The excellent news is you don’t have to spend so much to get a pen that’s worthy of your signature. After researching 62 pens and writing zealously with 37 of them, we’ve got suggestions for ballpoint, rollerball, and fineliner pens which can be reasonably priced and satisfying to write down with.
Our picks embody:
- the Uni-ball Jetstream RT, a ballpoint pen for on a regular basis writing
- the Uni Jetstream Slim Multi-Colour, a 3-in-1 slim, multicolor ballpoint, for switching ink colours
- the Pilot Dr. Grip Middle of Gravity, an ergonomic ballpoint, for individuals who get hand cramps, have arthritis, or simply need one thing with a bigger barrel measurement
- the Pilot Exact V5 RT, a rollerball pen, for writing with a extra saturated, darker line than you get from a lower-priced ballpoint
- the Pentel EnerGel RTX and the Uni-ball Signo RT1, two gel pen picks that supply quite a lot of pen-tip sizes and vivid ink-refill choices
- the Sakura Pigma Micron, a fineliner pen for exact sketching or writing with archival ink
Our choose
With its fast-drying ink, this pen is our go-to for on a regular basis writing on any type of paper.
In most conditions, the Uni-ball Jetstream RT is the very best pen for the job.
It dries rapidly, so it’s nice for lefties and anybody who’s involved about smudging (particularly when writing on slick paper, labels, or receipts). Due to its “hybrid” ink, the Jetstream RT produces the darkest traces of any ballpoint pen we examined. And the ink flows out easily and evenly with out skipping—like a gel pen, however with the quick-drying benefits of a ballpoint. It’s water resistant, fade-resistant, and formulated to withstand examine washing, too.
A Wirecutter choose since 2013, the Jetstream RT is available in quite a lot of tip widths and colours. And our testers discovered that it felt and regarded higher than different, more-plasticky ballpoint pens.
Model: ballpoint
Tip width examined: 0.7 mm
Widths out there: 0.7 mm, 1.0 mm
Colours: black, blue, purple; RT BLX model: blue-black, brown-black, green-black, red-black
Additionally nice
This pen is as slim as a typical ballpoint, and you’ll swap between writing with black, blue, and purple ink—with out having to hold a number of pens.
Should you wish to color-code your notes or journal entries, the Uni Jetstream Slim Multi-Colour is a skinny, helpful various to having a number of pens cluttering your desk or bag.
This pen is identical form and measurement as our prime choose, the Jetstream RT. However the Jetstream Slim Multi-Colour is way slimmer than most multicolor pens, which are likely to have chunkier barrels. The knocks (the buttons on the prime of the pen that make the pen nibs retract) function easily and with a satisfying click on.
The Jetstream Slim Multi-Colour has a rubber grip, so it’s nice to carry. And this pen comes with the identical refillable clean ink present in different Jetstream pens.
The ink refills are smaller than these in a daily Jetstream pen, although, in order that they’re a bit much less cost-effective. However should you usually write in several colours, we predict the comfort is value it.
Model: ballpoint
Tip width examined: 0.5 mm
Widths out there: 0.38 mm, 0.5 mm
Colours: black, blue, purple, inexperienced
Additionally nice
Should you expertise hand pressure or fatigue whereas writing with slim pens, this pen’s massive, gentle grip and balanced weight distribution could make writing extra snug.
Amongst pens designed to cut back writing stress, the Pilot Dr. Grip Middle of Gravity is the very best we’ve examined. Our testers—together with a retired medical skilled with arthritis—discovered the huge grip straightforward to carry, and this pen had the very best steadiness of softness and firmness.
What units this pen aside essentially the most from different ergonomic pens is its weight distribution: It’s balanced nearer to the tip, so writing is easy and requires much less strain.
The Middle of Gravity can also be only a nice pen typically. Its hybrid ink combines the long-lasting parts of a ballpoint pen with the darkish, vibrant traces of a gel pen.
Model: ballpoint
Tip width examined: 1.0 mm
Widths out there: 0.7 mm (fantastic), 1.0 mm (medium)
Colours: black, blue
Additionally nice
This rollerball pen is nice for fantastic lettering or drawing, and it prices lower than related pens. It doesn’t dry as rapidly as our different picks, although, so it’s not the only option for lefties.
Should you like darkish traces, favor a little bit of resistance out of your paper when writing and drawing, or have handwriting that produces particularly small letters, take into account the Pilot Exact V5 RT.
Some consultants—and most of our testers—most well-liked this pen’s finer level in contrast with different rollerballs’ factors, which produce wetter, thicker traces.
Though the Exact V5 RT doesn’t dry as rapidly because the Jetstream, and subsequently can smudge (not preferrred for lefties), it performs properly on most paper. It’s additionally the least costly pen we suggest, on a per-pen foundation.
Model: rollerball
Tip width examined: 0.5 mm
Widths out there: 0.5 mm (V5), 0.7 mm (V7)
Colours: black, blue, inexperienced, pink, purple, purple, turquoise, orange, yellow, lime inexperienced, navy, burgundy, hunter inexperienced, caramel, periwinkle, teal
Additionally nice
This pen produces darkish, crisp traces, and it’s out there in a variety of colours and tip sizes to swimsuit varied writing preferences.
Should you like writing with darkish, vivid traces and may’t bear any smudging, the Pentel EnerGel RTX is our gel pen choose.
In our exams, the EnerGel RTX wrote easily—by no means skipping or smudging—and its needle-point tip was as exact as that of the Pilot Exact V5 RT. Accessible ink colours embody choices we haven’t seen usually with different pens, together with grey.
The EnerGel RTX has a barely thicker barrel and grip than the Jetstream and the Exact V5 RT, so some individuals may discover it extra snug to carry. However this pen’s vivid blue physique and coloured grip part are fairly flashy-looking. Should you favor a more-incognito pen, take into account the equally performing Uni-ball Signo RT1.
Model: rollerball with gel ink
Tip width examined: 0.5 mm
Widths out there: 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, 1.0 mm
Colours: black, blue, purple, brown, orange, sky blue, inexperienced, pink, lime inexperienced, violet, magenta, grey, lilac, yellow, turquoise
Additionally nice
This pen has an understated, single-color barrel design. It writes easily, with vivid inks and really skinny traces.
A pen’s aesthetics can contribute to the general writing expertise. And this was confirmed in our testing: A number of of our testers most well-liked the Uni-ball Signo RT1 to the Pentel EnerGel RTX as a result of Signo RT1’s understated (albeit all-plastic) design.
In our exams, the Signo RT1’s efficiency was almost equivalent to that of the EnerGel and the Exact V5 RT (with only a little bit of smudging after we compelled it). The primary distinction between these pens is how they appear, plus their out there colours and tip sizes.
Model: rollerball with gel ink
Tip width examined: 0.5 mm
Widths out there: 0.28 mm, 0.38 mm, 0.5 mm
Colours: black, blue, blue black, mild blue, violet, inexperienced, lime inexperienced, purple, orange, child pink
Our choose
This pen’s needlepoint tip produces exact, constant traces with archival high quality ink.
The Sakura Pigma Micron writes easily and predictably with out skipping, feathering, or beeding. Usually utilized by artists, this technical pen can be utilized for detailed drawings in addition to any archival-quality handwriting tasks, akin to journaling or scrapbooking. Its pigment-based ink is fade-, water-, and chemical-resistant.
Not like different fineliners and felt-tipped pens we examined, the Micron affords nice suggestions when writing on typical paper with out being scratchy, and the barrel was essentially the most snug to carry. You don’t want to use plenty of strain to get satisfying, darkish and crisp traces.
Model: fineliner
Tip width examined: 0.25 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.35 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.5 mm
Widths available: 0.15 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.45 mm, 0.6 mm, 0.7 mm
Colours: black
