This is kind of the "Part II" of my recent Cross acquisitions. My recent review of the Cross Click went well and I had high hopes for the Edge. From just looking at this pen, it seems to be a cool product: sleek, edgy (hence the name), and kind of flashy. With this particular matte black barrel and "gadgetry", it seems like a pen Batman would use.
I picked up the Cross Edge from Staples.com as they had them on closeout for $15, and since they retail for $40 I thought, what the heck. I'd been interested in this pen for awhile, so I was excited to give it a try.
First impressions, I'm not really digging it so much. Not that it isn't a nice pen, but its just not giving me the wow factor I thought it would. My thoughts don't mean that the pen is a bad pen at all, but just my opinions. It looks stunning and has some cool features, but it just isn't happening although there are some pros and cons.
The refill for the pen is really dark and smooth, although it writes really wet. If you prefer a finer line, this one wouldn't really be up your alley. I don't believe Cross makes a finer refill in the gel roller, but I'll have to investigate. The refill is nice and I've enjoyed using it.
The unique factor around this pen is the mechanism to extend and retract the tip. To extend the tip, you pull apart the pen barrel in a telescoping motion. To retract the tip, you push the pen barrel back together. While this is a neat feature, it isn't really blowing my mind. To me, it seems almost gimmicky and isn't exceptionally smooth in its function. With the shape and size of this pen, a really solid twist mechanism could have been nice too.
The pen is substantial, but not overly heavy and is well balanced. It is comfortable to write with. The main barrel pieces are molded plastic which isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't really add points to the classy factor.
My opinion, I don't really think this is a $40 pen. With the plastic barrel and some accents, it just doesn't feel like it would be a pricier pen. In this instance, I kind of feel like Cross over did it with this one in the opposite direction of their usual style.
I'll probably still use this pen from time to time, but it just wasn't quite what I expected it to be from my own personal tastes.