Best Pens for 2025
112 comments
·January 12, 2025lqet
sushid
I feel the same way but with cheaper Japanese ball pens, my favorite being. I do have to disagree that a Bic Cristal feels "smooth" though. I think it doesn't glide as well as your average Japanese offerings although it does dry exceptionally well.
Personally I'm partial to the Zebra Sarasa Clip [0].
bayindirh
As far as I have experimented, nothing can replace a good fountain pen for me. Being able to use one for decades and use a bottle of ink for 4-5 years is also a great plus for sustainability in my book.
If I can't use a fountain pen, I fallback to a Uniball Elite or Uniball Signo 0.7/0.38.
On the ballpoint department, you can't get my CdA 149 from my dead, cold hands.
If you really want to use a smooth Bic, try Cristal Soft. If you want something flies, try Uniball JetStream.
JadeNB
> I feel the same way but with cheaper Japanese ball pens, my favorite being.
Torture for a pen enthusiast! Your favorite being what? Is it the Sarasa Clip you mention later?
detritus
I bought my daughter a set of multi-colour Bic Cristal pens and, aside from a weird plug that had to be removed from each tip (intentional? dried-up ink from the manufacturing process?) the textural quality of the ink is wonderful. I don't know what it is or how it's different from normal Bics but they are a pure joy to write with.
So I bought myself a set and now write in pink at work... .
__rito__
Yes, the "plugs" on top of every tip of pens are very much intentional.
They are found on every new ball pens and refills in India. I don't know the exact purpose of their existence, but I guess it has to do with leakage of ink.
I never thought I would see this question here! I now write with FPs exclusively, but removing those beads from newly bought pens were special experience to us as little kids! We fondly associated them with the joy of new pens. We used to call them "pearls".
khazhoux
I had to look up the name, and then realized (ha!) it's the pen I grew up on, across two countries.
My body is probably full of microplastics from chewing away at them.
throwpoaster
The Bic Cristal is my all-time favourite pen, to the point where I don’t really understand why other pens exist. I was recently thinking of getting a Mont Blanc for fancy business writing (contract signing), but went with the Cristal. Not kidding.
The one flaw: no upside-down writing.
hackernewds
Other pens exist since the Pilot G2 0.38 had to :)
ykonstant
You mean a Mont Blanc ballpoint pen? Because I wouldn't use fountain pens with their water-based inks for signing contracts (even inks that claim to be waterproof).
bayindirh
Water based inks come in tons of flavors. You can have washables (most of your royal blues), "permanents" (most blue blacks and special formulations) which leave a faint mark you can't remove (GvFC inks sans Royal Blue, Pelikan 4001 Blue Black, etc.), pigments which cling to your paper like their life depend on it or you can go full send and get "cellulose reactive" inks which will not leave your paper unless you destruct the said paper.
Many "permanent" inks on permanent rollerballs and gels (e.g. Uni SuperInk) is also water based, yet they don't and won't leave your paper, because they're made of UV resistant pigments.
slavik81
Noodler's archival inks would be fine for that purpose. Bulletproof Black reacts with the cellulose in the paper so it will not wash out.
kstrauser
I was curious so I tested it myself: https://honeypot.net/categories/ink/
Noodler’s Baystate Blue is at least as waterproof as the paper it’s on.
throwpoaster
I was going to go fountain, yes. Excellent “tip”, thanks!
SoftTalker
They seem prone to leaking. Like they develop some kind of siphon or capillary flow of the ink out the open end of the ink tube.
criddell
You aren’t buying them from Amazon, are you? I’ve never had a genuine Bic do that, but I’ve had some cheapo bootlegs leak.
SoftTalker
No this goes back decades. Ever since I can remember.
thfuran
How can you tell it isn't actually a Bic?
s0rce
I also realized I like smooth ball points, used to use the finer Pilot gelpoints in school. The Caran D'ache ballpoint is quite nice for a more luxury product
https://www.carandache.com/us/en/ballpoint-pen-ballpoint-pen...
onemoresoop
40 for a pen seems excessive for a regular budget even if 40 is not a lot of money anymore
dqv
Yes, like the GP says, it's a luxury pen. They didn't buy it for purely utilitarian reasons. They might like that it has an all-metal construction or that it weighs 88g. They might prefer the ink formulation used for the cartridges. They might like how the pen works in their preferred notebook. For many people, tactility (and other sensations too) is just as, if not, more important than, utility.
kstrauser
I've had quite a few nice pens over the years. For me, Lamy Safari with its triangular grip is peak ergonomics, and its price-per-usability is fantastic. I tend to have a claw-like grip, and the Safari forces me to hold it in a way that my hand doesn't cramp after 3 minutes. It's great. I love it.
But for quick jotting, like making shopping lists or bullet journal notetaking, I'm on board with this list's top ballpoint pick, the Uni Jetstream. If all ballpoints were this smooth and pleasant to use, I never would've bothered investigating fountain pens. I think they're fantastic, supremely reasonably priced, and rugged enough to lose in the bottom of a bag without leaking all over stuff.
I love my Safaris, but when I need to jot something down, I reach for the Jetstream.
linsomniac
I'm also a big fan of the Jestreams, in particular the "Uni Jetstream Standard Ballpoint Pen - 0.5 mm". 5-6 years ago on a similar thread here or elsewhere, found a pointer to them and got a few, and I really like the precise line it makes, so I can do (what one of my coworkers called) "microwriting" between other lines of text. I use them mostly for note taking and bullet journaling. I've since gotten a few of the dozen packs, they are reasonably priced.
I wish I had a better solution for todo lists though. For a couple years I used a book and pen for managing my todo list, but always felt like an automated solution would just be better. I tried a Kindle Scribe and used that for around a year. It was a good "basic" writing experience, but really brought very little over just pen and paper (except that I never had to struggle with keeping the pages laying flat). I decided to try an Onyx Boox Note 3 as a "better Scribe", but shortly after that I abandoned the todo list entirely. Tried taskninja, but never stuck there either.
Any pro tips?
kstrauser
Not really. I have a Travelers Notebook with their own lined paper. I got that for the goofiest of reasons: so I could feel like Indiana Jones when I was taking notes for my Diablo game. I’ve started using it for bullet journaling as an experiment.
valbaca
> I got that for the goofiest of reasons: so I could feel like Indiana Jones when I was taking notes for my Diablo game.
Nah, that's the coolest of reasons \m/
gorgoiler
The stock nib is also excellent when inverted (writing with the pen rolled over so that the “top” of the nib is now the side touching the paper). This is extremely useful when annotating diagrams, for example, as the writing is hyper fine.
I wanted to love TWSBI but our honeymoon period ended when nearly all of my barrels developed hairline fractures.
bpiche
I've had a few TWSBIs over the last 5 years or so and I love them. Haven't had any hairline fractures yet - any idea what may have caused them? Am curious now
gorgoiler
Three Vac Minis purchased between 2022 and 2024 and all three have developed longitudinal micro fractures on the threading between the grip and the body, and the threading around the pump-cap and the body-end. On two of them this eventually led to an ink leak.
The pens travel with me during ~3h of weekly bicycle commuting between my home and my work, store in a pen case in my backpack. They’re not being babied, but I’m hardly kicking them down a mountain either.
My Vac700R, ECO, and Diamond580 are all doing fine but they definitely are deskbound and haven’t seen nearly as much much field use.
kstrauser
That's amazing and it never occurred to me to try it!
I've had good luck with TWSBI. They're so pretty! I haven't used them too heavily or outside of a desktop environment though.
frereubu
I love Safaris too, but unfortunately I handwrite very seldom and the Safaris tend to dry out quite quickly in my experience. I've got the Kaweco Sport, which sends to last much longer, probably because of its tight screw-top seal.
kstrauser
Oh, very nice. I tended to use the Safari enough to use it before it dried. Having the option to not to is nice.
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pryelluw
Every time this website gets posted I order like $30 worth of office supplies. Dunno why but it’s so tempting.
ein0p
$30 is like five pens on that site, and that's if you get cheap ones. I don't even use pens often, and I still buy them from there.
gnabgib
Largely the same choices, pens, photos, text from the 2024 copy of this: (168 points, 154 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38867708
https://web.archive.org/web/20240104200853/https://www.jetpe...
ghaff
I've definitely gravitated to the bold gel pens for most purposes. Some inks actually even work as better replacements in some more expensive pens although I rarely bother.
maxglute
Should have category for more innovative pen, what's new in the writing technology last yer? Their videos on overengineered Japanese stationary are great.
vlark
Try a Parker Jotter with one of these refills:
- https://www.jetpens.com/Schmidt-EasyFlow-9000-Hybrid-Ballpoi...
- https://schneiderpen.com/en_us/ballpoint-pen-refills/slider-...
- https://www.jetpens.com/OHTO-Flash-Dry-Gel-Pen-Refill-Black/...
bnycum
I always enjoy reading this list yearly, and the research that goes into it. As someone who prefers thicker gel pens I used the Uniball Signo 207 as I could easily find these locally as well. Then after reading their recommendations I switched to the Zebra Sarasa Dry because I always smear my writing.
Through Jetpens I’ve also discovered my favorite mechanical pencil, the Uni Kuru Toga.
spudlyo
I have recently discovered the Kuru Toga pencil and it's rapidly becoming my favorite pencil too! Sometimes the lead is a bit shorter than I'd like -- I may check out the Kuru Toga Dive which allows you to customize the default lead length.
eawgewag
Just want to say, I've had incredible customer service experiences from Jetpens. If high end stationary is important to you, I highly recommend this store.
escapedmoose
Seconded. I was extremely impressed when in response to one of my emailed questions, they directly contacted a manufacturer to ask about the acid content of a particular paper. But that’s not all! They then updated the specs on their listing to include the info I’d asked about on their site. It’s so refreshing to frequent a business that’s so serious about their work!
crq-yml
I've embraced the Pulaman over the past year. It's grungy when used on rougher paper, and wet enough to bleed through lighter weights, but the lines are full of character. It's a fountain pen with a marker tip - it fills in a certain complementary thing that Pilot nibs don't have.
I have also become a champion for Bic Gelocity, because they figured out a quick-dry gel formula that has similar viscosity and reliability to their classic ballpoints. Viscous ink keeps my writing legible, and the gel needs less pressure, so it's a great EDC writer.
Some of my bigger explorations have been with graphite - I have both new mechanicals, cheap stuff, lead holders, and vintage pencils. There is a lot of reason to go mechanical for reliability, but cheap mechanicals like the Bic pencil are unreliable - it's worth it to go for a Pentel. Similar story with lead holders - I have some from Daiso that do the job but aren't as tight as brand names. The nice thing about wood is that it handles well - the weight is lighter than metal, and it stays balanced as you wear it down. As well, for drawing, being able to cut the point you want makes a difference. There are woodless pencils which are quite a bit heavier and more brittle if dropped, but they are nice to work with to get something similar to a long point sharpen without having to get out a razor and whittle it by hand.
atombender
+1 for Pentel Pulaman. They have a weird hybrid nib that's somewhere between a felt tip and a technical pen, and you can vary the line thickness a lot. The nib flattens a bit with age, so you end up with an almost brush-like feel.
captainclam
Pens are all well and good, but what are people's favorite notebooks? I've found that the paper is perhaps just as important as the pen in a satisfactory writing experience.
0x38B
I've used Leuchtturm1917 notebooks (1) as my journals for several years and recommend them; the paper is smooth and good for writing and drawing. My local art store carries them, which is a plus - I love buying local.
I've settled on the B5 10"x7" size (2) with blank pages. I love that it has two ribbons for keeping my place, and a handy pocket (I keep stamps and stickers in mine). The hardcover versions are sturdy, which is perfect because my notebook goes everywhere with me.
At first I used the ruled and or dotted versions, but now prefer blank pages for drawing.
1: https://www.jetpens.com/Leuchtturm1917/bd/254
2: https://www.jetpens.com/Leuchtturm1917-Hardcover-Notebook-Co...
jq-r
I've had couple of those popular ones, but settled (for at least couple of months now) on Kukuyo Campus A5 binder and Tomoe River Loose leaf sheets. I had to punch holes with a Carl 20 hole puncher but the combination is great. It gives you the way to sort your papers (eg remove temp ones) with the arguably best paper for fountain inks.
devchix
Lamy Safari friends, I bought one, and it went unused for years because it was no fun to write with. The nib was scratchy, not feedback, scratchy, and no small tweak ever made it smooth. I was on the verge of buying a sheet of micro-mesh to fix it when I came to my senses, what the hell was I doing, like trying to fix a smokey candlewick for light. I thought to myself, it can't all be like this, and bought a TWSBI Eco. This was going to be my last fountain pen if it didn't work out. And, dear readers, it is amazing! It writes like butter, words cannot describe, I whip it out every chance I get to write with it.
(The Lamy does OK with a very wet ink and cheap printer paper. I use it to doodle, so all is not lost.)
dsign
I've been programming some CAD algorithms during the last two months and found myself buying cheap pens for a cheap plotter (a Silhouette machine), to make geometric diagrams. Can't say that the process is more efficient than a color printer[^1], but it is way cheaper than those damn color toners and the profit-maximizing ways the printer accounts for its consumption. And the pen strokes on paper look cool, and one can chose different pens to draw different layers in the diagrams.
[^1]: Though, in truth, the plotter is extremely reliable and fast. Inkjet printers on the other hand have a lengthy warmup and drivers are finicky to the point one imagines they constantly are on the lookout for new ways to botch a job.
I have used a standard Lamy fountain pen for 11 years in school, and later several higher-end products (ball pens and fountain pens). But a few years ago I discovered that I really like writing with the Bic Cristal [0]. It's reliable and writing feels very smooth (even better than with some Lamy products I own). I also like that it has exactly the same shape as a classic pencil. Of course it is also very relaxing to know I can get a pack of 50 for 14 EUR. You can gnaw away on it, roll over it accidentally with you chair, lose it, break it in half - doesn't matter, because you can easily afford to have 20 of these on your desk at any time.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bic_Cristal