There are just sometimes that a pen seems to draw you into wanting to buy it. Ok, this happens a lot, but with the Lamy Econ this was the case nonetheless.
The sleek stainless steel barrel design, subtle clip with the nicely stamped LAMY logo, and the metal tip and knock look great. Its a sharp looking pen and is pleasant aesthetically. Fits in really well if you like minimalist styles and design.
The Econ isn't a crazy expensive pen coming in at around $30 or so. Is it worth $30? Meh. And that is really my honest opinion. It is a Lamy which adds a bit of price to it, but the pen is nothing overly amazing in my eyes.
It feels good and is weighty enough (although a bit more front heavy) to be considered a nice enough pen. The stainless steel barrel and metal hardware make it shiny and more standout-ish.
Now, about the barrel. It isn't really "all metal". From the knock section you can even see that some of the guts of the pen are actually a black plastic. The tip section is the heaviest part of the pen which brings the weight forward, but it doesn't seem overly unbalanced.
What is kind of unfortunate is that I would probably put the build quality and feel of this thing on par with the Zebra F-701. The Zebra is $7 (at most) and the Lamy is retailed at $30+. Granted, its a Lamy and does have some unique design and maybe a bit of a name brand upcharge as mentioned before. I like Lamy as a brand enough to be ok with that I suppose. Their Safari line probably costs them like $3 per pen particularly in the ABS plastic designs, but they are phenomenal pens with a cool design that is worth every bit of $30. I'm probably totally off, but you get what I mean.
One thing that I really love about the Econ is how tight the tip of the pen is in the barrel. There are some pens that the tip just wobbles all over the place and is super distracting to use. This pen holds the refill so nicely and it doesn't even move a stitch. It feels incredibly solid while writing, and if anything, this is a reason to buy it. Overall, even with the plastic guts, the pen feels really substantial and coupled with the sturdy tip makes it a comfortable writer.
The knock isn't really a clicker, but what I would more describe as a squisher. It is smooth, but just kind of mushes into place and stays. No "click" like the mechanism is engaging with some other moving parts. There is kind of a thwack sort of sound. I wouldn't say it is a "fun" clicker.
I don't know, its weird trying to describe a pen knock sometimes. For me, the audible aspect of the knock is almost as important as the feel. Anyone else in this camp with me?
Part of the design are three slits just below the tip that are sort of out of place I think. I'm not sure if these are so you know where to put your fingers and thumb while writing? This is kind of a Lamy think after all with the three sided grip on the Safari to train how to properly hold a pen. They provide grip as your fingers and thumb press into the space just enough to not slip around. Clever...
Lamy ballpoints take their proprietary M16 refill which gets mixed reviews. Mary Collis over at From the Pen Cup did a nice write up of her Lamy 2000 ballpoint recently that takes this refill and she gives it pretty high marks. She used to hate the M16 and nearly swore off using her Lamy ballpoints unless it had a Monteverde, but was pleasantly surprised. Give her review a read if you haven't already. I hope to review my Lamy 2000 ballpoint sometime soon and hope I can do it justice in comparison to hers!
Synopsis on the Econ; a good pen but maybe a bit over priced. Not like an out of the park home run I'd say, but still a solid and good writer that is as sleek as it is functional.