If you want to use the same pen and ink combination in a number of sizes, what’s the best pen to choose? This is a niche question, but certainly an interesting one. This came up when we wanted to some pen longevity testing — testing out how long the ink in a pen will write — and we wanted to determine the impact on the writing tip size on how long a pen will write. The best way to do this is to get the same pen in as many sizes as possible… but which pen should we buy?
The best example of pens (or pen-like writing instruments) sold in a large number of sizes are fineliners. The Sakura Pigma, for example, can quite easily be found in a $12 set that includes 0.20mm, 0.25mm, 0.30mm, 0.35mm, 0.45mm, and 0.50mm sizes. That’s super convenient, and just what we need, but what about gel pens or ballpoints?
Here are some of the options that first came to mind when we thought about robust pen families. Well consider pens with four or more sizes to be worth considering.
Uniball Jetstream
This ballpoint pen is sold in a nice range of sizes
- 0.28 mm (Jetstream Edge only)
- 0.38 mm
- 0.5 mm
- 0.7 mm
- 1.0 mm
Uniball Signo UM-151
This is a workhorse line of gel pens, popular with artists, though there are many types of Signo pens. This is an older pen line with less development over the past 5 years.
- 0.28 mm
- 0.38 mm
- 0.5 mm
- 1.0 mm (sold as the Signo Broad UM-153)
The Signo UM-151 is notably missing a 0.7 mm size. This writing tip size used to be sold in white, but it’s no longer generally available. There is a related 0.8 mm size, the Signo Noble Metal Metallic UM-120NM, but this uses a metallic ink so it’s not quite what we’re looking for in this test as the ink formulation is different.
Uniball Signo 207
The popular Signo 207, an elder statesmen of office pens, is sold in a solid range, again hitting the mark with four sizes.
- 0.38 mm (sold as the 207 Ultra Micro)
- 0.5 mm
- 0.7 mm
- 1.0 mm
It’s worth noting that the 207 is sold in four sizes, but the Signo 207+ is only sold in 0.7 mm. The newer Signo 307 is only sold in three sizes, 0.38 mm, 0.5 mm and 0. 7 mm despite being commercially available for the better part of a decade.
Uniball Signo RT1
The boring but versatile Signo RT1 is also sold in a nice range of sizes.
- 0.28 mm
- 0.38 mm
- 0.5 mm
- 0.7 mm
The pen would be a real all-star if it was sold in a 1.0 mm, but sadly it isn’t. Technically if you bought a Uniball UMR-10 refill and put it in a Signo RT1 body then you would have the 1.0 mm pen, but it’s not sold commercially in this pairing.
Pilot G2
One of the hall of fame gel pens, the Pilot G2, is sold in wide range of sizes, even if it’s mostly known for its wider, juicer tip sizes. The G2 is sold in:
- 0.38 mm
- 0.5 mm
- 0.7 mm
- 1.0 mm
Sadly Pilot hasn’t expanded this line with a 0.28 mm like their competition.
Pentel Energel (Multiple Lines)
Pentel is known for its Energel gel family of pens, but the individual Energel pens are less distinguished from the rest relative to the other pens. That is to say the Energel X, Energel Euro, Energel RTX, Energel Clena, Energel Infree, etc. are all sort of the same pen, so we’ll club them together for this article. In fact, most of them use the Pentel LR or LRN gel refills, so they really are the same for our purposes.
- 0.3 mm: RTX and Clena
- 0.38 mm: Euro (needle tip)
- 0.4 mm: Euro and Clena
- 0.5 mm
- 0.7 mm
- 1.0 mm
There are some pens in the like, like the Pentel EnerGel Deluxe, which are liquid gel pens and don’t use a conventional refill design, so aren’t part of this list, despite being in the wider Energel family.
Zebra Sarasa Clip
The Sarara is like the Energel in that there are a number of similar bodies, but they share common refills so we’ll club them together, but generally the Sarasa Clip is the one sold in the most sizes.
- 0.3 mm
- 0.38 mm (Nano only)
- 0.4 mm
- 0.5 mm
- 0.7 mm
- 1.0 mm
There are some pens in the Sarasa family that aren’t like the rest, for example the Dry and Sarasa R, which use different refills from