When the Starbucks coffee beans bear fruit, you get a planner set or two. ☕️ 

Hello again. After taking a week of to nurse a flu, I am back with another planner review. If you missed the last one, read the Sunnies Agenda 2023 review here. 

You'll notice the difference in the photos as the usual white background is not in sight. The reason being, I took these photos at an actual Starbucks cafe; took the shots from a planner fresh from the oven. And I'd like to thank Ms. Ka for lending me her planner. She redeemed this very early on in the game (November 14!), and she let me do the unboxing and first look so I can review it here. 🫶🏻

Let's begin. ♥︎

THE LAYOUT 

A sweet departure from the smyth-sewn book they presented last year, this year is a binder-style planner that comes in black and champagne rose colors with a metal twist pen to match.

• textured synthetic leather cover page
• metallic binder rings that match the opposite color variant
• slim metal twist ballpoint pen with Starbucks logo
• rose gold embossed button
• leather organizer that also match the opposite color variant
• the actual sheets for use (horizontal weeklies, monthly overviews, dotted sheets for notes, artwork spreads, etc.)

QUICK NOTES

SAMPLE PAGES

THE PEN REVIEW

This is a special section we're creating for this entry simply because I wasn't able to test how the paper fairs (because that would be too much borrowing, obviously 😅), but I was able to do a quick swatch. So from "pen to paper," we'll switch it up a bit and call this section the pen review.  

Just like any other product, let's give this baby a proper review of its own. So before I give my honest opinion of the tool, I'll give a rundown of the pen first.

the layout

findings

1. I love the look of the pen. For a merch and something promotional, this pen is the actual prettiest one I’ve seen to date. The matte black and rose gold accent combo is the type of pairing we never knew we needed. 
2. To be honest, the girth of the pen is too slim for me. It’s slimmer that the Pilot Juice Up gel pen that I own, and that’s unfortunately the slimmest I can go. If you own a Pilot Juice Up and think you can slimmer than that, this one would be a perfect addition to your everyday carry.
3. Another honest sentiment is, I’m not a fan of the ink. The ink reminds me of promotional pens we usually get from office anniversaries and what-not. I did not like the inconsistency of the ink flow as well because it creates these blank middle lines. Though you can simply buy a superb refill. I haven't measured the ink, but if it permits, the Pilot Hi-Tec C refill ones can be a good option (available online and in National Bookstore branches). :)  

This is the end of my review of the pen. We’ll resume with the review of the actual planner for the remaining sections. 😇

THE YELLOW LEGAL PAD TEST

pros

1. It’s practical. This one is designed to be reused, probably until the binder's loses its form. Definitely practical and cost-efficient because you can refill and remove pages and use and reuse the binder for whatever you wish it be.  
2. It’s customizable. Again, the refill mechanism of a binder pen really is a point up for this year's planner. If you're not a fan of their art, you can easily slip in a design you specifically want and insert it on the planner. That way, you can make the planner very your style. 
3. Improved dotted pages. Last year's version was composed of dark dots that can be really distracting to write on. This year they made it lighter and updated the color to green, a change that's friendlier to the eyes. 
4. Free pen. I may not be the biggest fan of the pen, but a free pen is still a free pen. That's generous for Starbucks, and I'm not one to overlook that. 😇 
5. Pretty + functional organizer. I would say that while I liked the separate organizer better, its little tweak as an exclusive planner organizer is still a nice touch. It's easier to store extra pens, IDs, and other knick-knacks in the planner.  

cons

1. It can be quite a hassle. If you're a right-handed like me, the best way to write on notebooks like this is to take the sheet out and place it back one you've filled it up. Having to do that each time you have to write something on the planner can be counterproductive and time-consuming. 
2. It's expensive. An average budget for each Starbucks coffee is around PHP150. You get one sticker per coffee order (unless you drop by Double Star Day, which allows you to get two stickers for one cup of coffee). That totals to about PHP 2,700. For a binder planner, ballpoint pen, and a leather organizer, that's still more expensive than buying the better counterparts of those three.  
3. It can be bulky. This is where last year's design wins over this year's. Last year's was slim and compact; this year's version isn't very space friendly, to say the least. 
4. Not for those with big handwriting. Binder planners tend to have slimmer sheets than the average planner notebooks. This means that the layouts then to be smaller too and might not be the best match for those with big handwritings as they may crowd the spaces too easily. 

THE VERDICT 

price point

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durability

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paper quality

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design

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accessibility 

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features 

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final rating: 3.8

RECOMMENDATIONS

If you already frequent Starbucks and would buy their cup of Joes with or without planner, these are really fancy ✨extra✨gifts of loyalty. So by all means, get one. 

However, if you plan to spend rather expensive coffee for the next 18 mornings just to complete the stickers for a planner, I would suggest otherwise. It's honestly just like an everyday planner⏤and average at that⏤and you can get better choices elsewhere. (Come back next week for my 2023 planner recommendations.) 

All in all, it's a decent planner, and I would say it's not really a bad purchase for as long as you don't go broke just to get your hands off a status symbol as this. 😇