Uniball RT1 0.5mm

Readers of this blog will already know that Uniball is my favourite “office supplies” brand of all time. The pens are smooth, the ink is dark and reliable and their range generally includes a wide variety of point sizes and colours.

My gel pen and rollerballs of preference generally tend to sit in the 0.7-0.8mm tip size. Anything larger makes it look like I’m writing with a felt tip marker and anything finer turns my writing into chicken scrawl and is too scratchy for my taste.

There are only 2 exceptions to the finer than 0.7mm rule and they are the Uniball Signo dX in 0.5mm and the Uniball Signo RT1.

The Uniball Signo RT1 comes in 3 tip sizes (0.28, 0.38 and 0.5mm) and 10 colours and features an “edgeless” tip cone (the metal bit holding the ball) to minimise friction and scratching against paper when writing with it. I can’t speak for the finer tip sizes, but in the 0.5mm version, the smoothness is apparent when compared to other pens of a similar size. I find that this pen is definitely smoother than other 0.5mm gel pens (and rollerballs) that I’ve used.

The pen is retractable and features a rubberised grip section meaning that its extremely practicable as well. The only thing I have found is that it’s a little difficult to see the tip when holding the pen (the rubberised grip section is a little bulbous and can be hard to look past), so if you are writing/drawing anything super precise, you may have to peek around it.

The pen body is sleek and elegant, despite being all plastic it doesn’t feel cheap and nasty. There are some more cheerful looking pen body colours that you can purchase that comes with a 0.38mm black refill (some combinations are pink on black, pink on pink) if you want something that stands out a little more. The best part is, because the pen is a retractable and refillable, you can use the refill on a lot of fancy looking rollerballs that take the “European format refills”, like the Schmidt 5888 or 888 size, offering a cheaper or more easily available refill option (depending on where you are in the world).

Even in Australia, where office supply pens can cost significantly more than overseas pricing, the Uniball RT1 is a reasonably cost effective option. So if you are looking for a great, smooth, fine nibbed gel pen, look no further than the Uniball RT1.