Are all graphite pencils equal? That depends on what you are after.
When I draw on a sketchpad and am jotting down ideas or engaging in Art Mapping—my journaling where I try to figure out what is captivating about a photograph—any pencil, typically something like a 2B or 3B, is all I need. This is because I need to be able to create lighter and darker values in specific places.
These pencils are also used when I am doing construction at home. In both of these situations, the brand doesn't matter. However, I have found that the softer graphite pencils, such as 4B, 6B, and 8B, can be challenging to control, yet they have a vital place for me. The same can be said for the H pencils, with 8H being the lightest, followed by 6H, 4H, 2H, and H, each gradually getting darker. The higher the H number, the lighter the value it produces.
I believe that all I need is three or four pencils from Faber Castell's 9000 series: 6H, F, 3B, and 6B, and an 8B for Stadler Mars Lumograph (different talk). 6H or 4H, depending on whom you talk to in our house, is the main lighter value pencil. The "F" pencil is for middle values, and the 3B is for dark values. The "F" pencil is the one I am most dependent on. It has to be hard enough to flatten the paper's texture yet soft enough to go dark enough for the middle values. When the pencil is too soft, it rides on the surface, leaving a bumpy texture—an issue for me.
Texture attracts attention, comes forward, and creates a specific look on the paper with a bumpy texture.
As an object gets darker farther away from your eye (let's skip certain lighting where this does not happen), the texture should decrease. However, softer pencils (B's) make more texture as they ride the paper's surface, contradicting Giotto's discovery in the Early Italian Renaissance—Darker Farther Away—and the beginning of Realism in art.
Another issue with too soft of a pencil is the surface appearance. Not every image has the same texture on the surface. A smooth piece of metal or a child's face is different from tree bark or wool. Yet, artists seem to miss the sensitivity to spot the surface texture left behind by using too soft a pencil.
Do I ever use a 3B pencil from start to finish? Yes, but there is a reason. So, until you understand your reason, trying an F pencil from Faber Castell's 9000 Series might help you.
This is a drawing where I used graphite—Faber Castell F Pencil on the face and charcoal in the hair.
If you are wondering if I am paid by Faber Castell, I (we) are not. In fact, I dislike their kneaded eraser and ONLY use Prismacolor's Kneaded Eraser. Every brand has great products, but some have better. I store it in the Faber Castell Case, which I purchase for the case and throw out the eraser. The case keeps the eraser from drying out and cleaner in my art bag for transportation—but that is a different talk.
P.S. There are times I have purchased Kneaded Erasers from Amazon, and they have been hard as a rock, as if someone is unloading out-of-date products. So, I only purchase this item from art stores; consider them fresh fruit.