Apsara Absolute Extra Dark & Strong Premium Pencil | Set of 2 (20 Pencils) with 2 Eraser & 2 Sharpner

Is this the best pencil in the world? Well, I’ve heard of some $30 pencils that supposedly outrank these but in a “normal” pencil price range, I can’t imagine they get much better than this. The first word I wrote with them made me go, “Oooho! What is this fanciness?!” It felt like butter and I can finally see what I’m writing in my dimly lit room. I will never go back to cheapo pencils. Nope. I can’t wait to try the others from this brand too! For those saying they aren’t much darker than the cheap pencils, I don’t know what happened because the set I purchased certainly is. I have included a photo for reference.Update:After using this pencil for about week or two, I still love it for the darkness as well as the value for the money, but I do see what people are saying about it quickly losing sharpness. I find that I am sharpening my pencil frequently to keep it sharp. Other than that, it is fantastic, and still the best pencil I have personally ever owned.

Super dark pencils. Nice that you get an eraser and sharpener. Perfect for the price. Very good quality. Strong, fits in your hand well. Must buy!!!

love theses pencils they are hard and write nice and dark

These are some of my absolute favorite wooden pencils to use. They sharpen well, hold up to damage, and write wonderfully and consistently. I have never had an off-centered lead or functional defect of any kind.Cosmetically, there seems to be a wide variation in quality. Sometimes a pack will be perfect, but sometimes the pencils have sloppy lines or messy stamping. I will still continue to buy them, but I wish there was more consistency.

If your child (or you) have a tendency to press down hard on pencils to get them their writing to be darker on classwork and home work this is the perfect solution. This really reduces the hand fatigue and allows students with challenges (physical and mental) to focus on their work instead of pressing down hard on the pencil to mark a mark on their paper. The eraser and sharpener add in is a huge bonus to these sets. I am a Ticonderoga Yellow #2 pencil guy (pencil snob really), and these pencils are quality made like Ticonderoga (maybe better) and fit well in any child or adult hands. I am looking forward to ordering these about twice a year for school and an extra box for me!

These pencils are darker and smoother than others, making writing easier to read — especially my daughter’s homework. The eraser works well and wipes clean, though we wish it was attached to the pencil. Bonus: it comes with a sharpener too!

Very reasonably priced. Delivered ahead of time a d Very Dark lead.

I write extensively with pencils, and was looking for the darkest #2HB pencil I could find. Reading the reviews I decided to give this pencil a try. Having now used this entire pack of 20 Apsara, I can say - Yes they are dark. Darker than a #2HB, closer to #2B. However, these pencils are as soft if not softer than a 2B. Due to the softness of the lead, the pencil very quickly looses it point. Any of the reviews relating this pencil to a #2HB are misleading. Yes they are darker, but they are in no way comparable to a #2HB. After 3-4 lines of writing on a normal size note book paper, the point is gone. By line 6-7 I am turning the pencil to get a point. By line 12 the pencil needs to be sharpened again. I have also noticed with sharpening - the point is very long, and I have had some instances with the lead breaking. Having used all 20 of these pencils I hold all the 5 star ratings of this pencil highly speculative.