Pilot Mechanical Pencil Lead Neox Graphite 0.5mm, HB, 40 Leads (HRF5G-20-HB)

Lead quality and feel is great. Nice and bold and writes super smoothly. The mechanism for the case is also super nice. However, as a lefty this lead smudges too much. Not the fault of the lead, just the nature of 4B lead which leaves more graphite behind as you write. Stick to 2B or lighter if you are left-handed :)

Oh how I wish they still carried this on Amazon. This lead is amazing. It’s perfectly soft, very dark, and smooth as butter but barely smudges. Using in a Kuru Toga is almost a perfect combination. This was a great purchase for the price and I highly recommend and I have ordered more from a third party but am hoping they will restock at some point

Love how smooth and dark this is.

Smooth, dark and strong. Noticeably darker and stronger than my Pentel 3B lead. This is my third attempt at purchasing a darker lead and the most satisfying so far. I really like it and I have no need to go any darker. The darkness of the line fluctuates quite a bit between using firm pressure vs using soft pressure. I’m left handed and I’ve had no issues with smudged lines. Erases fairly clean.

This is a great lead. It's very soft and dark for it's rating as HB. I'ts more like 2B or at least B. It has a very fast feel to the glide across paper. The lines are not crisp but they are the darkest I've seen. Those are all good things. The problem is how soft the lead is and how fast it wears down. For me, fast weardown is a deal-breaker. Tied to that is smudging/smearing. Neo-x is about as smeary as I've seen. Be right-handed. Strong, dark, but not too handsome with wear-down and softness, smearing. If that's not an issue, this could be a first choice.

I purchased this lead simply because I need 4B in varying sizes for a project. I was not expecting to like this lead much less use it after the project was finished. But I find myself reaching for it a lot more. The lead is smooth and buttery, without any dust. The strength is so-so. Being so thin, it's bound to snap with my heavy hand. But that's my fault not the lead. So if you have a heavy hand like me, try to go easy with this lead. The lead's container is okay too, I haven't broken it yet at least. (I'm rough on my supplies)

I'm an artist with a strong preference for pen and ink but these graphites have me picking up my pencil a lot more these days. They are butter smooth and very dark for a pencil. You still have to contend with that unfortunate graphite shimmer but that can be corrected by a matte finishing spray, and you'll definitely want to spray it because it's extremely prone to smudging. If Faber Castell can put their matte black formula into a mechanical lead, even of 2mm diameter, they might supercede these pilot neoxes for me. But until then I'm more than content to keep buying and sketching with these. I'm feeding them into a Staedtler 925-35-05 and have not experienced any breakage or jams. They are more expensive than other leads but money is really no object here; mechanical leads are all extremely cost efficient. This one tube has at least a book worth of sketches in it. If you're going to spend hundreds of hours drawing use good tools. Edit 1-23-2022 I'm taking an anatomy course right now. Added a foot sketch.

Writing this for the "Pilot Mechanical Pencil Lead Neox Graphite 0.5mm, 4B". I have compared it to other leads for your convenience, see an attached photo. I use a mechanical pencil mostly for writing, prefer softer and darker leads that don't scratch paper and don't break too often, mostly use 3B and 4B leads. I haven't bought leads for years (they never end in my drawer), decided to buy a few fresh ones of different brands and see what's up with the quality these days. Please see the comparison photo of HB rOtring, 2B rOtring, 3B Uni, 3B Pilot, and 4B Pilot. Note, to test erasing, I applied the same eraser with the same force twice for each lead type. In general, all the compared leads are good, made in Japan, no big cons (don't scratch, don't break). Rotring, however, disappointed - 2B lead was breaking several times during a few lines of writing, HB scratched paper a bit. I didn't expect that from rOtring. Could be an old dried-off stock of graphite though. Pilot 3B is softer than Uni 3B. Conclusion: my preference hasn't changed - Pilot 3B. I think, depending on your needs, the entire line of Pilot Neox Graphite should be considered as the first option to buy.

Cumplen lo que prometen. Buena calidad

Not sure what it was, but this lead kept breaking so I had to return it. Also, it sounded "squeaky" when writing

When I first saw the price of these leads compared to locally available brands, I almost didn't buy it. But you definitely get what you pay for. This is the smoothest, darkest (for the grade), and all around best lead I have ever drawn with. Now that I've tried it, I don't want to put anything else in my pencils.

良かったです。

Very nice lead! Velvety smooth flow when writing and darker than others I’ve use. Other leads leave a sheen or shine with their markings, but not this one. As such it’s easier to read in some artificial lights. I use this in a Rotring 600 and find that it advances more smoothly and efficiently in that pencil’s mechanism than any other lead I’ve tried.