TWSBI Swipe vs TWSBI Eco: a Close Comparison of 2 Great Fountain Pens
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- Опубліковано 15 лип 2024
- In my first video, a review of the TWSBI Swipe, I compared TWSBI's new fountain pen to their classic TWSBI Eco, but I realized that a more in-depth comparison might be helpful if you are considering which pen to buy. I tried to put together a fairly comprehensive look into the similarities/differences and pros/cons between the TWSBI Swipe and the TWSBI Eco. Which fountain pen do you prefer?
/ downthebreatherhole
Apologies for the terrible lighting/video quality. I just got a new phone after making this video, so my next video should be MUCH better.
Thanks for the video, lighting looked good to me!
@@edisontrent5244 thanks Edison. You're too kind.
Thanks for comparing the Swipe with the Eco. I don’t have any Twsbi pens so this is very helpful. Enjoyed your more in depth review.
Awesome! I hope it helps as you consider what you might want to get. Both are nice pens.
Eco all the way. It’s in a league higher than the Swipe. I compare the Eco to the Safari or the Metropolitan. The Swipe is like the Kaluno
You seem like a real genuine guy and I've watched a few of your video's now. Thank you for the info, it helped me consider things I wouldn't have while making my decision.
If any of these know it all trolls bug you again, let me know. You got a friend here.
Thanks for your support!
Thanks for the great video. I have both;for me it's not close at all, I much prefer the Eco. I like when you said that you sometimes think the acrylic of the Eco is glass. Yes! That is the perfect way to describe it. I just love the way that high quality acrylic feels and looks. You didn't mention the sound the Eco makes when capping and un-capping. I could listen to that sound all day. When capping the pen that lip at the bottom of the section rubs against the threads in the cap. Those threads are very large; they become like a washboard (the musical percussion instrument) and that lip is playing it. I also just don't like snapcaps. One can generate enough suction pulling off the cap of the Swipe to suck out and splatter ink. I have done it! I'm not trying to convince anybody, just describing what I like. I just got a TWSBI Vac 700R Iris. It's beautiful, I love it in many ways. It was $80 and my Eco was $33. But if I could choose only one, I'd pick the Eco. Thanks again for the great vid.
Thanks for commenting! Lots of good thoughts here. Yeah, as I've used the Swipe more, I think it's clear that the Eco wins, but there are still things I appreciate about the Swipe, especially as a pen to just throw in my pocket for the day. The sound of the threads on the Eco used to drive me crazy. Haha I'm used to it now. It's fun to know that there are people out there who love it. Maybe knowing that will help me enjoy it more too. Also, you're not alone with your preference for the Eco over more expensive twsbi pens. I've heard several people say they enjoy using their Ecos more than their Diamond 580s.
Interesting. Thank you
I enjoyed your comparisons. I have both too, well, the TWSBI Eco T and the Swipe (in grey, I live in the UK and Prussian Blue isn't available yet, grr!). I have found the writing experience very similar, maybe the Swipe has just edged it for me (I write with a medium nib). You guys in the US are lucky as we only get the spring converter in the box with the swipe, we have to buy the more traditional converter separately. I think it is a lot of pen for your money and I think that TWSBI are definitely going to be glad of the reception that they are getting to the new kid on the block.
Hi Delilah! Yeah, I don't understand pen distribution. It's definitely not fair in a lot of ways. I remember seeing a gorgeous special edition Eco that I think was only available in Japan. :( But I'm sure you will have access to more colors of the Swipe soon. If you haven't already, go follow TWSBI on Instagram and read some of the comments people are leaving about the Swipe. TWSBI usually does a good job of answering questions there, and they said they will have two more colors out by the end of the year! Hopefully some will get to you in the UK. I'm sure they will. I just hope it doesn't take too long!
Look on cult pens i think they have kt
Most commenters prefer the ECO to the Swipe, but I have to say my experience drives me towards the Swipe. I bought the ECO a couple of years ago but never really got on with the nib: I think it needed a little bit of attention and I didn't have the right material for doing that. Then I disassembled the whole pen and could not get the barrel and piston cap to sit together properly - so I got rid of it. (The person I sent it to was a 'fiddler' and succeeded where I had failed!).
I bought the Swipe much more recently and much prefer the nib on it. I really don't mind about the clip (on all my pens the clip is just a roll stop for me), and can readily tolerate the lower fill capacity - in fact I prefer a lower capacity, I can change inks more often.
The TWSBI Eco certainly isn't the most user-friendly fountain pen for the reasons you mentioned. I love the look and feel of the Eco, but the Swipe is a great budget/EDC pen.
I own the blue Swipe. Very nice, smooth pen. I wish the section were a little wider, and the clip is near-useless. But I like light pens and it's a great, smooth user. As much as I like a piston pen, I prefer being able to more easily swap out inks. And the larger-volume coverters (and larger cartridges too) it works better for me.
Yeah, not a perfect pen, but it's still good and reliable.
Is this fellow Stephen Brown’s estranged brother? The likeness is remarkable!
Haha I'm flattered. It's probably just the glasses.
Have both the Eco T and Swipe. Prefer the ECO T because of how it feels in the hand but I have no regrets in buying the Swipe due to its lighter weight and a better alternative than the TWSBI Go for an EDC pen as it costs only ~4 USD more and can be used with a cartridge.
The cost difference between the TWSBI Go and the TWSBI Swipe is about $5-$6 US.
The Swipe is an upgraded Go.
Yeah, the Swipe fits pretty comfortably between the Eco and Go as far as price is concerned. To me, which one you prefer just kind of depends on what you are looking for in a pen, but I do agree that the Swipe is an upgrade from the Go. I have eyed the Go for a long time but couldn't ever bring myself to get one because--let's be honest--it's kind of ugly. haha
The Swipe is great. The ECO looks and feels a ton better though. Cannot go wrong with those nibs in any of their pens.
Yeah, since making this video I've gravitated more strongly to the Eco. I think the Swipe is probably a better pen if you're a complete beginner, but if you know your way around a fountain pen, then I'd go with the Eco and never look back. Haha
Is the Eco leaking around the nib? It looked like it was getting ink on your finger
It may have been. I have since discovered that one of my TWSBI Ecos has a cracked grip section. I guess I tinkered with the nib too many times. Still, I think they should be more durable than that.
The Swipe is made in Asia (Possibly China rather than Taiwan for this one) and I believe all Lamy pens are made in Germany. The cost of labor is certainly a factor.
Fantastic comparison video by the way.
Thanks Joseph! That's a very valid point. Exchange rates and labor costs might play a role for sure. And with low-cost pens like this, I can only hope that the labor is ethical. It's a worry of mine.
Love the Eco the best. The Swipe to me is handicapped by the near useless clip. Also, when I would lay the Swipe down, it would keep trying to roll off the table because of that awful clip. I love the Eco because it comes with a stub nib if you want it.
The TWSBI Eco is quite nice.
the swipe is cheap and sounds cool. but sadly the look is so ugly IMO! and he colors are the same! but they'll probably add a few colors eventually.
the eco is soooo beautiful!
Yeah! They just added a new color, a kind of salmony orange. I don't care for it too much though.
What you're feeling is the coating TWSBI puts on the plastic. The Swipe uses the same plastic. TWSBI doesn't use cheap plastic for anything. The difference in weight with empty pens is the difference in how much metal there is, and how my the piston mechanism in the ECO weighs. When full, the ECO holds more ink.
The Swipe plastic is considerably better and more expensive than the Lamy. Part of the reason for this is that Lamy used the best plastic they could find when the pen first came out, but that was a long time ago. Not that I care, I hate everything about Lamy pens. They're the most overpriced pens on the market by a wide margin, though competition with Chinese pens is bring the prices down.
But why compare the Swipe with the ECO when one is a cartridge/converter, the other is a piston filler, and you really don't know very much at all about how either pen is made, or the materials it's made from? I can understand comparing the ECO and the Classic, or the 580, but not with the Swipe.
How plastic, or just about anything else, "feels" is as meaningful as a sneeze in a hurricane. It isn't at all difficult to learn what materials various pens use. The O ring on the ECO is more to prevent damage when over-tightening the cap than for anything else. It's the inner cap that prevents drying out.
Squeezing the Swipe cap was a very bad thing to do. It proves nothing except that you don't know how bad an idea it is. As for hard starts, that's useless info unless we know which ink you used, and what size nib is on the Swipe. I've had a Swipe sitting for two weeks without a hard start, but I only know which dry ink I used, and the size of nib on my pen, so I can't make comparisons.
As for balance, I suspect you're one of the seemingly endless number who think balance means the halfway point on the pen, That's a horrible place for a pen to balance. It means you have to make the nib contact the paper, and you have to use pressure to keep it there. Very slight pressure, but enough to cause cramping and fatigue in a long writing session. Fountain pens work best, and cause much less cramping and fatigue, when as much weight as possible is as close to the nib as possible. On a pen this light, every little bit helps.
Of course the ECO is back-weighted. You aren't supposed to post it at all. Just because a pen can be posted does not mean it should be. Really, almost none should be, but definitely not the ECO. As they say, only in America. I guess just about everyone in America grew up using cheap pens with cheap caps, so posting them was natural. But fountain pens are a whole new ballgame, and with the exception of true pocket pens, posting is almost always a bad idea.
I like every TWSBI pen, and TWSBI is the only steel nib brand I collect. I've only bought a tiny few steel nib pens altogether, and the vast majority are TWSBI. And four of the steel nib pens I own cost more than a hundred and fifty dollars. One cost just about five hundred dollars. That's pretty steep for a steel nib. The only cheap ones are a handful of Metropolitans that I love. So I really like TWSBI pens.
But they were long past due to bring out a cartridge/converter pen. This is what makes the Swipe special, it's a high ink capacity cartridge/converter, and this is why it really can't be compared to other TWSBI pens. As for a solid body, that's why I like the TWSBI Classic so much.
Really, I don't think high ink capacity matters as much as most think it does, including to ninety percent of those who buy piston fillers.
Anyway, I'll keep buying new TWSBI pens as they come out. Right now, my two favorites are the Classic and the Swipe. This could change with time, after I've owned and used the Swipe over weeks and months.
My one desire for a new TWSBI now is one that comes with a gold nib. If the rumors are true, this may happen in the next couple of years.
Hi James, I'm not going to respond to every part of your lengthy comment, but I will say that I have my reasons for saying what I'm saying. For example, as I explained in my video, I'm comparing the TWSBI Swipe and TWSBI Eco because they are in the same price range, which means fountain pen users may be considering both of them. Also, the TWSBI Eco IS designed to post if you want it to post. That's why the o-ring on the back is there. If you don't believe me, go check out TWSBI's Instragram account. At least half of their images of the Eco are shown with the cap posted. Further, I by no means fall under your assumption of trying to balance the pen on my finger to determine balance. I'm simply talking about how the pen feels in the hand while writing. Lastly, by coating on the plastic, are you referring to the anti-scratch treatment that TWSBI puts on their more expensive pens, such as the Diamond 580? It's my understanding that the Eco, Go, and Swipe do not have the same treatment.
Fantastic reply. Really informative.
Just being honest here... your kind of a dick and shouldn't troll someone else's hard work, no matter how well you think they did. Constructive criticism is just that, constructive.