Pilot basically makes a number of versions of the same pen. This all wouldn’t be worth deciphering if the pen wasn’t so good, but it is so let’s start to dig into the Pilot Precise and Hi-Tecpoint series. The pens have been around since 1984, so they are well established and remain popular to this day.
All the pens in this family are needlepoint (aka needletip) rollerball pens. They all use liquid ink rollerballs. Every pen is sold in black, blue, red, and green, but some are also sold in other colors.
Pilot Precise
This is the standard pen in the series. Is a capped pen (known as a “stick” pen). It’s sold in two varieties, the Precise V5 (0.5 mm) and the Precise V7 (0.7 mm).
This pen is not refillable, unless you pry off the feed and actually refill it. So, technically it’s refillable but realistically this is a disposable pen.
An alternate version of this pen is the Deco Collection, which adds an art deco-inspired design to the outside.
Another sub-variant of the Precise stick line is the Pilot Precise V5 BeGreen. This is a very similar pen to the Precise V5 but has a few design tweaks and is made out of 89.2% recycled material.
Pilot Precise RT
This is the retractable (it has a button on top) version of the Precise. It’s sold as the Precise V5 RT (0.5 mm) and the Precise V7 RT (0.7 mm).
This pen is refillable and has refills sold separately. The pen refill looks like Pilot G2 style, but has a different cap piece on the top.
This pen is also sold in the Deco Collection.
Pilot Precise Grip
This is the Pilot Precise but with a rubber grip added. It’s the US version of the Hi-Tecpoint Grip. This pen is not refillable like the normal Hi-Tecpoint. This pen is sold in the normal colors plus pink, turquoise, and purple.
The pen is sold in Extra Fine, Fine, and Bold sizes, which is to say 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, and 1.0 mm, but they do not seem to use the V5, V7, and V10 names.
These pens are not common.
Pilot Hi-Tecpoint
The Hi-Tecpoint is a cartridge rollerball, which means it’s refillable (up to 10 times). It’s sold as the V5 and V7. The V5 is sold in the standard four colors plus pink, turquoise, and purple.
The Hi-Tecpoint doesn’t have BeGreen in the name, but it’s actually part of the BeGreen series. These pens are made out of 71% recycled material.
These pens use a proprietary Pilot cartridge that is very similar in design to a fountain pen cartridge.
Pilot Hi-Tecpoint Grip
This is a similar pen to the Hi-Tecpoint refillable rollerball but there is a rubber grip on the pen. It’s sold as as the V5 Grip, V7 Grip, and V10 Grip, with the last one being the only 1.0 mm pen in the series.
Hi-Tecpoint RT
Outside of the US the Pilot Precise RT is sold as the Hi-Tecpoint RT. This is a refillable (via standard rollerball refill) retractable pen that is sold as the Hi-Tecpoint V5 RT and the Hi-Tecpoint V7 RT.