Blending is surprisingly good too- obviously not as seamless as higher grade leads but certainly better than I was expecting. You don't have to work too hard to achieve a gradient with two or three similar shades. They're not as soft as they need to be for a totally flawless blend, but again are still a superior choice if on a tight budget. Check out the mandala illustration (at the end of this post) I coloured with them to test the blending capabilities. I was taken aback by how good they were for such a low price.
The pencils will only smudge slightly if a heavy hand is swept over them straight away, but if you blow off the pencil dust before handling your picture the colour sets well into the page. Sharpening was a good experience with no breakages or splitting.