The Jinhao 992 pen is more or less everywhere these days, and frankly, for good reason. I know there has been some controversy with cracking in the past, but in my experience this is a rock solid pen. Admittedly, I do have one of the later versions, so the first gen ones may be significantly inferior.
I have zero points of reference so I shan’t comment beyond that.
Before reading on, please understand that this review is very boring, but that’s okay. In an era where Western companies charge you $30-50 for utter garbage that barely works out of the box, I think we can all be thankful that this thoroughly standard pen that works perfectly for less than a cup of coffee is indeed, boring.
Jinhao 992 Fountain Pen – Amazon / eBay
The Jinhao 992 is a very solid (much more solid than other “budget” pens like the Nemosine Singularity or low end Hero’s & Pilot’s) fountain pen made of decently thick transparent plastic that comes in a plethora of hues.
The version below is quite obviously amber (they call it coffee) and in my opinion looks traditionally dope except for one major aesthetic flaw (more on this later). The fit and finish is tight with no manufacturing issues beyond what you would expect of injection molded budget pens.
Really struggling with finding something to say about this pen. It’s a plastic cigar that looks like it rolled off the Pilot/Platinum/Sailor line. Zero quirks beyond its super inexpensive price and consistent performance.
Interestingly, it comes with an o-ring above the threads on the grip section. In practice, it gives you a nice, secure feedback when you tighten it up, but other than that, the real appeal for me is the ability to convert this to an eyedropper (I checked, it is airtight) without requiring silicon lubricant on the threads. Pretty cool and a nice quality of life feature. It also makes the pen resistant to cracking should you over tighten it.
As for the actual performance of the Jinhao 992, it’s pretty boring in a very consistent, buttery smooth sorta way. The nib is thoroughly unexciting, bordering on dull as it dishes out a consistent, wet western F line. Not a nail, but certainly not soft. If you crank down the pressure it will railroad, so I would advise against it.
All in all, nothing else to add. It works perfectly, the feed keeps up with the nib and it starts immediately without requiring any priming, even after a couple of weeks abandoned in a draw.
The cap is interesting, the top superficially reminds me of that never dry feature on the Platinum #3776. In practice, I am not sure if it does anything, but the aesthetics are dope & ultimately it adds character. It should also be noted that this is a very light pen due to the lack of brass inserts. Everything is plastic outside of the band around the cap, the nib, and the clip.
Sadly, the tail end of the pen has too much character. That bulbous thing sticking out is hideous and I imagine it is a byproduct of the injection molding process. I do wish it was tapered nicely like traditional cigar pens, but this is what you get. It looks to me like a separate section that was plugged in. Not sure why as I don’t think manufacturing a uni-body design would be more expensive, but what do I know?
Super short review because this is an honest to goodness worker pen. It has no features or quirks that make it interesting beyond its traditional garb, consistent performance, and translucent appeal.
We are talking about an injection molded cigar pen with standard everything. This is not a criticism because, frankly, for a couple of bucks it exceeds my expectations, but the reality is that there isn’t much to say beyond it works perfectly.
I like the Jinhao 992, but I don’t love it, and I imagine anyone who buys it will feel the same. This is just a really solid everyday performer for a ridiculously low price point that puts pretty much all Western budget pens to shame.
Long time after the original review, but I just acquired for £5.18 one of these from Amazon uk. Mine is certainly very much the 992, but it was sold as a pen by Cikonielf, whoever they are, and it does not have the Jinhao branding on the band around the barrel or on the nib. Mine had a problem when delivered – the nib fell out onto the floor as I opened the bag it came in, and sad to say the unbranded nib seems to be made of a somewhat finer grade of steel and that is the reason the friction fit with its ink feed in the nib unit does not have any friction at all. I was going to return it at once, but at the price, and being of a practical bent, I sorted it out by making a fine nib shim out of four folds of aluminium foil. I made this tiny pad in about two minutes, and assembled the nib with this pad on the back of the nib where it enters into the nib holder, to take up the slack, and it worked just fine. You can’t even see what I did when you look at it.
The pen works very well as an eye dropper. There are no leaks and it writes nice and wet every time I try it out. I am using my own, homemade Iron Gall ink and it flows well and has a nice feel to it. I really like the pen, but will keep in mind the mention of the cracking problems. I don’t want three milliliters of iron gall ink in my pocket after all. I’ve only had this clear, entirely see through pen for a few days, but I love being able to see all of the ink works. Since the ink feed is also clear plastic, you can see the ink channel and the fins fill up with ink as you tilt the pen nib downwards and you can watch it drain back into the barrel when it is the other way up. What a nice feature.
Nice review that I’m reading years later, and after ordering two sets of 6 each. Unfortunately, one pen in each set of six was already cracked. There was no evidence of trauma to the packaging they came in. Whatever they’re made of is very thin. The cracking problem isn’t simply limited to older 992s. The other pens were good writers right out of the box.
I should edit the post to mention that my 992 has fallen apart- not idea how but it seems perhaps UV damage to the plastic? In any case- completely cracked at all vulnerable points (threading). Eugh.
I’d like to add two things:
1) The body is made of acrylic.
2) It is sold with a “F” nib that counts as 0.5 but You can get nibs for it in the form stub in sizes
0.7 1.1 1.5 1.9 2.5 2.9
Another boring fact is, that You can change the nibs by hand without any tools.
Jinhao 991, 165, 500 and the animal series (shark, swan etc.) share the same nibs.
Check out https://www.ebay.com/usr/office_supplies_pen
for nibs that are available at about the same boring price as the pen itself.
I prefer the 1.1 nib for the lighter shades of ink.
Beware of the offers as sets of 6 992 sorted in all the transparent colors offered as having “medium” nibs for around 6 Pounds, because also these come with the boring F nib of 0.5 size! So no advantage over the single price or size.
Good to know, I am surprised that its made of acrylic- I expected something a polycarbonate! :O Thanks for dropping by mate, very informative.
This sound like the original marketing for Volvo.
Right? Haha! Great observation Mel, I knew I got my inspiration from somewhere! 😉
My main complaint with Chinese pens, is the lack of nib selection. You order the pen be model and color, and it comes with either a fine or painfully fine nib. Jinhao seems to offer a nice medium in the 450/750/159 line up. But it only comes with that size.
Aye, I wish Jinhao would offer cool offerings like 0.7mm stubs or UEF nibs. Sadly, unless people demonstrate there is a market for this- I doubt it will happen.
Huzzah for the boring pen! Especially ones that come this cheaply. I’ve beaten my 992s up with cantankerous inks, thrown them in bags without being protected in a case, left them without writing for weeks, etc etc. A true workhorse. I’ve seen slight cracking in one of mine, but I’ve heard many good reports from those who’ve purchased more recently.
The plug in the end of the barrel is exactly that. You can actually pull it right out. If you have an old 992 that might be prone to cracking, the recommendation is to remove the plug as it seems to be a source for stress in the plastic around that area (and thus, cracks).
Thanks for the boring review! 😉
Thanks for confirming my plug theory, so no issues with ripping it out? Phew. Any idea why they did this?
Thanks for the support mate!
I love my Jin Hao 992 & Wing Sung 698! Boring true, but reliable, consistent & quality everyday writers. And as you mentioned, you can’t match them for value. Thank you for the review!
Boring consistency is an advertising point in itself!