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Review: 2025 Sailor King Eagle fountain pen

Teoh Yi Chie — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Review: 2025 Sailor King Eagle fountain pen

Sailor has finally brought back the Sailor Specialty Nibs in 2025 after they were supposedly discontinued in 2015. The pen nibs from 2025 should be the third gen, and the pen nibs from 2018 are the second gen, and those before from the first gen.

I started collecting Sailor Specialty Nibs in 2015 and could not find the Sailor King Eagle then. I was told the Sailor King Eagle wasn't released with in 2nd generation and is now back in the third gen.

I've waited for the Sailor King Eagle to appear for more than ten years, and it's the last Sailor Specialty Nib that I want, so I bought it. I paid SGD 3,297 (USD 2,552) with tax for it at Aesthetic Bay, a fountain pen shop in Singapore. While I was at the shop, I noticed the prices of the other Sailor Specialty Nibs and they were around 2.5 to 3 times more expensive than what I had paid for my pens 10 years ago.

When I searched online, I see the pen being listed as USD 2000, €2000 or SGD 3300+ on eBay from Japanese sellers.

The prices of Sailor Specialty Nibs have increased so much over the years that I can't really recommend them anymore at today's prices, even though these are wonderful pens. To achieve the lines that the Sailor King Eagle can create, today you can buy a Jinhao 750 with a dual-layer nib for USD 55.

The Sailor King Eagle is available in the Sailor 1911 body, a classic body design Sailor is known for for years.

The design is timeless and I like it. It's a comfortable pen to hold in hand.

The pen comes with a Sailor ink convertor, two ink cartridges, a cleaning cloth, a booklet talking Sailor Specialty Nibs.

The cap is twist-type.

The band on the cap has words "Sailor Japan 1911 Special Nib" which are quite difficult to read since the black text is indent against black background.

The 2025 King Eagle Nib is a 3-layer stacked nib. There are two smaller nibs on top of the big one.

Design on the big nib is clean and simple design. There's the Sailor logo, 21K words and 875 for the gold content.

The older King Eagle nib has 1911 above the Sailor logo, and Sailor word below. Picture above is from St John's Pens.

This nib is clearly much thicker than normal nibs, and the tipping is also much bigger than even the Sailor Cross Emperor that I have.

The three nibs are fused together and sides are ground to be smooth. From the side you can also see the two slits.

From the bottom you can see the vertical slit that goes through all three nibs, and two cross slits. This cross slit design provides fantastic ink flow. This is a wet and juicy pen, and as a result uses a lot of ink. You definitely want to fill the ink convertor fully if you plan on bringing this pen out for drawing.

And speaking of bringing this pen out for drawing, you'll have to be extremely careful not to drop this. Since this is an extremely expensive purchase, I'm always very cautious about handling the pen and having the cap on whenever not using even for a short while.

Here's a sketch drawn with the pen. The ink is Diamine Forever Ink, Butterscotch.

The pen is able to produce thin and thick lines depending on the angle of the pen. There's slight flex if you press the nib hard but this can be considered a stiff nib.

Thin lines can be drawn easily by holding the pen vertically.

And the broad strokes can fill in large areas easily and quickly. Broad stroke is about 4mm thick. The versatility of the Sailor King Eagle makes it wonderful and satisfying to work with.

The pen nib is actually designed for Chinese or Japanese calligraphy, but I'm using this predominantly for drawing. For writing, you can choose how thick your lines will be by how you hold the pen.

The pen nib is smooth but has audible feedback on paper, feels quite similar to writing with a pencil.

Here's another sketch drawn with the pen, overlayed with watercolour.

Back in 2015, I still remember I was quite excited to own the Sailor Specialty Nibs. They were expensive back then but I've been using them for more than ten years so they do provide value for money. And since prices of those pens have increased so much, I could actually sell my old pens and still earn money.

As for the value of the Sailor King Eagle, it's not that clear to me at today's prices. The only reason I could think of for having such a high prices today is price gouging. Sailor may be able to set their MSRP but resellers will definitely markup the price due to demand and scarcity.

Pen Boutique said "the elevated price makes sense once you understand the elite knowledge, time, and skill it takes to create nibs with impeccable and unique performance like these". Yeah, but these pens made with the same level of craftsmanship were not insanely expensive 10 years ago. So labour prices increased 2.5 to 3 times in the last ten years? Gold prices have increased, sure, but these pen nibs do not use that much gold.

When the price is set so high, your expectations will also go up. The Sailor King Eagle is a great pen but I do not feel the same excitement I used to feel. At least the pen is still satisfying to write with, but I can say that for the much cheaper pens I have too.

If you're thinking of getting a Sailor Specialty Nib at today's prices, my recommendation is don't start. Go look at Chinese alternatives.

Teoh Yi Chie Fri, 17 Jul 2026 - 23:00

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Review: Jinhao 750 dual layer stacked nib fountain pen

Teoh Yi Chie — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Review: Jinhao 750 dual layer stacked nib fountain pen

Specialty nibs from Chinese pen makers are not that popular or well known, but the nib quality from some can be pretty good, and I can say that for the Jinhao 750 with a dual-layer stacked nib.

The price of this pen is around USD 52 on AliExpress. By the way, this is not a sponsored review, but if you have the intention to buy this pen, please buy it through the affiliate links further below to support my blog, which allows to me explore and feature lesser known pens.

This pen arrived in an aluminium (probably) box that's almost crushed but thankfully the pen is not damaged.

The pen is available in different colours and the one I have here is the pale yellow or tusk colour.

The body actually wiggles slightly when cap. It's like the cap is holding on to the wrong end of the grip section. Quality control isn't the best it seems. I just hope the cap is still able to provide a good seal to prevent ink from drying.

An ink convertor is provided. There's nothing else inside the box.

The pen does feel quite good in hand. There's a good weight to it and does not feel filmsy.

The insignia on the nib is one of a funny horse with bulging eyes and wavy tail. For some reason, I like how comical the horse looks.

This is dual-layer nib. There's a smaller nib stacked on top of the larger main nib.

The tipping is big and it looks like a separate piece that's fused to the two nibs.

This nib has a cross slit which should help with ink flow, and this particular pen that I have has fantastic ink flow. This is a very wet nib and is as good as the other Sailor Specialty Nibs I have with fantastic ink flow.

Just for comparison purposes, this is how the Jinhao stacked nib looks besides the Sailor King Eagle nib that cost USD 2000-2500.

The grind of the Sailor King Eagle is definitely better in the sense that all (5) contact points can be used for writing, or drawing. The Jinhao stacked nib works best at the point and the broad side.

This stacked nib is versatile and can create a variety of line widths depending on the angle of the pen. The thickest line is 4mm. And the thinnest line is hairline if you reverse the pen nib.

Pen nibs like this are actually designed for writing Chinese words. Because the pen nib can produce line variation, they can be used for drawing as well, and can create expressive lines.

The thinner lines can be used for drawing, and board line can be used for filling areas with ink quickly.

When drawing short strokes, you can tap with the broad stroke instead, as if you are drawing dots, but short strokes will appear.

Hold the pen vertically or reverse the tip and you can draw very thin lines.

Drawing experience with this pen is satisfying, and it is probably worth buying this pen just for that.

A fude nib fountain pen can also create lines like the Jinhao stacked nib. The main difference is the stacked nib has the tipping in front, but the fude nib has the nib bent backwards. There is a slight difference with writing or drawing experience.

Some of the fude nib pens I have have ink flow issues.

For USD 50, this pen provides tremendous value for money. Even if you already have a fude nib, this is still a good pen to get. I highly recommend this pen.

Availability

You can find this pen on AliExpress (Seller A | Seller B | Seller C)

Teoh Yi Chie Thu, 16 Jul 2026 - 11:00

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fountain pen reviews

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Review: Fabriano Accademia ARTIST PAPERPACK drawing paper (120gsm, 160gsm, 200gsm)

Teoh Yi Chie — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 01:00:00 +0000

Review: Fabriano Accademia ARTIST PAPERPACK drawing paper (120gsm, 160gsm, 200gsm)

Not a sponsored review

The Fabriano Accademia ARTIST PAPERPACK drawing paper is available in 120gsm, 160gsm and 200gsm. I had purchased the paper from ArtFriend Singapore recently. Each pack is SGD21.95 before discount. I only saw A4 size.

120gsm, 200 sheets
This is good for pencil and ink. The paper is thinner, so you can see impression of your drawing from the back surface.

160gsm, 150 sheets
This is good for pencil, ink and light ink washes. Paper is thicker so you can barely see the drawing from the back surface.

200gsm, 100 sheets
Paper is much thicker and suitable for heavier mixed media use, but not with watercolour.

The paper is not glued or gummed on the side, and there's no cardboard backing. It's packaged like printing paper except paper quality is better. The paper is acid-free.

As the name Accademia suggests, this is for students and beginners.

There's no mention whether there's any cotton content, so that pretty much means this paper has no cotton content and is not of archival quality. Cotton paper can last significantly longer than ordinary wood pulp paper.

This paper is made for drawing, from what I can see suitable for pen and pencil. 160gsm can be used with light water washes, and 200gsm is good for heavier mixed media work.

The paper is not watercolour paper so it does not work well with watercolour or water media, or markers (too absorbant). But 160gsm and 200gsm are still alright for light ink washes, as shown above.

The thicker paper has minimal buckling with this ink sketch with light wash. Actually the paper remained very flat.

Paper is thick enough so the ink or light wash does not seep or bleed through.

Ink works extremely well. Line edges are solid with no feathering.

This paper is considered high quality despite the Accademia label. Drawing on it is extremely satisfying. Having this stack of quality paper in front makes me feel inspired and ready to draw. If you've been drawing for a while, you'll know how satisfying it is to be working on good quality paper.

The Fabriano Accademia drawing paper is something I can recommend easily.

If you're interested to buy this, try searching Jackson's Art (UK) and Blick Art (US).

Teoh Yi Chie Tue, 14 Jul 2026 - 09:00

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art product reviews

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Review: Arkademie leather desk pad

Teoh Yi Chie — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 01:00:00 +0000

Review: Arkademie leather desk pad

I used to have two leather desk pads made by Galen Leather that I love so much but were damaged by water. I've been waiting for the longest time for them to come back in stock until I remembered there's a local Singapore business Arkademie that makes leather products.

Arkademie does not sell leather desk pads but since they make leather products they should be able to make one easily. So I contacted James, the guy who runs the online store, to ask if they make leather desk pads and they do. I got him to make me two pieces, each 80 by 50cm to fit the Muji folding table top perfectly.

It took only a week to make and James delivered the desk pads himself because he did not want the local post to damage the leather.

The leather is natural full-grain vegetable-tanned buffalo or cow hide leather.

I had wanted something to protect the wooden table top because I review many items on my table and I'm not always that careful to put things down. Now, I can just throw all my stuff on the leather desk pad and I know there won't be any damage to my stuff and the leather.

I had the leather in brown and black as I can use them as backgrounds for product photography. I can match darker or lighter products with lighter or darker backgrounds when needed.

If you plan on writing on the desk pad with fountain pens, I recommend getting the black colour because ink spills on black will not be noticeable.

Each piece at SGD 70 is really worth the money considering this will last for a very long time. In fact it's so good I'm so tempted to make more custom ones for other table tops.

Teoh Yi Chie Mon, 13 Jul 2026 - 09:00

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Review: BlueDew Pen with Wet Noodle EF nib

Teoh Yi Chie — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 02:00:00 +0000

Review: BlueDew Pen with Wet Noodle EF nib

Review sample provided by BlueDew Pens

A flex nib pen good for sketching

BlueDew Pens is a company based in Singapore that sells predominantly flex nib fountain pens. The first pen they released back in 2020 was a fountain pen that works just like the Zebra G nib except there's no need for dipping because there's an ink convertor.

Jeffrey Lim, founder of the company, has just released the second generation of pen nibs he has created, together with more body designs. The highlight is the new Wet Noodle steel nib (above) he has designed to be extra soft, or as the company says is "the softest steel flex nib available today", which is almost 25% softer compared to Leonardt Principal Extra Fine (LPEF) nibs. This nib has been designed not just for calligraphy but also for drawing.

In case you don't know, Leonardt Principal Extra Fine is a highly regarded, professional-grade dip pen nib known for its flexibility and ability to produce very fine lines . It's a top choice for pointed pen calligraphy styles like Copperplate and Spencerian.

Here are the first and second generation pens. Jeffrey has sent me a pen with the Crystal - Aquamarine Mist body fitted with a Wet Noodle EF nib. The first gen pen is no longer available for sale.

The price of the pen with standard nibs is USD 130 and specialty or flex nibs cost extra, in this case the Wet Noodle EF is USD 45. Shipping in Singapore is free, but shipping overseas is around USD 18-30 depending on the country.

Design

The demonstrator body design looks beautiful, more beautiful in my opinion compared to the opaque bodies. Build quality is good. The pen weighs 26g, measures 15cm with the cap, and 13cm without the cap. I would consider this to be a medium+ size pen. The pen feels great in hand.

Trade-off of the demonstrator body is the cap can get dirty with ink and will look dirty. If you're someone who doesn't want the hassle of cleaning the cap, it's probably better to get the opaque bodies.

These are the parts that can be dismantled easily. I did not dismantle the pen completely though -- I did not pull out the nib or removed the piston.

The engineering of this pen looks precise.

The built-in ink reservoir can hold a lot of ink. This is convenient if you need to bring the pen overseas for several days and don't want to bring an ink bottle.

These are the various nib options available and the prices in USD:

Fine
Medium
Broad
CalligraFlex
SoftFlex (Fine) +$20
SuperSoftFlex (Fine) +$30
Wet Noodle (Fine) +$45
SoftFlex (Extra Fine) +$20
SuperSoftFlex (Extra Fine) +$30
Wet Noodle (Extra Fine) +$45

The nib sections are interchangeable so you can buy other types of nibs to test.

Here's how the Wet Noodle EF (top) compares to the nib from the previous pen. There are five slits, a heart-shape breather hole, the BlueDew logo and EF on it.

The tip is bigger so this nib is not as sharp as the first pen. The upside here is the nib is smoother on paper and works better for sketching if you want to sketch fast.

Nothing much to say about the feed.

Performance

The steel nib is indeed quite soft and can produce good line variation.

The previous pen nib is able to produce ultra fine lines, just like a Zebra G nib. This new Wet Noodle EF nib produces thicker lines by comparison.

You don't have to press that hard for the flex and the flex produces much thicker lines. By the way, the Pelikan M200 above has a Fine nib, so the Wet Noodle EF nib is between EF and F.

I'm not sure what's the best type of ink to use in flex pens. The ink I have in the pen is Diamine Forever Ink, Raven (waterproof), and it works okay with the occasional railroading so I have to be more careful when drawing thick lines.

You will have to go slower to prevent the railroading effect as the ink flow may not catch up. I don't think it's about the ink flow but how the ink holds itself before it breaks, e.g. how water holds before a bead breaks away. So you may have to test some inks with this pen.

The amount of flex is easy to control and the drawing experience with this pen is good, quite satisfying.

Thanks to the extra tipping, the nib is smoother on paper and can go in any direction easily. The previous nib was sharp and has a tendency to dig into the paper, so that nib has to be pulled in certain directions.

The other flex nib pen I have is the Pilot Namiki with Spencerian modification and I rarely use that for sketching because the nib is also too sharp.

This Wet Noodle EF nib is great for sketching. The normal line width is just what I prefer and the thicker line is noticeably thicker for effect. This is definitely my favourite flex nib of all the flex nibs I've tested in years. I can see myself sketching with this often.

The pricing is seems reasonable for such a lovely pen with wonderful pen performance. The line variation it can produce is fantastic. If you're someone who likes to draw with a flex nib, this is definitely the pen and nib to consider.

To get this pen, just visit the BlueDew online store.

Teoh Yi Chie Fri, 10 Jul 2026 - 10:00

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Sailor Specialty Nib comparison: Before after 2015 and after 2025

Teoh Yi Chie — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:00:00 +0000

Sailor Specialty Nib comparison: Before after 2015 and after 2025

Sailor has finally brought back the Sailor Specialty Nibs in 2025 after they were supposedly discontinued in 2015, briefly back in 2018, and then gone.

The last time I wrote about the Sailor Specialty Nibs was back in 2020 after I had bought the Sailor Cross Concord.

The nibmeisters

The first series of Sailor Specialty Nibs were made by Nobuyoshi Nagahara, the guy who invented the Naginata-Togi nib and Cross Point nib. He worked at Sailor for over 60 years until he retired in 2011.

Nobuyoshi Nagahara's son Yukio Nagahara took over the fountain pen production and worked until 2020 when he also retired, and started his own company The Nib Shaper.

The generations of Sailor Specialty Nibs

If I am not wrong, there should be three generations of Sailor Specialty Nibs so far, as of 2026.

First gen before 2018: Cap's gold trim is thicker, "SAILOR JAPAN FOUNDED 1911" words embossed in gold against gold
Second gen after 2018 to 2025: Cap has top and bottom gold trim, "SAILOR JAPAN 1911 SPECIAL NIB" words embossed in gold against black
Third gen 2025: Cap has top and bottom gold trim with threads, "SAILOR JAPAN 1911 SPECIAL NIB" words embossed in black against black. There are also two rows of little extrusions.

Words on the 2nd gen cap can clearly be seen, and words on the third gen cap are difficult to see.

Price

Below are the pens that I have and prices that I had paid at the time of purchase, including shipping.

Sailor Cross Emperor (USD 515, ~SGD 667 ) - First gen
Sailor Cross Music (USD 563, ~SGD 729) - First gen
Sailor Fude de Mannen (USD 475, ~SGD 615) - First gen
Sailor Cross Concord (SGD 880, ~USD 646) - Second gen
Sailor King Eagle (SGD 3297, ~USD 2500) - Third gen

I've seen the 2025 Sailor King Eagle being listed at USD 2000 or €2000.

Back when I purchased the first generation Sailor Specialty Nibs, the prices were around USD 500 - 600. Today, these pens have the following prices, as listed on local Singapore fountain pen shop Asethetic Bay:

Sailor Fude de Mannen (SGD 1799, ~USD 1389) - 2.9 times more
Sailor Cross Point (SGD 2158, ~USD 1667) - 3.2 times more
Sailor Cross Music (SGD 2158, ~USD 1667) - 2.9 times more
Sailor Cross Concord (SGD 2158, ~USD 1667) - 2.5 times more

If you're in Singapore, the other shop to compare prices at is Fook Hing.

I wished I had bought more pens a decade ago. Prices of these Sailor Specialty Nibs have increased almost 3 times from the 1st to 3rd generation in the span of 10 years.

I was told the Sailor King Eagle was not released for the 2nd gen but is now back in the 3rd gen together with other Sailor Specialty Nibs in 2025. So when I saw the Sailor King Eagle being listed as available on Asethetic Bay's website, I was at the shop the next day. I've waited 10 years for this pen nib to appear and it finally did.

I paid SGD 3297 (USD 2552) with tax for the pen at the shop after a 10% discount. I was quite apprehensive and unsure of buying the Sailor King Eagle due to the insanely high price point, but went ahead eventually because this is an incredibly rare pen nib that can only be purchased when it's available. And all the Sailor Specialty Nibs I had bought years ago are now worth at least 3 times more. These pens can last forever and will only grow in value as those early generation pens are no longer being made.

The gold colour on the 1st gen look more yellow to me. Unless you have pens from different generation, you won't have anything to compare to.

2nd and 3rd gen pens have the metal inset inside the body.

This means the 1st gen's section cannot be used with 2nd and 3rd gen bodies.

This is the Sailor Zoom Nib with the 1st gen nib design. Note the frame, 1911 words, Sailor logo and the 21K and the Sailor words below.

This is the Sailor Cross Concord with the 2nd gen nib design. Note that the frame is gone. Just below 21K are the words Sailor Japan.

This is the Sailor King Eagle with the 3rd gen nib design. Note that the frame and 1911 words are gone. This is a much cleaner design and I'm not sure if it's a better design.

Photo from Pen Boutique

The new Sailor Specialty Nib designs seem to be in line with the Sailor Casual L nib designs.

See this video above on the Sailor Casual L.

So those who like the intricate nib designs are gonna be disappointed with the cleaner and more simple design.

Should you still buy the Sailor Specialty Nib today?

This is a difficult question to answer because it depends on the reason you're getting the pen for? Does the brand mean anything to you? Are you buying the pen because of the nib design and the lines it can create?

Sailor is a good brand but it has to have some special meaning for you to spend thousands of dollars on a pen. The prices have increased so much that it has become excessive and it's difficult to recommend the Sailor Specialty Nib at today's prices.

I definitely will not be buying the pens that I have at today's prices. I make a special except for the Sailor King Eagle because that's the last Specialty Nib pen that I want. There's also the Sailor King Cobra but I'm not too interested in that.

A stacked nib is great for drawing because it can create a variety of line widths. And for the Sailor King Eagle, you can create 5 line widths consistently with one nib. That's not something most pen nibs can do.

The fountain pen market is now flooded with many Chinese fountain pens, and stacked nibs are becoming more common and can be purchased for less than USD 100 on AliExpress. I don't think stacked nibs are that special anymore.

I only found out about these Chinese stacked nibs recently from my friend, and it was before I purchased the Sailor King Eagle. Had I known about these Chinese "King Eagles", I may not have purchased the Sailor. We're talking about a price difference of several thousands of dollars, so the pen better be special or have some special meaning.

If you just want a fountain pen for drawing, there is certainly no need to spend that much money today with these Chinese fountain pens.

It's like why would you buy a Sailor Naginata Fude nib for USD 1500 or more today when you can get Chinese fude nib pen for less than USD 100? Seriously.

Competition is tough in the fountain pen market today. Fountain pen companies have to think of how they can market their pens to make the pens feel special and valuable when the lines the pens create are the same.

Teoh Yi Chie Wed, 08 Jul 2026 - 10:00

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sailor fountain pen

fountain pen

fountain pen reviews

Comments

Thanks for your great review…

Zhiwei (not verified) Sun, 12 Jul 2026 - 13:46

Thanks for your great review! Which Chinese Fude nib pen is good?

@Zhiwei Duke 209 is good but…

Teoh Yi Chie Mon, 13 Jul 2026 - 17:43

@Zhiwei
Duke 209 is good but get the black matte body.

I'm exploring Chinese stacked nibs recently and will make review them soon. They are very good for the price, a fraction of what Sailor Specialty Nibs cost.

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June 2026 roundup

Teoh Yi Chie — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 02:43:19 +0000

June 2026 roundup

Books

Art product reviews

Tech reviews

Youtube art videos

Youtube tech videos

How to support Parka Blogs

1. Be a patron

You can support me on Patreon or through Youtube Membership.

You're supporting the art community, publishers, artists directly too, because that's what this blog is about.

2. Follow me on social media
Follow me on Patreon, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. It's as simple as that.

3. Check out my art courses on Skillshare and Gumroad
If you happen to be on Skillshare, check out my art courses there. Or just sign up for an account to get 14 days of unlimited access. Some of my courses are on Gumroad as well.

Many of the courses are available on Patreon too.

4. Buy stuff through my affiliate links
I get to earn some commission but at no extra cost to you. The money I earned is used to fund webhosting for this blog.

Thanks for your support!

Teoh Yi Chie Tue, 07 Jul 2026 - 10:43

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Review: Gaomon PD1561 v2 pen display

Teoh Yi Chie — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Review: Gaomon PD1561 v2 pen display

Review unit provided by Gaomon

The Gaomon PD1561 V2 is a 15.6-inch FHD pen display designed for digital artists. Price at the time of review is USD 319, and that includes a 1-year warranty and free shipping to selected countries.

This is an update of the Gaomon PD1561 from a few years ago.

The number of pressure levels has increased from 8K to 16K. And more importantly, USB-C video connection is now supported in addition to HDMI.

In case you don't know, a pen display is a monitor that has to be connected to a computer. It's not a standalone tablet as it has no OS and no built-in battery.

Video review

Specifications

Panel type: IPS Panel
Size: 15.6 inches
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels (16:9)
Color Gamut:100% sRGB, 72% NTSC
Display Colors: 16.7 million (8-bit)
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
Brightness: 220cd/m²
Viewing Angle: 89° horizontal / 89° vertical
Working Area: 34.4 x 19.35 cm
Response Time: 25 ms
Accuracy: ±0.5mm (center); ±3mm (corners)
Resolution: 5080 LPI
Report Rate: 266 PPS
Pen: Gaomon G Pen
Pressure Sensitivity: 16K levels
Tilt Support: ±60°
Press Keys: 10 programmable press keys
Interface: HDMI/DC/USB-C video
OS Compatibility: Windows 7 or above / macOS 10.12 or above
VESA: 10 x 10 cm
Dimensions: 45.24 cm x 25.2 cm x 1.95 cm
Weight: 1.583kg

Things included

Stylus - G Pen
Pen Holder SH01 (includes 8 replacement nibs and 1 nib extractor)
ST100 Stand
Cables:
- 1 * HDMI to Mini HDMI cable
- 1 * USB-A+USB-A to Type-C cable
Drawing Glove
Protective Case
4 * Screws
L-shaped Hex Key
Quick Start Guide
Driver Download Card
Warranty Card

That's the new Gaomon G Pen that supports tilt and 16K levels of pressure sensitivity. The pen is not powered by battery so no charging is required.

The pen has a silicone grip which attracts dust too easily. The two side buttons have firm clicks and are customisable. There's no eraser button. The pen tip has slight movement when in contact with the drawing surface, but can be considered a firm tip.

8 replacement pen tips are located in the pen stand. Nib remover is underneath the pen stand.

Design

Design of the pen display looks alright. Build quality is solid enough even though the body's made with plastic. This is the same design as the previous model.

10 customisable hotkeys are located by the side. And beside the hotkeys are some buttons for the OSD and navigation.

The OSD lets you adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness, RGB, colour temperature, gamma and other display settings. For colour calibration, it's best to set the display mode to native mode. Note that certain display modes will lock brightness, contrast and sharpness.

The pen display comes with a screen protector already applied. The screen protector is more on the glossy than matte side but it does provide subtle tactile experience while drawing.

The photo above was taken in a bright room and the anti-glare can be glaring due to the diffused reflection. The diffused reflection will affect contrast and cause the visuals to look washed out. Ideally, you'll want to avoid having reflections on the display, so it's best to use curtains or not have the display face any light source.

So to get the best visual quality, it's best to look at the pen display straight on.

And since it's a screen protector instead of matte glass, the surface may develop scratches with time and usage.

The side ports are for USB-C and mini HDMI. See how the ports are recessed into the body? That means cable connection will be very secure but it also means when you need a replacement cable, you have to buy it from Gaomon.

The hole for the USB-C port looks big and I could use many of my USB-C video cables. But the HDMI video port will need a connector that fits perfectly. In other words, use the default cable provided by Gaomon and hope that it does not break in the future.

This pen display has been updated to support HDMI and USB-C video connection.
does not support USB-C video connection so you will have to use HDMI. The 3-to-2 cable also has to be connected to the 12W charger.

There's a stand installed onto the 10 x 10cm VESA mount. Pull the latch up from behind the display and you can adjust the stand to different angles.

The stand only has rubber on the feet. There's no rubber beneath the pen display. There can be movement with the pen display depending on how you press down on the pen display so I would recommend getting some rubber bumpers to stick to the bottom of the pen display.

And when you have the pen display too low, it would rest on the small section of the metal stand instead of the base of the pen display, and this can cause the pen display to wobble when drawing due to the small base.

Display

The pen display is already colour calibrated at the factory. Company advertises colour support for 99% sRGB, 99% Rec 709, and can produce 16.7 million colours (8-bit).

I measured colour support for 100% sRGB, 81% NTSC, 83% AdobeRGB, 94% P3 and a maximum brightness of 153 nits out of the advertised 220 nits. The previous model only has 117 nits brightness so this is a noticeable upgrade.

The display is laminated so there's almost no gap between the line and pen tip. However the glass does have some thickness that contributes to the gap, which is not really an issue after pen calibration.

All matte surfaces will introduce some grain, colour noise or anti-glare sparkle and all that is kept to a minimum here.

Resolution is just 1920 x 1080 so there will be slight pixelation. 1080P resolution is still very usable so it's not a big issue.

Driver

I've only tested the Mac driver version 16.2.34 (74) and there were no issues. Drivers are also available for Windows and Linux.

The driver is the same as the previous model so I'm reproducing the screenshots and text from my previous review below.

You can create keyboard shortcuts for the hotkeys or choose from the pre-programmed shortcuts.

Mapping can be left as default. If there's cursor misalignment, you can calibrate the display and pen here with Screen Calibration.

The pen side buttons can be customised. I've Switch Display set to one button and it works well.

The Windows driver works fine.

Line tests

Line tests below were created with Medibang Paint Pro.

1. Initial activation force is low so thin lines can be drawn easily even with a thick brush selected. There's slight jitter with the diagonal lines.

2. Lines are able to taper quite smoothly and sharply.

3. Line transition from thin to thick and back is smooth. This is also a diagonal line, and there's slight diagonal line wobble and jitter.

4. Line width can be maintained consistently by applying consistent pressure.

5. Dots can be drawn easily. With heavy dots, there's a little tail as I lift the pen. This behaviour may differ depending on the drawing app.

6. I was able to join separate lines without gaps and lines overshooting. Cursor misalignment is not an issue, and cursor tracking is quite accurate even at the edge of the display.

The pen is quite sensitive but there's slight jitter to the diagonal lines. Thankfully the line jitter doesn't really show up when you're actually drawing with the pen.

Tilt works well. Cursor is able to follow the direction of the pen.

Drawing experience

My drawing experience with this pen display is positive. The pen display is about the size of an A4-paper. Even with UI elements such as palettes taking up the space, there's still a good amount of space left over for drawing.

I was able to get the lines to come out just the way I expect them to. Line tests sometimes may not be representive of the actual drawing experience.

This was drawn with Clip Studio Paint and I did not experience any issues with drawing, software or workflow.

As the pen has good support for pressure, you can choose a thick brush and just use that for the whole drawing, changin the thickness by varying the pressure instead of changing the line width with settings.

I would say the pen performance is good for creating professional art even of the line tests suggests otherwise. That's why it's important to test the pen more thorough and across different apps, because different apps may sometimes have different pen performance.

The pen display does not generate much heat.

Conclusion

The pen performance is excellent. Display has good colour support (measured 100% sRGB) but visual quality is affected by the matte screen protector can look washed out in a bright environment due to the anti-glare. The matte screen protector is also quite susceptible to scratches, or maybe it's just me who's too careless. Measured brightness is a low 117 nits which means this display is best used with curtains in your room.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Good size to work with for drawing
+ 10 customisable hotkeys
+ Has drivers for Windows, MacOS, Linux
+ Good pen performance
+ Stand included
+ Has USB-C video support
+ There's 10 x 10cm VESA mount
+ 100% sRGB colour support measured
- Matte screen protector can be scratched with wear and tear
- No rubber feet beneath the pen display
- Diffused reflections affects visual quality of the display
- No rubber padding beneath pen display

Availability

The Gaomon PD1561 V2 pen display is available from Gaomon online store and Amazon USA.

By the way, if you have intention to buy this pen display, considering using the affiliate links that I have for you above. I get to make some commission for each sale but at not extra cost to you. Your support helps me put out more reviews like the one you've just read.

Teoh Yi Chie Fri, 03 Jul 2026 - 21:00

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gaomon

pen display

tech reviews

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Registration for AsiaLink Sketchwalk Pune 2026

Teoh Yi Chie — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 05:43:15 +0000

Registration for AsiaLink Sketchwalk Pune 2026

Starts 4th July 10 AM (IST)

https://signedworks.in/asialink-sketchwalk-2026/

Teoh Yi Chie Fri, 03 Jul 2026 - 13:43

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asia link

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Book Review: Sunset at Zero Point by Simon Stålenhag

Teoh Yi Chie — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Book Review: Sunset at Zero Point by Simon Stålenhag

This is the fourth sci-fi picture book from Simon Stålenhag. The earlier three are The Electric State, Things from the Flood and Tales from the Loop.

The story is set in an alternate universe in a retro-futuristic dystopia in the early 2000s. Two guys set out to explore a secret weapon lab located in Mälaröarna outside of Stockholm, where the author lives and still lives to this day.

The sci-fi element is whatever's happening in the background and the main story is about the relationship of these the two main characters over the years. There are themes of friendship and sexuality, but nothing too explicit. I'm not sure if this will satisfy those who are really into sci-fi though.

The beautiful full-page artworks are absolutely beautiful. Each is wonderfully composed, cinematically staged. The strange thing about this book is there are several double blank page spreads for no reason.

It's a good good. Check out more reviews on Amazon.

There are several blank pages in the book.

This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook.

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

The links below are affiliate links, which means I earn some commission from each purchase, but at no extra cost to you.

Teoh Yi Chie Wed, 01 Jul 2026 - 11:00

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simon stalenhag

art book reviews

sci fi art

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