The Best Pens for 2023: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

I used to advocate for the sharp kerry but I've had two completely stop feeding official pentel leads and need replacement from pentel for no reason. They are shorter lived than even the graphgear 1000s, and I've broken the plastic parts on those too.

The graphgear's retractable tip has never put a hole in my pocket, and I can always clip it to the top of my pocket (with the pen in the pocket) if I'm really concerned.

The biggest issue I have with the graphgear 1000s is that the texturing on the barrel just isn't very comfortable for extended duration use. I always end up putting a stupid puffy piece to make them easier to use for long periods of time.

Lately I've just given up on all of those and end up using 2mm lead holders. I've probably got $150-200 worth of fancy pencils and the 2mm leadholders get the most use.

For most of us the best pen is the one that is functional and within reach when we need it. Everything else is just for fun or for show. It's nice to know what artists and people who regularly spend hours writing things out by hand think about specific brands/models, but I can't justify the expense of getting anything too fancy when I can go many many months without even touching a pen or a pencil and none of them are so advanced that they can make up for my bad handwriting.

My past year involved a lot of pen collecting, and these have been the biggest hits for me:

1. Pentel Kerry. There are slightly more convenient mechanical pencils around for writing, with an autoadvance clicker and rotation. But the Kerry has a cap that posts nicely, and is made to last forever, so now I have three in different colors. Pair with a lead of your preference(I like Nanodia 4H because the harder lead won't smudge and erases well). I will also use regular wood pencils, because they're lighter, but mechanical is good for getting the same line every time.

2. Uni-Pin brush. This is a slightly softer style of felt tip than the Tombow Fudenosuke recommended in the article(which are also good and easy to learn with). It's excellent for learning brush techniques - more forgiving than real bristles but still springy and expressive, and it writes dry enough that most paper will withstand it. It also comes in various shades of grey/sepia. The values on those are pretty dark so they aren't really suitable for highlighting, but they can add some character to a brush drawing.

3. Tombow Mono Stick Eraser - among the plastic erasers, I looked up comparison videos and Tombow probably has the strongest formulation - it immediately grabs graphite and makes it really disappear. In some niche cases you don't actually want that and would rather have a Pink Pearl to fade something with gradually, but the Mono is excellent at cleaning up a page without much effort - and the stick form is good for precision.

3. Papermate Inkjoy Quattro. This is something I picked up because it was the only kind of multipen offered in Office Depot. And it's fine. The Inkjoy refills are decent, and when you want one pen for all your notetaking, a multi is the right thing to keep in your pocket.

4. Uni-ball Signo 207 Plus+. The Plus+ has a new formulation of ink that I find is one of the most consistent gel pens I have - it's smooth enough, handles well, flow is consistent, it doesn't get slippery.

5. Uni-ball One F. This is a much more scratchy and skippy pen than the 207+, but it has the benefit of being the darkest gel I have ever used, and capable of dialing in some super fine lines in the 0.38 version. That makes it a good drawing pen. The F(Feel) body is weighted at the tip which makes it a little less plasticy, but I also use the original One bodies still. All gel refills tend to flow better after having some rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer applied to their tip, so I recommend always doing that with these.

5. "Aen Arts" gel set - this is one of those whitelabel things you can find on Alibaba, but also shows up on Amazon under various seller names. For under $30 you get an array of Gelly Roll knockoffs. And they are pretty good!

6. Ohuhu water-based dual brush marker set. Like with the gel set, this appears to be a whitelabel of Tombow Dual Brush knockoffs. Again, cheap, pretty good for coloring and highlighting, though the tips definitely aren't all that durable.

7. Pilot Kakuno. Like the Metropolitan featured in the article, it's just a well made fountain at an intro price. The ink feed is a relatively difficult thing to QC, and Pilot is one of the best at just making it work out of the box.

8. Uni-ball Vision Needle. Of the different Uni rollers, this is the one I tend to pick up the most. The needle tip design gives extra visibility, and the refill is smooth enough, though if you want to try one that is buttery smooth and gushes ink, get a Schneider One Business. Also worth a mention here is the Uni-Ball Air, which makes more expressive, inky lines. The downside of going for smooth rollers is that you can lose control more easily.

I recently got a rhodia notebook to go with my Pelikan Souveran FP and recently acquired MB LeGrand rollerball. I've been using the RB more and more because it's just a lot easier to keep inked and ready to go (and the size is perfect for my hands). That said, it skips a lot - not sure if I got a bad refill or if that's just the way MB rollerballs are.

Definitely invest in a good notebook if you get a nice pen. The pelikan is a pain to write with on regular paper.

I strongly recommend Parker pens, they're not as good for spinning/flipping as Pilot G2s, but they last longer and are higher quality overall