Uni-ball Jetstream Ballpoint Pen - 0.5 mm - Basic Series - Blue

I can't use any other ballpoint pen or gel pen. The smoothness is incomparable. I had to give this one to my mother though because she liked it so much, too! Luckily, I have backups.

This is my favorite ballpoint. It makes clean, fine lines and it is always super smooth.

Without exaggeration, my favourite ballpoint pen of any brand, model or specification. For anything short of running a 7-page imaginative context piece for my English exam, its balance between writing feedback and smoothness mated to a crisp, fine line is perhaps unbeatable. Maybe I'm just having an economy-pen streak lately but I've even been using this in preference to my 'high grade' models of various pens. For $2.25 it looks very sleek and professional.

As with all Jetstreams, the ink is much more vibrant than a typical ballpoint, particularly in blue. I find the black feels inferior to gel inks from Hi-Tec-Cs and Signos, but the blue has a nice color to it and a shade that makes it seem nothing like a second-rate compromise.

The retractable feature makes it nice and portable; the grip is neither too hard nor too soft. Most importantly of all, unlike with some of my fine-pointed Japanese gel pens, it has absolutely no trouble writing on rougher paper, whereas I feel my Hi-Tec-Cs and the like suffer unless I'm writing on high-grade notebooks. Signo DX, Signo RT, G2, thus far no pen has given me this level of performance (although I still prefer gel pens if I have quality writing material for the deeper colors).

If you know a better all-round pen for this kind of price, I'd really like to know.

Smoothness: okay
Precision: Good for 0.5 mm
weight: light
Grip feeling: okay
Cushion: solid

Overall impression: Okay, for better comfort but less precise pen I recommend Pilot G-Knock Retractable Gel Ink Pen - 0.38 mm

Excellent for tiny writing. I use this to write in my Moleskine. A little scratchy but well worth it because the lines are soooo tiny and the control is great. You can write tiny words legibly. I recommend this for any time you need to write small.