Posts filed under Uni-Ball

Uni-Ball Signo 207 Gel Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold! This post contains affiliate links.)

Okay, look. Most of you probably already know the Uni-ball Signo 207, and if you don't know this pen, you should get to know this pen, and here's why.

Sometimes you just need to write something down.

I love all my fancy pens, but I love my basics, too. Gel pens were my gateway stationery to Pen Addict joy, and the Uni-Ball Signo is my favorite gel pen. Which is why, one morn a few weeks ago, I jokingly entered Brad's Twitch stream giveaway for this rainbow set of Signo 207’s. I rarely enter his giveaways, as I'm already spoiled, but I really do love these pens. He did say, upon seeing that I'd won them, that I would have to review them, but the joke's on him, because I already wanted to!

I'll start with my favorite thing about them. The ink. The Signo ink is archival--it's fade-proof, water-proof, and pigment-based, so it shows up bold even in light colors. And there are colors! This set comes in black, blue, light blue, green, orange, red, pink, and violet. Plenty of shades for practical use and for fun color-coded projects. You can even buy the ink refills (available in several tip sizes) to replace those you've inevitably used up, and the pen bodies are well-constructed enough to be refilled and reused.

The pen body is made from a sturdy, transparent plastic in the color of the ink it contains. That makes it easy to grab the color you want from a pen case. The clip is sturdy, but flexible enough to be useful. The click mechanism, which is charmingly in a bubble of colorful plastic, is substantial and satisfyingly fidgety. The white plastic (some models come in other colors) nose cone unscrews to access the refill.

The only pet peeve I have about this particular pen model is the grip. The textured rubber grip is, itself, great. But there's one section of it that's smooth, aligned with the clip. Sensory-wise, that lack of consistency drives me a bit crazy. The texture doesn't match, which is a distraction. Is that a nitpick? You betcha! But it's all I've got.

These pens are also on the more expensive side for gel pens, coming in at about $2 per pen, though price varies depending on where you look. That's not a lot compared to the snazzy pens that share my pen case, but it's more than many other gel pens out there. And worth it, in my opinion.

This is the pen I reach for when I need to write a check, sign a receipt, add some color to my planner, jot a super fast note, lend to a bystander, or do pretty much anything that I wouldn't do with a fountain pen. I particularly love the saturated color variety in this set, which ranges from business to neon--just like I do.

(Uni-ball North America provided these pens at no charge to The Pen Addict.)


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Posted on August 24, 2023 and filed under Uni-Ball, Signo, 207, Pen Reviews.

Uni-ball One Gel Pen Hannari and Miyabi 0.38 mm Limited Edition Giveaway

Uni-ball is leaning into their One Gel lineup, including these recently launched Hannari and Miyabi 3-packs of 0.38 mm gel ink pens. There are six total Japanese culture-centric colors in these two packs, all of which run on the lighter side of the scale. The winner will be sent one of each three-pack, so read the rules below and get to entering!

Posted on August 15, 2023 and filed under Giveaways, Uni-Ball.

Uni-ball Vision Ultra Micro 0.38 mm Review

I’ve had these Uni-ball Vision Ultra Micro rollerball pens in hand for nearly a year now. Uni-ball was kind enough to send them to me, along with some other goods, and I was planning on reviewing them sooner. I swear!

The one thing that held me back was their actual release into stores. They hadn’t really hit the market this time last year, and looking around today, it looks like they are barely available still. Aside from Uni-ball directly, my search only turned them up from Office Depot and Walmart. Not even the Amazon behemoth lists them.

So, what gives? Welcome to the reason I launched The Pen Addict. Micro tip pens will never be the darlings that their 0.7 mm and 1.0 mm counterparts are. Fans of those types of pens have to work to find the pens that they love the most.

Luckily, we have wonderful companies like JetPens to feed our inky addictions. Just don’t expect the big box retailers to ever fully come on board. There is a reason why the G-Tec-C and Signo DX live on a single peg on the bottom shelf of the pen aisle - if at all - regardless of Pilot and Uni-ball’s best intentions. That’s what the market dictates.

With that realization out of the way, let me tell you specifically about these Vision Ultra Micro pens. They’re fantastic. And I don’t say that lightly, because the traditional 0.7 mm Uni-ball Vision is one of my least favorite pens, ever. Why? They can be an inky mess.

If you like wide, bold lines from your liquid ink pens, the standard Vision is a good option. I know friends who swear by them, and artists that use them on the regular. I don’t deal with those wide, wet lines as well as others.

The Vision Ultra Micro though? This tip size mitigates my complaints completely. These pens are fantastic. The line on the page lands somewhere around an 0.4/0.5 mm gel ink pen line, which is great for my regular writing. Artists may like the finer option as well. Could there be a slight bit of feathering or bleed on the wrong paper? Yes, but it is minimal.

Outside of the writing experience, everything else about this pen is pure Vision. Same style, barrel shape, clip, ink formulation - everything. I have no issues recommending these to anyone, but don’t get them confused with the litany of other Vision (or Eye, depending on where you live) pens. I don’t think the wider-tip sizes are a good choice, and I think the Needle model is downright bad. The Vision Elite? It is such a good pen that it doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with the rest of the Vision crew.

Just like the Vision Ultra Micro.

(Uni-ball provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Posted on October 25, 2021 and filed under Uni-Ball, Vision, Rollerball, Pen Reviews.