I very much like the look of this pen. It is just a simple design, but the plastic barrel is a nice rich color accented by some clear areas. White logo and writing all around and not too flashy. Very conservative.
I decided to toss one of these in my cart on an order from JetPens awhile back as a "filler"; their free shipping over $25 makes it easy to try new pens if you're almost at the mark. And, with this pen being only $1.65, it was an easy and low-risk choice.
Prepare for a thought detour: one thing that drives me absolutely bonkers is sticker residue. By sticker residue, I mean the layer of gunk that stays on the surface of a product after you peel off a label of some kind like the UPC barcode sticker for scanning. Oh. My. Gosh. On some products it seems that nothing short of turpentine and steel wool would get that junk off. For whatever reason, I've found pens to be one of the worst culprits for this. Even if a pen is cheap and sold from a cup for individual sale, I still want to be able to remove the sticker to make the experience more enjoyable. Well, as you've presumed, the Multiball had some wicked sticker residue... Consider this rant now over.
The Multiball lays down a pretty fine line, but the ink flow is good which makes for dark, solid lettering on the page. The writing experience isn't smooth by any means and there is a considerable amount of drag on the page. I thought it might just be my Doane Paper as it is a pretty heavy stock and not overly smooth, but when I went to a Rhodia 5x5 Block pad, the experience was a bit better but not by much.
The grip on the pen is actually very good. It has just enough flex and enough rubbery feel to be really effective. Never during my time of writing did I feel like my grip on the barrel slipped.
I think I might have a love/hate with this pen. There are times I really don't like it, but when I feel like I get into a good handwriting "groove", the words on the page are neat, dark, and precise which I like. I would not recommend this pen as an everyday writer if smooth is your thing.
From what I've read, the Multiball writes on a large variety of surfaces, including glass. Pretty impressive, and I could see that being a benefit if you worked in a lab of some kind or your work required you to physically write on a variety of smooth surfaces. I haven't done any crazy tests, although I did ask my wife if I could write on one of our drinking glasses...she respectfully turned me down.