards, such as VISA and Mastercard. Yet, it is not recommended to put the pens in contact with disposable cardboard magnetic strip cards, such as the ones used in London’s transit system.

The POLAR Pen is a fun geek toy / writing pen / capacitive stylus. While I was reviewing the pen, I found my self constantly flipping the cap off and on, and goofing around with different configurations. This pen won’t win the best pen in the world contest, but it might win the geekiest pen contest and will definitely win the most magnetic pen in the world award. If you love magnets you’ll appreciate the POLAR Pen. Just be careful of pinching your fingers!

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Nano Magnetics. Please visit their site for more info.