Believe it or not, the not-so humble pen still plays a massive role in our otherwise largely tech-driven lives. Let’s face it, even our smartphones have got to the stage where the better ones almost do what a pen can – write beautifully and easily on a flat surface. Of course, if you’re a pen renaissance man or woman, or if you’ve never properly moved away from ink, then you’ll know that all pens are not made equal. That’s not to say that the most expensive models are always the best; It’s really a matter of taste and whether you prefer smooth gliding action, a silky finish, or a pen that looks a million dollars. You don't need to have so many pens. The most important thing is to find the suitest one!

Uni-Ball Jetstream Pen

This retractable pen is a great pocket-writer, with comfortable but not overly muscular grip and bleed-proof ink. While not renowned for its smoothness in the writing department, the Uni-Ball Jetstream glides over all paper surfaces without any fuss and delivers exemplary results thanks to a smaller-than-usual 0.7mm tip (compared to 1mm on most ball points. It also doesn’t smear and looks the kind of cool blue colour that functional, mistake-proof individuals will love.

PILOT Razor Point Fine Line Marker Stick Pens (12-Pack)

Strictly speaking, this is a marker pen – yes, the kind of ‘felt tip’ that you use to colour-in or write on marker boards. But wait a minute, this super fine variant delivers super good results on paper, is easy to wield and delivers the kind of lines you’d expect from a ballpoint. It won’t bleed and – unlike some ballpoints – is very dynamic in turns of the paper you can use it with. And we didn’t mention the tip: 0.3mm is as slim as it gets. Who said anything about markers!

Pilot G2 Retractable Gel-Ink Pens (12-Pack)

Gel pens are a popular category in our daily writing, by virtue of the gel ink’s smooth writing flow and quick-drying properties. The fine-point 0.7-millimeter tip of this particular Pilot G2 model was highly rated for its comfort in hand, smooth writing, and bleedproof qualities. This retractable pen is equipped with a comfortable contoured grip, making it an ideal choice for longhand writing. It’s also available in 0.38-, 0.5-, and 1-millimeter tip sizes.

Uni-Ball Vision Elite Rollerball Pen (3-Pack)

As far as writing smoothness goes, the Uni-Ball Vision Elite may be the best of the bunch! Its fluid ink flows quite exceptionally. As is expected with rollerball pens, this pen’s ink takes slightly longer to dry, and is unfortunately prone to smearing. Pity that  it is just not meant for left-handed people. In any case, you may want to reserve these pens for its 0.8-millimeter tip so it can get on with thicker, non-glossy paper to enjoy them to their fullest.

Marvy Uchida Le Pen (12-Pack)

The fine-point 0.3-millimeter Marvy Uchida Le Pen won out for its smearproof ink that most users gave top marks to. It may be a little slimmer than the average writing utensil, but it makes writing by hand really fun. This pen writes incredibly smoothly, requiring virtually no force to make a vivid, bold mark on the page.