If you are in the market for a short pen, there are many options. You can opt for a short fountain pen, a ballpoint, hybrid or gel… they are all available in small, stow-able sizes. And many of these pens will be quite usable thanks to some way to expand the pen is in use, so you can have comfort and convenience.
Types of Mini Pens
Generally speaking, most people will accept that it’s uncomfortable to write with a pen that is under a given length, say 9 centimeters. To get to a usable 12 centimeters pen designers have a number of mechanisms, which we’ll run through now. And, of course, some pens are just tiny and they make no concession for their small size, such as the Zebra Fortia EF.
- Telescopic
- Capped
- Expanding
Best Mini Pens List
Here are the best short pens of 2021. And the list is…
| Pen | Length (cm) | Grip Diameter (mm) | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pokka Classic Ballpoint Pen | 7.6 | 8.0 | 4 |
| Pilot G2 Mini Gel Pen | 11.3 | 10.5 | 4 |
| Tombow Object Pixie Expanding Pen | 10.1 | 8.0 | 4.5 |
| Fisher Space Pen TLP Telescoping Pen | 9.9 | 10.0 | 5 |
| Lamy Pico Ballpoint Pen | 9.3 | 12.7 | 4 |
| Parker 75 Fountain Pen | 12.6 | 4.5 | |
| Tombow Zoom Egg Rollerball | 10.8 | 19.8 | 4 |
| Caran d'Ache 849 Ballpoint Pen | 12.8 | 9.0 | 4 |
| Rotring Esprit Telescopic Fountain Pen | 11.9 | 9.9 | 4 |
| BIGiDESIGN Ti Click EDC Pen | 12.6 | 11.4 mm | 4 |
| Everyman Grafton Mini Pen | 12.4 | 11.0 | 4 |
| Zebra G-450 Gel Pen | 12.9 | 9.0 | 4.5 |
| Baron Fig Squire Rollerball | 12.7 | 10.1 | 4 |
| Kaweco Classic Sport Fountain Pen | 10.6 | 8.9 | 4.5 |
| Twsbi Vac Mini Fountain Pen | 12.3 | 10.3 mm | 4 |
| Pilot Prera Fountain Pen | 12.0 | 10.6 mm | 4.5 |
| Kaweco Sport Gel Roller Pen | 10.6 | 9.8 | 4 |
| Zebra SL-F1 Mini Ballpoint Pen | 8.4 | 7.0 | 4 |
| Pilot Timeline Gel Pen | 12.2 | 11.5 | 4 |
| Pilot Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock Gel Pen | 12.3 | 8.3 | 4 |
Methodology: The above list feature pens from the Unsharpen dataset, listed by their closed length. Only pens with an Unsharpen rating of 4 stars or higher are included in the list.