Editor Tim Barribeau wrote the original version of this guide in 2013 and has also covered pencils, notebooks, and other stationery for Wirecutter. If you want a truly dark ink, and more of it, consider either of our other picks. But its ink doesn’t dry as quickly as the Jetstream’s, it requires more pressure to put ink on a page, and its ink tends to feather and skip more than that of our top pick. “I like a thicker line than the Jetstream provides,” wrote another. In general, however, they still have smudging and drying problems, and the ink runs thick: A 0.5 mm gel pen puts down a wider line than 0.5 mm pens of other types. More than half of the Wirecutter staffers attending our testing sessions picked the Jetstream as their One True Pen, giving it more than twice as many votes as the Precise V5 RT, which came in second; some staffers who preferred one of the other two pens even admitted that the Jetstream was technically better. For anyone who wants a bold, colorful pen for sketches or illustrations, the color selection and the dark, thick ink may appeal. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. The ParKoo Retractable Erasable Gel Pens ranked among the best erasable pens we tried. Our testers found the Precise V5 RT to be the least smooth of the three: Only five of our 65-plus testers said it had the fewest skips in writing, and similarly few testers thought it had the least feathering or dried the fastest. We tried two Uni-ball erasable pens. ₹2,850.00. Ships from and sold by MyOfficeInnovations. Although we could certainly see that writing was once present, it would be hard to read a full page of important notes that have faded. “My go-to pen is the Pilot G2; the Uni-ball Signo feels the closest to it,” another tester wrote, echoing a common refrain among both professional and owner reviews. Perhaps most relevant, I edited a larger guide to home-office supplies. We dismissed the precursor to the V5 RT, the Pilot Precise V5, in the initial version of this guide. To sort through these new additions and reassess our original picks, we again consulted experienced bloggers who reviewed pens. We checked in with two of the bloggers who informed our original picks: We also relied on the advice provided for the first version of this guide by two other experts: On top of that, we dug through posts these experts had added to their sites since the previous version of this guide, along with a few other resources such as Art Supply Critic, The Well-Appointed Desk, and anything we found in wider searches for newer pen models. To get a wider sampling of input, we enlisted Wirecutter staffers to test our three finalist pens. The 307 also got the most votes among Wirecutter testers for its looks, beating the Jetstream and the Precise V5 RT. The Signo 307 is a smooth, quick writing tool that lays down a thick line more reliably than other popular gel pens. We also filled in blocks of colors to see how well the erasers could handle denser writing without leaving streaks behind or tearing the paper. It’s not a common need, but the feature is nice to keep in mind if you’re stocking a home or office. $8.88. No one notebook is perfect for everyone, so we found 12 in different styles and sizes—all better than what you could grab off the shelf at the pharmacy. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. uni-ball Jetstream Premier combines the drying time of a ballpoint with the color & smoothness of a gel pen. We tested each pen's propensity to smudge and noticed how quickly its ink dried. Regular Price. Pen bloggers hold the Precise V5 RT in high regard. Only 14 left in stock - order soon. Always check the tip width (usually between 0.25 mm and 1.0 mm) and compare it against a similar type of pen (ballpoint, gel, or rollerball) whose ink lines you know and like. Each staffer who attended the testing session filled out a survey. Writing sample: Lilly Bellman / Photo: Tim Barribeau, We tested each pen’s propensity to smudge and noticed how quickly its ink dried. It doesn’t streak, skip, or bleed through the page, unlike some of the other erasable pens we tested, such as the Paper Mate pens, and it dries quickly so smudging shouldn’t be an issue. The Sharpie Pen has many outspoken fans, especially for its refillable stainless steel and grip variants. For the cost, it’s worth buying a pack of V5 RT pens if you think there’s something about the Jetstream that isn’t quite clicking for you. Tip width as tested: 0.7 mmWidths available: 0.38 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, 1.0 mmStyle: ballpointInk type: hybrid (low-viscosity ballpoint ink with pigments). Brad Dowdy of The Pen Addict told us for this update that the Signo 307, an improvement over the previously dismissed Signo 207, is “the best gel ink pen off the shelf performance-wise.” Skipping—an issue with the 207—is much improved in the 307, Dowdy writes, and OfficeSupplyGeek's Brian Greene agrees. To test erasable pens, we wrote with all of them in different notebooks and planners and then, well, erased. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Luckily, one Wirecutter tester vouches for our suggested alternative: “My go-to pen is the Pilot G2; the Uni-ball Signo (307) feels the closest to it.”. For everyday writing, this pen is very, very wet, and will likely leave the side of your pinkie or palm shellacked with dark ink. Some pens well-reviewed by experts or recommended by readers were not available for around $5 or less, or well-stocked at widely distributed office-supply stores and at online merchants. And if you’re wondering what the difference is between ballpoint, rollerball, and gel pens—and which one might suit your writing style best—we have a pen-type primer below. It feathers least, dries about the fastest, and had the most uniform stroke width under variable conditions.”, The way ink glides out of the Jetstream onto the paper is its most significant differentiator from other pens. We erased a portion of our writing immediately and tried again five days later once the ink had time to settle in. Featuring the SIGNO™ series, gel pens dispense a hybrid pigment ink that doesn’t smear, fade, or wash away. The labeling of pens as “fine” or “medium” or the like is unreliable for comparing pen tips. All erasable pens have some flaws. It’s easy to find in stores, it writes smoothly on most paper, and it’s affordable enough that you won’t be heartbroken if someone permanently borrows it. We had a similar focus for the first version of this guide in 2013, but these days many more high-quality pens are more readily available, at a lower cost, to everyone. I’ve spent more than 100 hours researching pens, mechanical pencils, and notebooks for a trio of Wirecutter guides. uni-ball Jetstream Prime Multifunction Ballpoint Pen Premium Gift Set with Free Pocket Diary (Silver Body) Special Price. The Pilot Frixion produced one of the best results of all the erasable pens we tried, leaving behind slight evidence that there was once something there but without distracting from the other writing. Jetstream with its exclusive, low-viscosity Super Ink™ combines the quick drying time of a ballpoint with the vibrant color and smoothness of a gel pen. Take it from nearly 70 of my co-workers, who tested three very different pens: You may not think you have an opinion on what makes the best pen for you, but you do. Writing sample: Lilly Bellman / Photo: Tim Barribeau, The Uni-ball Jetstream on Field Notes paper. After 35 hours of testing, we think the easy-to-use, comfortable, full-featured 3Doodler Create+ is the best tool for drawing 3D sculptures. It was designed to be a better and easier way of dispensing ink—embedded in the point of a pen, a rolling ball transfers the ink to the page. OfficeSupplyGeek and No Pen Intended have photo evidence of how the G2 performs. In contrast, the Paper Mate EraserMate we tried left behind significant marks on day five. We imagine the Pilot pen will erase long after the five-day mark, though we did not test past that time frame. You should try one if you have a chance, and see how you like the feel—but it’s not the best for most people. If you write quickly but tend not to smudge your letters, or if you simply prefer the look of even thicker lines than the Jetstream or Precise V5 RT can provide, the Signo 307 is good at what it does. For a month, I carried one or two pocket notebooks everywhere I went, plotting out vacation days in a foreign city, tackling grocery and to-do lists, and taking notes on meetings. We hesitated on making them a pick because we’ve seen multiple Amazon listings of the same pen with different branding, so we aren’t sure which company is actually manufacturing them and whether they’ll be around for long. “The competition drags across the page, where the Uni-ball signo 307 glides,” wrote one tester. We used the pen with a 0.7 mm tip in our testing, but a version with a 0.5 mm tip is widely available in many stores, and you can purchase versions that are both skinnier and wider through specialist retailers. On top of that, the Basic version is thin at its grip and less comfortable than our picks. Rollerballs use water-based ink, which provides smoother, finer lines. Writing sample: Lilly Bellman / Photo: Tim Barribeau, The Pilot Precise V5 RT on Field Notes paper. If you like the feel and ink of the Jetstream, you can upgrade to one of the variants mentioned above or choose from a wide range of other colors and styles—start with a sampler pack, perhaps. The R:E Erasable Gel Pen’s unique plastic eraser left almost nothing behind, but the off-black ink we tried was too light for our taste. Over the past five years, I’ve written dozens of guides. It has a nice, soft grip for easy long-form writing. Unlike with other pens, which left streaks behind when we erased their marks days later, with the Pilot FriXion you can come back and update your calendar the week after and still erase cleanly. This pen writes like a satisfying inky gel pen but erases cleanly. Wirecutter is reader-supported. More than two-thirds of our testers said the Jetstream’s ink dried the fastest and smudged the least. Our testing group agreed with our experts: The Uni-ball Jetstream is the best pen for most everyday writing tasks. Sometimes you can go long stretches without purchasing any pen, relying instead on hotels, offices, conferences, and other scenes of benign theft and giveaways to stock your home or desk. Learn more. It's very comfortable to hold and I love the way it writes. We focused on affordable pens ($5 or less each) for this guide, such that losing one wouldn’t feel like a small tragedy. Uni-ball Jetstream Extra Fine Point Retractable Roller Ball Pens,-rubber Grip Type -0.5mm-black Ink-value Set of 5 (With Our Shop Original Product Description) $8.88 (516) Although 0.5 mm and 0.38 mm tips exist, they are not as smooth, according to our experts, but if you write extremely small you may enjoy their precision. “I don’t like the color or sheen of the Jetstream ink but it does perform the best,” wrote one tester. But not everybody wants the smoothest writing with the fewest possible ink problems. The standard 0.7 mm “fine” tip comes in black, blue, and a black/blue/red multipack.1 Uni-ball sells a 1.0 mm “bold” tip, but it produces only a subtle change in line size. They were a little streakier than the Pilot Frixion pens, but they were still inky.